ANIMALS OF THE 



hair it has an internal covering, that rather re- 

 sembles fur than wool, being fine, short, and soft. 



The second variety to be found in this animal 

 is that of the broad- tailed sheep, so common in 

 Tartary, Arabia, Persia, Barbary, Syria, and 

 Egypt. This sheep is only remarkable for its 

 large and heavy tail, which is often found to 

 weigh from twenty to thirty pounds. It some- 

 times grows a foot broad, and is obliged to be 

 supported by a small kind of board that goes 

 upon wheels. This tail is not covered under- 

 neath with wool, like the upper part, but is bare ; 

 and the natives, who consider it as a very great 

 delicacy, are very careful in attending and pre- 

 serving it from injury. M. Buffon supposes that 

 the fat which falls into the caul in our sheep, goes 

 in these to furnish the tail, and that the rest of 

 the body is from thence deprived of fat in pro- 

 portion. With regard to their fleeces in the tem- 

 perate climates, they are, as in our own breed, 

 soft and woolly, but in the warmer latitudes they 

 are hairy; yet in both they preserve the enor- 

 mous size of their tails. 



The third observable variety is that of the sheep 

 called Strepsicheros. This animal is a native of 

 the islands of the Archipelago, and only differs 

 from our sheep in having straight horns, sur- 

 rounded with a spiral furrow. 



The last variety is that of the Guinea sheep, 

 which is generally found in all the tropical cli- 

 mates, both of Africa and the East Indies. They 

 are of a large size, with a rough hairy skin, short 

 horns, and ears hanging down, with a kind of 



