2 ANIMALS OF THE 



The Moufflon, or Musmon, though covered with 

 hair, bears a stronger similitude to the ram than 

 to any other animal : like the ram, it has the eyes 

 placed near the horns, and its ears are shorter 

 than those of the goat ; it also resembles the ram 

 in its horns, and in all the particular contours of 

 its form. The horns are alike ; they are of a 

 yellow colour ; they have three sides, as in the 

 ram, and bent backwards in the same manner be- 

 hind the ears. The muzzle, and the inside of the 

 ears, are of a whitish colour, tinctured with yel- 

 low ; the other parts of the face are of a brownish 

 grey. The general colour of the hair over the 

 body is of a brown, approaching to that of the 

 red deer. The inside of the thighs and belly are 

 of a white tinctured with yellow. The form, 

 upon the whole, seems more made for agility and 

 strength than that of the common sheep ; and the 

 moufflon is actually found to live in a savage state, 

 and maintain itself, either by force or swiftness, 

 against all the animals that live by rapine. Such 

 is its extreme speed, that many have been inclin- 

 ed rather to rank it among the deer kind than 

 the sheep. But in this they are deceived, as the 

 musmon has a mark that entirely distinguishes it 

 from that species, being known never to shed its 

 horns. In some these are seen to grow to a sur- 

 prising size, many of them measuring, in their 

 convolutions, above two ells long. They are of 

 a yellow colour, as was said, but the older the 

 animal grows, the darker the horns become : with 

 these they often maintain very furious battles be- 

 tween each other, and sometimes they are found 



