WILD SHEEP 67 



order to get at their food ; and when a storm is coming 

 on, they seem quite aware of it, and hasten away to 

 some sheltered spot. They are also more watchful and 

 cunning than our sheep, and have been seen joining in 

 flocks against beasts of prey. Their coats are a mixture 



THE ARGALI, OR, WILD SHEEP. 



of hair and wool, and their horns are frequently of great 

 size. In the mountains of central Asia there is a wild 

 sheep as large as a fallow-deer, and more bulky. The 

 male is three feet high at the withers, and sometimes 

 weighs two hundred pounds. This animal has only two 

 horns, but they are of immense size, and nearly four feet 

 long. When shed accidentally, young foxes have been 

 seen to hide themselves in the hollow of these horns. 

 The winter coat of this sheep is a long outer covering 

 of hair, concealing a thick soft layer of wool ; the sum- 

 mer dress is of short hair only. Some writers trace the 

 origin of our domestic sheep to this wild animal, which 

 is called the Argali. 



When sheep are domesticated, the horns, in many 

 cases, disappear. Some of the most celebrated sheep of 

 the present day are entirely without horns. The animal 



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