MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS 449 



presented by the ewes' fat tails, but when rams are pro- 

 perly looked after coupling becomes more certain and 

 one ram may settle seventy females. A ram can remain 

 in service for from eight to twelve years, and ewes live 

 from seven to ten years. The liberal supply of mothers' 

 milk in youth, and the abundance of " saline bitter pas- 

 tures " combine to develop in the Karakttl-Duzbai a big 

 sheep, the ewes often weighing 200 lb., and rams over 

 300 lb. 



After midsummer the lambs kept for breeding are 

 weaned. The ewes continue to give a considerable quan- 

 tity of rich delicious milk till late in the autumn. The 

 famous " Brinza " cheese, described as ''the pride of 

 Southern Asiatic Russia," is made from it, to the amount 

 of 30 to 40 lb. from each ewe. Brinza cheese is much 

 finer in flavour than the cheese produced from the milk 

 of the common sheep of Bessarabia, Moldavia, or Greece, 

 and most of the so-called " Koshkoval " goes to Italy, 

 where it is utilized in the flavouring of spaghetti, for 

 which Italy is noted. " The people of Bokhara .claim that 

 the milk from Karakul sheep is the richest and most 

 nourishing obtained from any living animal, and, in 

 addition, it is supposed to contain anti-tuberculous 

 properties. Tuberculosis is absolutely unknown among 

 the natives of Bokhara," and a diet consisting entirely of 

 Karakul milk, mutton, Brinza and " lepeshki " (native 

 bread) is held to be an infallible cure for the disease when 

 affected persons come to the country. 



The large formation and dimensions of the soft oily 

 tail fat are attributed to the abundant supply of salt, not 

 only in the substance of the desert plants, but imbibed 

 with the brackish water and with the dew which sheep 

 lick from the surfaces of the herbage when drinking water 

 fails. Much of the fat accumulation is lost in winter and 

 during periods of scarcity, and when Karakul sheep are 

 bred in other regions of Asia not so favoured as the 

 Khanate in question in natural food supply, it has been 

 noticed that the fat tails do not develop so perfectly. 

 This gave rise to the common, although now acknow- 

 ledged to be erroneous, impression expressed by Pallas, 

 and others following him, that the Karakul is liable,: to, 

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