SHEEP AND GOATS 309 



dogs around them. This huddling together affords the 

 hunter an excellent opportunity to shoot them down. Even 

 if the herd stampede, very often curiosity will lead some of 

 the animals to return to inspect a killed or wounded comrade, 

 thus laying themselves open to meet the same fate. 



The flesh of the animal has a musky odour which is very 

 unpleasant at certain seasons in the year, but the Eskimos 

 and Indians are not troubled with fastidious palates. Apart 

 from food, the skin of the Musk Ox is a valuable sledge 

 covering in these inhospitable regions ; and it always forms 

 useful barter for ammunition, &c., from the white traders. 



SHEEP AND GOATS. 



In form, clothing, and habits there is no difficulty in 

 distinguishing between the common varieties of Sheep 

 and Goats. Yet if we attempt to fix upon the real distinc- 

 tions which separate the one animal from the other, the task 

 speedily appears well-nigh impossible. The coat, on the face 

 of it, would appear to form the likeliest aid, but it fails us at 

 the outset. The woolly coat of the domestic Sheep is due 

 solely to the influence of man ; wild Sheep do not possess it ; 

 and if tame ones are allowed to run wild in hot countries 

 they soon exchange their covering of wool for one of hair, 

 like that of the Goats. The horn, which is sometimes 

 accepted as a distinction, has no real value, being variable 

 to the last degree. In this connection the Rev. J. G. Wood 

 mentions a woman who had several horns removed from 

 her head. It is, therefore, evident that the horn cannot be 

 accepted as affording any absolute means of identification. 

 The beard of the Goat has been accepted as a distinction, 

 but, as some of the Goats have no beards, while some of the 

 Sheep possess slight ones, it is evident that the beard forms 

 no real distinction at all, any more than it does among men. 

 As most of us know, there are some races of men in which 

 neither sex is bearded, while there are others in which both 

 sexes always have beards ; and in our own race, although 

 the rule is that a man has a beard and the woman has none, 

 there are exceptional cases where the man is beardless and 

 the woman has a beard which any man might envy. So 



