EEP. 675 



thick-tailed sheep are common among the Tartars. Thibet affords 

 the broad. tailed sheep, which are in that kingdom distinguished, 

 likewise, for the superior fineness of their wool. This wool, not 

 inferior in quality to that of Caramania, is, like it, wrought into 

 shawls for the great omrahs, which are sold at a higher price than 

 those of any other manufacture. The long-tailed sheep form the 

 flocks of the Dutch colonists, at the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. 

 Patterson, who advanced from the Cape a considerable way into the 

 inland country, relates, that he saw among the Hottentots, in the 

 country adjacent to Orange River, a sort of sheep with much longer 

 tails than those of the sheep about the Cape, and covered, not with 

 wool, but with coarse hair, which gave them, at a distance, the ap- 

 pearance rather of dogs than of sheep. The Cape sheep are not less 

 distinguished by their ears, which are large and pendent, than by 

 their tails. The tail, in its nature between fat and marrow, is a 

 delicacy worthy of the nicest epicure. This variety of the sheep 

 was not unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Aristotle 

 mentions them as inhabitants of Syria ; and Pliny, probably on 

 Aristotle's authority, repeats the same fact. 



Another variety of this species is the fat-rumped sheep, which is 

 not provided with a tail. Its buttocks swell out like two globes, 

 are perfectly smooth, and scarce leave the 03 coccygis discernible . 

 Its nose is arched ; its ears pendulous ; legs slender ; head black ; 

 fleece commonly white, but at times black, reddish, or spotted. 

 The globular buttocks are composed solely of suet, and are some- 

 times so large as to weigh forty pounds. The whole body of the 

 sheep frequently weighs two hundred pounds. The voice of this 

 animal resembles rather the lowing of a calf, than the bleating of a 

 sheep. 



Sheep of this character abound through the deserts of Tartary, 

 from the Volga to the Irtish and the Altaic chain. They are 

 remarkably prolific; producing usually two, and, not unfre- 

 quently, three lambs at a birth. 



The sheep of Bucharia are described by Linnaeus and Pallas as 

 a particular variety ; distinguished' by large pendent ears, and a 

 large tail, formed like a cushion. These are represented as a 

 hybrid breed, produced by the copulation of individuals of the 

 long-tailed variety with others, either with broad tails, or of the 

 variety distinguished by the want of a tail. Lambs' skins, possibly 

 of this variety, are brought from Bucharia, Chiva, and the adjacent 

 countries, to Astracan, and there sold at a very high price, n 



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