Sheep 7 



dealers, or taken by them on commission, the former 

 being the more common practice. Thus a flock, as it 

 travels forward, is being constantly added to by drafts 

 picked up en route, from farms large and small ; and long 

 before it arrives at its destination has assumed a very 

 kenspeckle appearance from the many different classes 

 of sheep it contains, and the variety of the marks they 

 bear. Ewes, rams, and wethers may be seen all mixed 

 up together, and in addition to the baste usually the 

 initials of their late owners which distinguishes their place 

 of origin, they carry the peculiar mark of the dealer who 

 has acquired them. Very interesting it is to meet one 

 of these travelling flocks upon an open mountain road, 

 and study the character of the various sheep, and the 

 half dozen or perhaps more men who are in attendance 

 upon them. An even more instructive, because more 

 leisurely, view of them can be obtained at those resting 

 places where a halt is made for a mid-day meal or a night's 

 repose. In the latter event, the flock, turned into some 

 small inclosure, seems literally to cover the grass, as wave 

 upon wave of sheep pour in through the opened gate, 

 and stream over the field in search of any " roughness " 

 it may contain. The latter, as a rule, is most conspicuous 

 by its absence, for most of the fields are eaten very bare, 

 but the sheep travel slowly over the mountain roads and 

 are always picking up a mouthful here and there by the 

 wayside, and the stoppage at night is more for rest, so far 

 as they are concerned, than food. The more hungry of 

 them may stray to the sides of the hedges, there to crop 

 whatever they can find, but the majority are soon lying 

 down, and ere we withdraw in the gathering twilight, the 

 field presents the appearance of being filled with wreaths of 

 rather soiled snow. 



The nearer the bone the sweeter the meat is a very old 

 axiom, whose truthfulness might very well be demonstrated 

 by the animals under consideration ; for no sheep could 

 well carry less mutton about with them than those 

 commonly met with in these parts. Undoubtedly they 

 might profitably be made to carry a good deal more, were 



