MODERN SHEEP : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 1 3 1 



though more than twice that quantity has been produced from 

 exceptionally good animals. 



THE HIMALAYIAN MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 



The principal beast of burden in the Himalayas is the Mountain 

 sheep. It is said to comfortably draw a load of about twenty-five 

 pounds and lives entirely on the herbage on the wayside. It has 

 been known to travel a journey of 1,000 miles and be little the 

 worse for wear. Animals of this class were used in the Young- 

 husband expedition in Tibet. It is common in the Himalayas 

 to load sheep high up in the mountains with borax and then to 

 drive them down to the plains, shear them and return with loads 

 of grain or salt. They stand the severe cold of the higher ranges 

 of Tibet better than any other animal, and are indispensable to the 

 needs of transit of the people there. 



ABYSSINIAN SHEEP. 



There are three breeds of sheep in Abyssinia, viz : the plains or 

 "fat-tailed" sheep, found in Syria and some other eastern coun- 

 tries, which is white with a black head ; that of the hills, which is 

 of a reddish-white and grey color, and a race of very small black 

 sheep. The two first mentioned breeds have no fleece, and are 

 raised for their mutton only. The small black sheep produce wool, 

 which is used for making the coarse cloaks used by the people in 

 the cold regions of the country. The meat of 'all these breeds is 

 very good, and many of these sheep are exported to Aden and 

 places on the Eed Sea. The value of a sheep in Abyssinia ranges 

 from forty cents to about $2 per head. 



. SOMALILAND SHEEP. 



The United States consul at Aden gives the following account 

 of the Somaliland sheep: "No matter by whom eaten, the mut- 

 ton of the 'Samoli,' or black-head sheep, is pronounced the best 

 ever tasted. These sheep are raised in flocks and herds and 

 move from place to place, where food is most plentiful, under the 

 guidance of shepherds, and, generally speaking, a native's wealth 

 is estimated by the number of sheep he owns. The grazing these 

 sheep get is very limited, but, like goats, they can subsist on the 

 coarsest and seemingly most unpalatable food, such as the prickly 

 mimosa and a kind of desert scrub bush, as well as whatever else 

 they can find in such a barren and sandy country. These sheep 

 present a rather peculiar appearance. Their heads are perfectly 

 black, this black sometimes extending as far back as the shoulders, 

 the rest of the body and legs being white. They have no wool, 



