The Wild Sheep of the Sierra. 283 



mountain groups, trending north and south in close succession, range 

 beyond range, with summits rising from eight to twelve thousand 

 feet above the level of the sea, every one of which, according to my 

 own observations, is, or has been, inhabited by this species of sheep. 



Compared with the argali, which, considering its size and the 

 vast extent of its range, is probably the most important of all the 

 wild sheep, our species is, perhaps, a little larger, and the horns are 

 more regularly curved and less divergent. The more important 

 characteristics are, however, essentially the same, some of the best 

 naturalists maintaining that the two are only varied forms of one 

 species. In accordance with this view, Cuvier conjectures that the 

 argali may have been distributed over this continent from Asia by 

 crossing Behring Straits on ice. 



On account of the extreme variability of the sheep under culture, 

 it is generally supposed that the innumerable domestic breeds have 

 all been derived from the few wild species ; but the whole question is 

 involved in obscurity. According to Darwin, sheep have been 

 domesticated from a very ancient period, the remains of a small breed, 

 differing from any now known, having been found in the famous 

 Swiss lake dwellings. 



Compared with the best-known domestic breeds, we find that our 

 wild species is more than twice as large ; and, instead of an all-wool 

 garment, the wild wears a thick overcoat of hair like that of the deer, 

 and an under-covering of fine wool. The hair, though rather coarse, 

 is comfortably soft and spongy, and lies smooth, as if carefully 

 tended with comb and brush. The predominant color during most 

 of the year is brownish-gray, varying to bluish-gray in the autumn ; 

 the belly and a large, conspicuous patch on the buttocks are white ; 

 and the tail, which is very short, like that of a deer, is black, with a 

 yellowish border. The wool is always white, and grows in beautiful 

 spirals down out of sight among the straight, shining hair, like deli- 

 cate climbing vines among stalks of corn. 



The horns of the male are of immense size, measuring in their 

 greater diameter from five to six and a half inches, and from two and 

 a half to three feet in length around the curve. They are yellowish- 

 white in color, and ridged transversely, like those of the domestic 

 ram. Their cross-section near the base is somewhat triangular in 

 outline and flattened over toward the tip. In rising from the head, 



