the free nomadic life. We dined with the chief alone, and were assiduously 

 waited upon by minor clansmen. The piece de resistance was a lamb 

 roasted whole, and in deference to our prejudices, knives and forks and plates 

 had been secured for us the day before, together with a variety of delicacies 

 supposed to be essential to more civilised but more effete guests. The repast 

 closed with coffee and excellent brandy ! But I am wandering, and must 

 return to our subject matter moutons. 



There appear to be only two breeds of sheep in the country, or perhaps 

 three, with crosses between them. What I take to be the true Greek sheep 

 is a rather small animal, as are all essentially mountain breeds. I was told 

 that a good average ewe dressed from 291bs. to 321bs., and a very good ewe 

 421bs. to 481bs., whilst an average ram would dress 481bs. to 501bs., with 



A Greek Flock of Milking Ewes. 



occasional ones running up to 701 bs. It should be noted that in Greece the 

 dressed weight includes the head, which is not detached. These sheep have 

 generally black or black and white faces, and black legs ; the black color 

 frequently extends partly over their bodies, so that a big percentage of them 

 may be described as piebald. Completely black sheep are very frequent, 

 forming, I should judge, fully 20 per cent, of the flocks. The nose is Roman 

 and the face free from wool ; indeed, I was told by a shepherd that lambs 

 showing any trace of wool on the face were always sold, the objection being 

 that butchers feared that sheep of this kind had more wool than flesh. There 

 is no wool on the legs, and very little on the belly. The legs are strong, stout, 

 and sturdy, and bodily conformation, from the point of view of butcher's 

 meat, rather poor. The ewes are all provided with excellent udders, being 



