382 A Walk from 



so much attention. This is probably because they can 

 browse out a living where the Durham and Devon 

 would starve. 



The sheep in this region are chiefly the old Scotch 

 breed, with curling horns and crocked faces and legs, such 

 as are represented in old pictures. The black seems to 

 be spattered upon them, and looks as if the heather would 

 rub it off. The wool is long and coarse, giving them a 

 goat-like appearance. They seem to predominate over 

 any other breed in this part of Scotland, yet not neces- 

 sarily nor advantageously. A large sheep farmer from 

 England was staying at the inn, with whom I had much 

 conversation on the subject. He said the Cheviots were 

 equally adapted to the Highlands, and thought they 

 would ultimately supplant the black faces. Although 

 he lived in Northumberland, full two hundred miles to 

 the south, he had rented a large sheep-walk, or moun- 

 tain-farm, in the Western Highlands, and had come 

 to this section to buy or hire another tract. He kept 

 about 4,000 sheep, and intended to introduce the 

 Cheviots upon these Scotch holdings, as their bodies 

 were much heavier and their wool worth nearly double 

 that of the old black-faced breed. Sheep are the prin- 

 cipal source of wealth in the whole of the North and 

 West of Scotland. I was told that sometimes a flock 

 of 20,000 is owned by one man. The lands on which 



