HISTORY OF SHEEP. 



AFRICAN BREEDS. 



EGYPTIAX— ETHIOPIAN— ABYSSINIAN— MADAGASCAR— CAPE OF 

 GOOD HOPE— ANGOLA— GUINEA— MOROCCO. 



EGYPTIAN, ETHIOPIAN, AND ABYSSINIAN SHEEP. 



According to Dr. Anderson, the fat-tailed sheep prevail 

 in Egypt, and both varieties of them are found ; but those 

 with long tails, nearly or quite reaching to the ground, are 

 more numerous than the broad-tailed kind. They are of a 

 large size, mostly with black heads and necks, an external 

 coat of hair, and their flesh well flavored. 



In Nether Ethiopia the sheep begin to be more numer- 

 ous ; they are large — some of them with tails from 18 to 

 25 lbs. in weight — with black heads and necks, and the re- 

 mainder of their bodies white ; others are quite white, with 

 tails reaching nearly to the ground, and curved at the ex- 

 tremity.* Here also appear the fat-rumped sheep, with 

 black heads and necks, but of smaller size than the Persian 

 breed. 



Proceeding farther south, says Bruce, they are taller and 

 all black ; their heads large, and with ears remarkably short 

 and small. They also, like all the native sheep within the 

 tropics, have an external covering of hair. It is in this re- 

 gion (Abyssinia) that the many-horned sheep is found, many 

 bearing four, and some writers have asserted that individuals 

 have been seen with six horns. 



MADAGASCAR SHEEP. 



The island of Madagascar is situated on the eastern coast 

 of Africa, and mostly within the tropic of Capricorn. 



The sheep have broad tails like those of Africa. Dr. 

 Anderson states the following : " A Danish East Indiaman 

 put into Leith roads on her return home. I went on board 

 to see what curiosities she had, and I there found a sheep, 

 which was closely covered with a close coat of thick, short 

 hair, very smooth and sleek, like the coat of a well-dressed 

 horse, but the hairs rather stiffer, and thicker set on the 

 skin, and the color a fine nut-brown. This sheep, I was 



* Dapper's Africa. 



