62 EUROPEAN SHEEP. 



artisans were driven from the kingdom during the reigns of 

 Ferdinand Y. and Philip III. ; and the consequence was 

 that " the 1G,000 looms of Seville dwindled down to 60, 

 and the woollen manufacture almost ceased to have exist- 

 ence throughout Spain."* 



The Spanish government saw too late its fatal error, as 

 the many fruitless attempts to restore the manufacture of the 

 beautiful fabrics of the Moors have fully proved. But during 

 all this while, however, the Merino, notwithstanding its 

 neglect, continued to produce its invaluable fleece, which, 

 instead of meeting with adequate skill at home for its man- 

 ufacture, was sent abroad to be worked by other more inge- 

 nious and industrious nations. "The perpetuation of the 

 JNIerino sheep in all its purity, amidst the convulsions which 

 changed the whole political existence of Spain, and destroyed 

 every other national improvement, is a fact which the philos- 

 opher may not be able fully to explain ; but which he will 

 contemplate with deep interest. In the mind of the agricul- 

 turist, it will beautifully illustrate the primary determining 

 power of blood or breeding, and also the agency of soil and 

 climate, a little too much underrated, perhaps, in modern 

 times." 



Independent of the Merinos, there is another race, in 

 Spain, called Chunahs, which are larger and heavier than 

 the Merinos, and carry a fleece the staple of which is from 

 five to eight inches long, and coarse. This breed extends 

 throughout all Spain, and is the favorite of the peasant and 

 small proprietor. The Chunahs are supposed to have been 

 much improved by the English Cotswold breed, of which 

 there exists a record of the 15th century of a number having 

 been exported to Spain with a view to lengthen the staple 

 of the coarser and more inferior breeds of that country. The 

 sheep under consideration are stationary, or never move 

 from their homes for pasture ; and hence compose, in part, 

 one of the grand divisions of Spanish sheep denominated 

 Estantcs or stationary. 



The Merinos are of two classes, one of which, like the 

 Chunahs, are of the Estantes or stationary character, which, 

 as the name implies, are never moved beyond the districts 

 in which they are owned, for pasture ; the other class or 



* Wansey. 



