SHEEP. 223 



Naria valley, these sheep are found in summer at elevations of ten thousand or 

 even twelve thousand feet above the sea. 



THE URIAL OR SHA (Ovis vignei). 



The Asiatic wild sheep known in the Punjab as the urial, but in Laclak as the 

 sha, belongs to a group distinguished from all the preceding species by their 

 smaller size and less massive horns. It was long considered that the urial of the 

 Punjab and other districts of North- Western India was specifically distinct from 

 the sha of Ladak, but the investigations of Mr. Blanford have shown that the two 

 forms pass into one another, and must consequently be regarded merely as varieties 

 of a single species. 



The typical urial of the Punjab stands about 2 feet 8 inches in height at the 

 shoulder, but the Ladak variety is rather taller, its height being as much as 3 feet, 

 or even, it is said, rather more. The horns are strongly wrinkled, and have their 

 lateral surfaces not much broader than the front one ; while their outer front angle 

 is much more rounded off than in the argali. The two horns rise very close 

 together, and curve round in a regular circular sweep, sometimes keeping 

 almost entirely in the same plane, but at others forming a spiral; their curve 

 very seldom exceeding one complete circle. In the ewes the horns are 

 very short, and nearly straight. The average length of the horns of the 

 rams varies from 24 to 30 inches along the curve, with a basal girth of about 

 10 inches ; but Mr. Blanford states that a specimen has been obtained in which the 

 length of the horns was upwards of 37f inches, and their basal girth 11 J inches. 

 In the sha or Ladak variety the horns are generally thicker at the base than in the 

 true urial, their basal girth in some instances varying between 11 and 12 inches, 

 whereas in the latter it does not exceed 10 inches ; the horns frequently, moreover, 

 form a wider circle, and their outer front edge is still more rounded off. 



The adult ram of the urial is characterised by having a large ruff of long hair 

 on the throat, commencing on either side of the chin in two distinct moieties, 

 which soon unite and extend down the throat to the chest. In the Ladak variety 

 the ruff is generally much less developed. In colour the fur of the urial is rufous 

 grey or fawn on the upper-parts in the summer dress, but in winter becomes 

 greyish brown ; the under-parts, together with the rump, tail, and legs, are whitish ; 

 while in old rams the ruff is generally white in front, passing behind into black, 

 although in some cases it may be entirely black. There is a dark brown or black 

 patch behind the shoulder ; and sometimes a blackish line dividing the white of 

 the under-parts from the darker area, as well as blackish markings on the limbs. 

 The ewes and young rams are of a uniform greyish brown colour. 



. . The geographical range of the urial is more extensive than that 



of any other Old World sheep, and includes districts with exceed- 

 ingly different climatic conditions. The large variety known as the sha extends 

 from Northern Tibet through Ladak and Zanskar, where it is generally found at 

 elevations of from twelve thousand to fourteen thousand feet, through Astor and 

 Gilgit (where it is locally known as the uria) to Afghanistan. The true urial 

 inhabits the Salt range of the Punjab, the Suliman range, the Hazara hills, and 



