HISTORY. 25 



bristly, forming a mane ; the knees are covered by long 

 dense hairs, as if to protect them when the animal kneels ; 

 the hair on the rest of the body is short, and underneath the 

 whole is the rudiment of a soft fine wool. It is a gentle and 

 petulant creature, fond of ascending to high places, as the 

 roofs of houses, capable of running swiftly, and of bounding 

 with prodigious force. 



The MUSMON inhabits the lofty regions of the Caucasus 

 and ancient Taurus, and still lingers in the islands of Crete 

 and Cyprus, and the mountains of Greece. It is smaller than 

 the Argali. In the male the horns are two feet in length ; 

 in the female they are often wanting. They are very thick, 

 and they turn inward at the points, in which respect they 

 differ from the horns of the Argali, which bend outward. 

 The fur consists of a brownish hair, concealing a short, fine, 

 gray-coloured wool, which covers all the body. 



The Musmons, although resembling the Argalis, are small- 

 er and less powerful, and inhabit, apparently, a lower range 

 of mountains. They are gregarious, assembling in large 

 flocks during the summer months ; but, at the rutting season, 

 fierce contests take place between the rams, and the herd 

 divides into smaller bands, consisting of a male and several 

 females. These animals are readily domesticated, and exhi- 

 bit all the habits of the Domestic Sheep, although, in the first 

 generation at least, they do not entirely resign their natural 

 wildness. They breed freely with the Domestic Sheep, and 

 the offspring is fruitful. Pliny mentions such alliances as be- 

 ing common, and states that the progeny were termed Umbri. 



A species, or variety, termed by M. G. St Hilaire, Mou- 

 flon d'Afrique, appears to resemble the Musmon of Asia 

 and Europe. It has been found on the mountains bordering 

 upon the plain of the Nile. It is about the size of a com- 

 mon ram. The horns are two feet long, and eleven inches 

 in circumference at the base, diverging outwards, so that the 

 extremities are about nineteen inches from one another. 



Another species of Musmon, or an animal nearly allied to 



