38 THE SHEEP. 



marked traces of a mixed descent. It has been questioned 

 whether the pristine inhabitants of Europe possessed the 

 domestic Sheep, and did not, like the wild tribes of the North 

 American forests, live solely by the spoils of the chase. We 

 cannot resolve this question, because we do not know who 

 were the pristine inhabitants of Europe. But we have reason 

 to believe, that the early Celtic and Teutonic nations were in 

 possession of Sheep, which, indeed, they could hardly have 

 failed to bring with them in their migrations westward, the 

 Teutons from the countries north of the Black Sea and the 

 Caspian, and the Celts from those other regions of the East 

 where the Sheep had been cultivated from the first ages. 

 Yet the greater part of Europe was long a great forest, un- 

 favourable to the cultivation of Sheep ; and they are rarely 

 mentioned by early chroniclers. It is a mistake, however, 

 to contend, as some have done, that Sheep did not find their 

 way into Western Europe until about the Christian era. 

 Indisputable proofs to the contrary exist, as in Spain, which 

 was long before this era inhabited by Sheep, and even in 

 North Britain, where the remnants of the Celtic Sheep are 

 still to be found, and where the early language of the people 

 shews their familiarity with these animals. In the south of 

 Europe, we may suppose that the Sheep of Asia were added 

 to those of the pre-existing races. They may be believed 

 to have found their way into Greece by the Hellespont, with 

 the introduction of civilization and letters. The Sheep of 

 Arcadia became at length the boast of Greece ; and innumer- 

 able allusions in the writings of her poets, historians, and 

 philosophers, shew us in what estimation this gift cf the Gods 

 was held. Italy likewise possessed her Sheep from an un- 

 known period ; but the inhabitants, even up to a period com- 

 paratively recent, seem to have directed their attention to the 

 Goat more than to the Sheep. Long after Rome was founded, 

 the inhabitants had not learned to shear the fleece ; and, 

 until the time of Pliny, the practice of plucking it from the 

 skin was not wholly abandoned, so long had the humble shep- 



