134 THE SHEEP. 



other physical circumstances of the country in which the ani- 

 mals are naturalized. It is, however, a reasonable supposi- 

 tion, that the Merino race, which produces not only a fine, 

 but a remarkably oily and felting wool, has been formed by 

 some mixture of other races with the Sheep indigenous to 

 the country. It has been supposed by some that it is derived 

 from the Oves Molles, or fine-woolled Sheep of ancient Italy ; 

 but the evidence upon which this opinion rests cannot be re- 

 garded as satisfactory. Columella, a native of the South of 

 Spain, informs us, that his uncle, of the same name, intro- 

 duced some of the fine-woolled Sheep of Italy into his Spanish 

 farm ; but he likewise informs us, that he procured some 

 African rams, which had been brought to be exhibited at the 

 public shows at Rome. How far these crosses affected the 

 native breeds cannot be known ; but the facts may lead, per- 

 haps, to the conclusion, that the wool of Spain, although dis- 

 tinguished for its fineness, had not attained the perfection at 

 which it afterwards arrived. There is great probability that 

 the Sheep of Northern Africa were mingled in blood with 

 those of Spain during the long period of Moorish dominion. 

 We have no accounts, indeed, of the importation of African 

 Sheep by the Moors ; but if Sheep existed in Africa capable 

 of yielding wool suited to the manufacture of the finer cloths 

 and tissues, it is certain the Moors would obtain them ; and 

 we learn from the chronicles of the Spanish writers, that one 

 at least of their own princes resorted to Africa for Sheep ; 

 and the illustrious Cardinal Ximenes, who governed the 

 country during the minority of Charles V., is distinctly re- 

 ported to have brought Sheep from Africa to improve the 

 Spanish wool. It has been said, indeed, that we know of no 

 race of African Sheep that produces wool resembling the 

 Merino. Even if this were so, it would not invalidate the 

 reasonable conclusions that may be drawn. The wool of 

 the Sheep of Africa, like that of other warm countries, is 

 mixed with hairs ; but underneath these hairs is a short and 

 downy fleece, and it is easy to suppose that, on such Sheep 



