138 THE SHEEP. 



sheep that remain in the same district during the year are 

 termed Estantes, or stationary. 



The stationary Sheep consist partly of the larger sheep of 

 the lower country, partly of mixed races, and partly of pure 

 Merinos, which do not differ in any respect from the migra- 

 tory Sheep of that name, except in the method of treatment. 

 The stationary Merinos are reared where the district or farm 

 affords them sufficient food during the whole season. They 

 are most numerous in the central countries, where the pas- 

 tures are less apt to be scorched by the heats of summer, as 

 in Segovia, and the mountain ranges to the north of Madrid. 



The migratory Sheep have been reckoned to amount to ten 

 millions, which is probably equal to half the whole number of 

 the sheep of Spain. They may be divided into two great 

 bodies ; those which are to pass chiefly into the kingdom of 

 Leon, and those which are to pass further to the eastward, 

 to Soria, or even beyond the Ebro. These great hordes of 

 sheep break up from their winter cantonments south of the 

 Guadiana, about the 15th of April, and proceed slowly north- 

 ward. The rams having been admitted to the ewes in the 

 month of July, the lambs are born in November. In the 

 course of their journey northward, they are shorn in large 

 buildings erected for that purpose. The western or Leonese 

 division, crosses the Tagus at Almaraz. The easterly or 

 Sorian division, crosses the same river further to the east- 

 ward at Talavera, and in its course approaches the city of 

 Madrid. Having reached their destination, they are pas- 

 tured until the end of September, when they recommence 

 their journey southward. Each of these journeys, of several 

 hundred miles in length, occupies about six weeks, so that a 

 fourth part of the year is consumed in travelling. The older 

 Sheep, it is said, when April arrives, know the time of sett- 

 ing off, and are impatient to be gone. In the ten or twelve 

 latter days, increased vigilance is required on the part of the 

 shepherds, lest the Sheep should break away. Some of 



