150 THE SHEEP, 



this country. Lord Western's, it is believed, is managed 

 more in the Saxon manner, with respect to protection from 

 the weather. Mr Benett's fine flock, notwithstanding that it 

 had been thus acclimated, perished in great numbers in a 

 severe winter some years ago, proving that the race had not 

 yet lived sufficiently long in England to be perfectly inured to 

 its cold and variable climate. Other gentlemen have imported 

 Merinos direct from Saxony, and thus obtained at once the 

 highest perfection of the fleece ; but there is little reason to 

 believe that their experiments will be more successful than 

 those that had been previously made. Merinos have been 

 lately carried in some numbers to Ireland, and may perhaps 

 prove more advantageous than some of the existing breeds ; 

 but this will not shew the great value of the Merinos, but 

 the comparatively little value of the races which they have 

 supplanted. 



The Merino breed of Sheep has likewise been carried to a 

 different region of the globe, and been subjected to a new set 

 of external agents. The great insular continent of New Hol- 

 land, presenting characters, in its vegetable and animal pro- 

 ductions, which distinguish^ it from all other countries, has 

 now received this important race, which has been found to 

 adapt itself with the utmost facility to its new condition. 

 The first European settlement in this remarkable country 

 was made in the year 1788, when a party of English crimi- 

 nals was landed in Botany Bay. To supply the early colo- 

 nists with wool and mutton, and establish a permanent flock 

 for their future maintenance, Sheep were imported from 

 Bengal. These were the small hairy animals found in that 

 part of India. It was soon discovered that these miserable 

 Sheep improved in their useful properties by the change of 

 climate and food. They became prolific, the hair diminished 

 in quantity, and a fleece of soft wool, though not of great 

 fineness, succeeded. This simple experiment added to the 

 many proofs before existing of the all-pervading influence of 

 external circumstances over the form and characters of ani- 



