THE ZETLAND BREED. 297 



the Thule of the Roman writers, were early united to the 

 kingdom of Norway, and, in the middle ages, were in the 

 hands of those lawless rovers, whose piracies extended to the 

 fairer portions of Europe. The Islands were at length trans- 

 ferred to the Crown of Scotland, and were for ages subjected 

 to the servitude of the feudal system in its most cruel form. 

 But the inhabitants, though mixed with their conquerors, 

 remained essentially Norwegian ; and, even until the last 

 century, the Norse language continued to be that of the op- 

 pressed inhabitants. The domestic animals of the country 

 were, in like manner, distinct from those of the Celtic in- 

 habitants of the Main, and to this day present the traces of 

 their Scandinavian descent. 



The cattle are distinctly Norwegian in their characters, 

 and a similar race extends to Iceland. They are small, but 

 of very good form when pure, and fatten with great quick- 

 ness when carried to superior pastures. Their horns are 

 short, their skin is soft, and their flesh is equal to that of 

 any cattle produced in the British Islands. They are of 

 various colours, generally party-coloured, and tending more 

 to the lighter shades than the cattle of the Highlands. The 

 females receive the male at an earlier age than is known in 

 the case of any other breed in this country. The heat oc- 

 curs at the age of five or six months, and has been observed 

 even at four months, indicating an early precocity of the 

 animals, and a tendency to arrive soon at old age. The 

 cows are tolerably good milkers, in which respect they agree 

 with the cattle of Norway, and differ from those of the High- 

 lands ; and in this respect too, they agree with the cattle of 

 Jersey and the islands of the Channel, which are likewise 

 believed to be of Norwegian origin. 



These cattle are smaller than those of Norway, which is 

 to be ascribed partly to the absence of shelter, and partly to 

 the want of artificial food. These islands, though exposed 

 to perpetual storms from the tempestuous seas that surround 

 them, have not so cold a climate as Norway ; but they are 



