THE CLEROY AS PASTOBALISTS 43 



not believe that either sheep or cattle could be profitably 

 depastured on them. Mc Arthur Imew better and saw 

 more truly. He had discerned the cattle that had 

 strayed from the Government domain in 1788 feeding 

 at Mount Taurus and seen them thrive. In 1794 

 he purchased from an officer, who had imported them 

 from Calcutta, 60 Bengal ewes and lambs, and soon 

 after he bought two Irish ewes and a young ram. They 

 were far from being promising progenitors of a good 

 stock. The Indian sheep grew mere hair ; the wool of 

 the Irish sheep was of coarse texture. The happy 

 thought of crossing the two breeds occurred to the 

 experimenter, and the blending of the two yielded a 

 mingled fleece of hair and fine wool. The problem was 

 solved ; the hair could be eradicated, and fine wool 

 grown. 



McArthur was still not contented with the result, 

 and he looked for aid in another direction. He had 

 possibly heard that Spanish merinos throve at the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and he desired two officers of men-of-war 

 returning to England by the Cape to inquire whether 

 any of them were for sale. He had struck the " psy- 

 chological moment," and was fortunate beyond his 

 expectation. His agents arrived there at the very 

 time when a large flock of merinos was in the market. 

 The King of Spain had presented to the King of Holland 

 a number of pure-bred merinos selected from the Escorial 

 or private stud farm of the sovereign. These the 

 Dutch Government judiciously sent to its colony at the 

 Cape. There the flock was placed in charge of Colonel 

 Gordon, but the Colonial Government valued the gift 

 too lightly to care for it as they should. Gordon died, 

 and the flock, now reckoned as having been his private 

 property, was about to be sold, Mc Arthur's agents 

 bought only twenty sheep — 12 for others and but 

 8 (3 rams and 5 ewes) for McArthur. This small 

 acquisition might seem to furnish few materials for 

 making a fresh start in a new industry, but it was 

 enough for McArthur. The other purchasers neglected 



