THE WALLACHIAN, OR CRETAN SHEEP. 



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The AFFGHAN FAT-TAILED SHEEP is remarkable not only for the extremely large and 

 fatty tail, but for the delicate and silken texture of its wool. The coat of this animal 

 is largely used in local manufactures, and a very considerable amount is also exported 

 into neighboring countries. Pelisses, caps, and carpets of various kinds are the chief 

 articles into which this soft and valuable wool is manufactured. There are also several 

 herds of Fat-tailed Sheep in different parts of India. 



ONE of the most important of the ovine group, is the CRETAN, or WALLACHIAN 

 SHEEP, remarkable for the enormous development and magnificent formation of its horns. 



This splendid animal is a native of Western Asia and the adjacent portions of 

 Europe, and is very common in Crete, Wallachia, and Hungary. The horns of the 

 Wallachian Sheep are strikingly like those of the Koodoo, or the Addax, their dimen- 



WALLACHIAN, OR CRETAN SHEEP. 



sions being proportionately large, and their form very similar. The first spiral turn its 

 always the largest, and the horns are not precisely the same in every specimen. As a 

 general rule, they rise boldly upwards from the skull, being almost perpendicularly set 

 upon the head ; but in others, there is considerable variety in the formation of the 

 spirals and the direction of the tips. In one specimen which was preserved in the 

 gardens of the Zoological Society, the first spiral of the horns was curved downwards, 

 and their tips were directed towards the ground. 



The fleece of this animal is composed of a soft woolly undercoat, covered with and 

 protected by long drooping hairs. The wool is extremely fine in quality, and is em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of warm cloaks, which are largely used by the peasantry, and 

 which are so thick and warm that they defend the wearer against the bitterest cold. 



