MU8K-SHEEP. 59 



ing on its northern course to the Arctic Ocean. Their 

 principal food is the various mosses, the leaves of stunted 

 brush, and the fine velvety grasses that sparsely crop up in 

 wet localities. 



For animals so unwieldy in shape and appearance musk- 

 sheep are wonderfully nimble, making always for the rough- 

 est grounds when pursued, leaping with agility from rock 

 to rock, and scaling the faces of slopes so perpendicular, 

 that the hunter, with hands and feet brought into play, finds 

 it almost impossible to follow. Their hearing and sight are 

 very acute ; at the same time, so suspicious and cautious 

 are they, that, although always assembled in little parties of 

 from ten to twenty, sentinels are regularly told off for duty, 

 which place themselves in the most commanding positions, 

 ready to whistle the signal of alarm on the slightest sus- 

 picion of danger, accompanied by the usual sheep-like stamp 

 of displeasure, which summons the herd to assist in inspect- 

 ing the supposed intruder before they shift their feeding- 

 grounds for haunts that previous experience has taught 

 them are more secure. 



From the high latitudes in which they have their habitat, 

 Captain Parry, the celebrated voyager, classes them among 

 the dwellers north of the Arctic Circle ; and well might he 

 or others do so, for so well are they protected by nature 

 from the inclement weather of the inhospitable regions 

 which they inhabit, that the most severe snow and frost 

 little interfere with the routine of their life. Their wool is 

 remarkably soft, long, and densely close ; so that at a small 

 distance, if they are walking over irregular -surfaced soil, 

 their feet are scarcely seen, the body of surrounding fringe 

 giving the observer the impression which would arise if you 

 saw an animal surrounded with a petticoat. Their color is 

 much the same as that of the buffaloes of the plains, possi- 

 bly a little darker, and at a distance they might easily be 



