16 BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 



the south from summer to winter ; and also, in con- 

 triving to encamp for a time near some rivulet or well, 

 whence water might be readily obtained. 



In keeping with the accounts of profane authors 

 some centuries afterwards, when the daughters of nobles 

 and princes are described as employed at home in weav- 

 ing garments for the household, or attending the sheep, 

 the driving of the flocks to and from the water, was the 

 business of the female part of the family ; to which was 

 sometimes added, their oversight during the day, that 

 they might not stray too far from the tents. The shep- 

 herd, however, who was either the head of the family, his 

 son, or some confidential servant, was at hand in cases 

 of difficulty and danger ; and when night came on, the 

 sheep were driven to the immediate neighbourhood of 

 the encampment, or enclosed in a fold, where he lay 

 down in the midst of them, either in a temporary hut, 

 or exposed to severe cold. Jacob alludes to his suffer- 

 ings in such circumstances, when he says, " In the day 

 the drought consumed me, and the frost by night ; anc 

 my sleep departed from, mine eyes ;" words, which may 

 well suggest to us the pains and sorrows of Him, who is 

 the great Shepherd of Israel, and who laid down his life 

 for his sheep. 



In a wild and boundless desert, and without such a 



