262 SHEEP. 



breed there are a few flocks, in this Dif-. 

 tri(5l ; but not of the pureft kind. 



The flock I found, at Buckland, were 

 of this defcription : but were in a fl:ate of 

 negle(£l j — reverting faft back to the native 

 breed of the country,, both in carcafe and 

 head ! But there being fl:ill a fufliciency 

 of the true breed left, to recover the flock 

 from its degeneracy, it was thought more 

 advifeable to improve them, as the Houfe- 

 lamb breed, than to change them for either 

 of the more popular forts, that are working 

 their way, even into this remote part, — 

 namely, the South Down and. the ^ew 

 Leicestershire. 



I mufl: not omit to mention, by the way, 

 a circumfl:ance attending the improvement 

 of the Buckland flock ; as it farther corro- 

 borates the idea of the horned fheep of Dor- 

 fetfhire, &c. having been originally drawn 

 from the antient mountain fl:ock. In 179 1 , 

 the flock, viewed in the aggregate, bore a 

 much flironger refemblance to the ordinary 

 breed of the Diftrid, than to the Dorfet- 

 (hire breeds efpecially in head, — a confl^ 



derablq 



