328 OVIS AMMON. 



the sheep species, to be found in Thibet. It is 

 said to be identical with the rocky mountain 

 sheep of Cahfornia, but whether correct in 

 this surmise or not, it is the largest of its 

 genus, as yet met with, by sportsmen in the 

 East. I cannot give the measurement of a 

 full-grown male Ovis Amnion, which I much 

 regret, for few people when talking of a sheep, 

 although a wild one, will pictui'e to their 

 minds, an animal nearly as large as a bullock, 

 having enormous horns like those of our 

 domestic ram, measuring nearly two feet in 

 circumference at the base, and having only one 

 twist. The skull and horns alone, when quite 

 dry, will weigh about forty pounds. The 

 legs are long, but rather light in the bone, 

 and not made for rocky bad ground, like the 

 burr ell. 



The fleece, or rather fur or hair, (for neither 

 in this, nor any other wild sheep, does its 

 texture approach to wool,) is short and very 

 thick, the general colour being a light ash, 

 except about the throat, which is white. In 

 the females, the foi'e-parts are darker than 



