SARDINIA AND ITS WILD SHEEP 21 



I believe the mouflon, as I know liim, is confined to 

 the ishmds of Sardiuiu and Corsica. There are niouflon 

 ill Cyprus, and also in the mountains of Tunis, hut they 

 are distinct species from the Sardinian animal, and from 

 one aiiolhci". 



Take huH all round, llic Urts musirnoa is one ol' the 

 best hands at k('ei)iiiL>- a whole skin of any wild animal 

 Ihat I have hunted. Iluse is not the word lor liini. 

 He is up to all the tricks of the trade and several more. 

 One writer states that to approach the rams is "not un- 

 accompanied by danger." If to his other good qualities 

 this sturdy little sheep added that of occasionally showing- 

 fight, he would indeed l»e perfect. To say that "they 

 frequent the precipitous blufis, where even charcoal- 

 burners find it (liffirnlt to set foot," as anotlicr writer 

 avers, conveys a wrong impression. Though lie lives 

 on ground more or less steep, it is easy, and lie has 

 no occasion for any remarkal>le feats of agility, (hi the 

 other hand, his best safeguard lies in the dense macquia 

 which covers the hills. At this elevation it is exclusively 

 conq)osed of the tall '" bru}'ere "" heather, from whicli llie 

 so-called "briar-root" i)ipes are made. This grows from 

 two to six feet In'^'li. If this covert were continuous, it 

 would of course be inq)0ssible to see an animal wliii-li 

 stands little over two feet, l)ut much of it has been 

 burnt, and there are natural openings besides. It is 

 in these openings that he must be sought when feed- 

 ing. As all wild sheep are constitutionally restless, and 

 never remain long in one place, it will be umlerstood 

 how difticult it is, even when they have been spied, 

 to hold tlu'ni with the glass. They are constantly dis- 



