506 THE COMMON SHEEP. 



from the bitter and piercing blast during snow-storms among 

 the mountains, are places fraught with the greatest danger, for 

 it is there that the drifting snow accumulates in vast masses - } 

 and while the flocks are comparatively warm and comfortable, 

 and before they are aware of their fate, the drift becomes piled 

 up in such a manner as to render a retreat impossible, even 

 if they were inclined to attempt it. Thus it sometimes happens 

 that in the space of a very few hours, some scores, yea, perhaps, 

 hundreds of sheep become buried beneath the snow to a depth 

 of several feet. Except when the fall of snow is immediately 

 succeeded by a thaw, and suffocation or drowning naturally 

 ensues, very few, comparatively, perish on account of the great 

 depth of the drift, the snow being so porous that the sheep 

 can respire without much inconvenience, even when beneath 

 eight or ten feet of compact snow. When they have sought 

 shelter in some ravine or hollow, and perceive the snow rapidly 

 increasing on and around them, the stronger ones get upon 

 their feet, and attempt to shake it off their fleeces j and con- 

 sequently become finally enclosed in the drift in a standing 

 position. Those that are thus buried on their legs, and have 

 even remained so for several days, are generally found to have 

 acquired sufficient strength to turn themselves, and to be able 

 to lie down and rise at pleasure -, and where a few have happened 

 to stand close together while the drift was forming, owing to 

 the united warmth of their bodies, and their frequent move- 

 ments, a rather considerable open space is usually found sur- 

 rounding them. 



Sheep have sometimes been under the snow [or overblown as 

 the shepherds express it] for three or four weeks, and still 

 survived ; but in all such cases they had been able to nibble 

 the short grass, grass-roots, and even a portion of the soil, on 

 a space of a few superficial feet. It has also been ascertained 

 that, where sheep have actually been starved to death before 

 they were discovered, extreme hunger had induced them to 

 tear the wool from each other's backs."* 



* Abridged from The Penny Magazine, No. 500. 



