THE COMMON SHEEP. 507 



If my materials for the history of the sheep consisted solely 

 of observations made on the habits of those which are kept, 

 as we ordinarily see them, in low and enclosed fields, I might 

 perhaps concur with my predecessors in representing the 

 sheep as a stupid, silly, timid, inactive animal : but the 

 sheep of the mountains, having more of their real nature 

 called into action by their comparative freedom and greater 

 exposure, convey a very different and more correct notion 

 of the disposition and habits of their species. On the moun- 

 tains they display considerable boldness and agility in leaping 

 from crag to crag, and frequently climbing about the whole 

 surface of the bare perpendicular sides of the precipitous 

 rocks, by treading upon the narrow ledges and projections, 

 which scarcely afford them standing room. In these apparently 

 dangerous situations, sometimes at a height of several hundred 

 feet, and with the billows of the ocean roaring beneath them, 

 they show that they are not such cowardly and stupid animals 

 as they have been described. They exhibit great daring, 

 activity, and a full confidence in their skill and adroitness, vying 

 with the goat in sureness of step and strength of spring when 

 they are ascending to the summit by repeated bounds. With 

 regard to the courage of sheep, may be instanced the boldness 

 with which the ewe, not unfrequently, defends her offspring 

 from danger, and the desperate combats which often occur 

 among the rams, who seem to have an indelible feeling of mutual 

 jealousy j for as soon as they come together, they rush head- 

 long at each other with immense force, the concussion of their 

 heads being audible at a great distance. 



Rosalind. " Never was there anything so sudden, except the battle of 

 two rams." 



(As You Like It, Act V. Scene 2.) 



Of the acuteness and obedience of the sheep, the reader will 

 have gathered no mean idea, from the many instances already 

 given of the promptitude with which it may easily be taught to 

 obey the call or the whistle of a gentle shepherd. But further, 

 to show that its docility is sufficiently great to render it manage- 

 able in employments which require it to exert its strength and 



