BOOK VII. I. 2-II. 2 



loads which are far from being small. Often too as 3 

 the most famous of poets says : 



The tardy donkey's driver loads its sides 



With cheap fruits and returning brings from town 



A hammered millstone or black lump of pitch.** 



This animal's almost invariable task at the present 

 day consists in turning a mill and grinding corn. 

 Every estate, therefore, requires a donkey as that 

 might be called a necessary instrument, since, as I 

 have said, it can conveniently convey to town and 

 bring back most things that are required for use 

 either with load on its neck or on its back. What 

 kind of ass and what method of looking after it is 

 most approved, has been sufficiently described in a 

 previous book, where instructions have been given 

 about the valuable type of animal.'' 



II. The importance of the sheep is secondary to Onthepur- 

 that of the ass, though the sheep is of primary care of 

 account if one has regard to the extent of its useful- sheep. 

 ness. For it is our principal protection against the 

 violence of the cold and supplies us with a generous 

 provision of coverings for our bodies. Then, too, it 

 is the sheep which not only satisfies the hunger of 

 the country folk with cheese and milk in abundance 

 but also embellishes the tables of people of taste 

 with a variety of agreeable dishes. Indeed to some 2 

 tribes, who have no corn, the sheep provides their 

 diet ; hence most of the nomadic tribes and the 

 Getae '^ are called the " Milk-Drinkers." Though the 

 sheep, as Celsus most wisely remarks, is a very deli- 

 cate creature, it enjoys sound health and suffers very 

 little from contagious disease. Nevertheless a breed 

 of sheep must be chosen to suit local conditions, a prin- 



233 



