CHAPTER III 



SOME CURIOUS DOMESTIC SHEEP 

 OF FOREIGN LANDS 



FEW animals are more valuable to man than the 

 sheep. Its flesh serves as food, the milk of 

 the ewes is utilised in some countries for drinking 

 and for making into cheese, and its hoofs and horns 

 are converted into glue. The woollen industry 

 is almost entirely dependent upon the fleece of sheep 

 for its raw material, and the fur known as ' Astra- 

 khan ' is obtained from certain of the Asiatic breeds. 

 Russian tallow is also a product obtained from these 

 animals, while parchment is prepared from their 

 skins, or from those of goats. Sheep are used even 

 as beasts of burden in Tibet, being employed for 

 carrying borax and salt across the mountainous 

 passes of that country, and, according to the account 

 given by Dr. Hooker in Himalayan Journals, ' Each 

 carried upwards of forty pounds of salt, done up 

 into two leather bags, slung on either side, and 

 secured by a band going over the chest, and another 

 round the loins, so that they cannot slip off when 

 going up or down hill. These sheep are very tame, 

 patient creatures, travelling twelve miles a day 



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