SOME CURIOUS DOMESTIC SHEEP 51 



The fat-rumped sheep are found in the Himalayas, 

 Syria, Palestine, Persia, Astrakhan, etc., and those 

 from the latter region supply the well-known 

 Astrakhan fur ; whilst the product known in the 

 fur trade as * Persian lamb ' is obtained from the 

 Persian breed. The range of the Persian fat- 

 rumped sheep extends also into India, in which 

 country they receive the name of dumba-wala, 

 meaning * the sheep with a big tail.' When viewed 

 from behind, the tails of these animals (which swell 

 out on either side into enormous cushion-like masses, 

 and weigh at times as much as forty pounds) com- 

 pletely hide their hind-quarters, so much so,, indeed, 

 that they might easily be mistaken for that portion 

 of their anatomy. If, however, a tightly-stretched 

 cloth be placed underneath and behind the tail, the 

 full extent of that member is revealed. 



Astrakhan and Persian lamb fur, it may be men- 

 tioned, is the tightly -curled baby coats of the newly- 

 born lambs ; and as their fleece only remains in the 

 approved curly state for a few days after they have 

 been born, numbers of lambs are slaughtered at 

 that innocent age in order to supply the demands 

 of the fashionable world. It is pleasing to be 

 able to state, however, that there is no truth in the 

 report one hears from time to time of the ewes being 

 killed for the sake of procuring the skins of their 

 unborn offspring. Canon Tristam, in his book 

 Natural History of the Bible, says that these broad- 

 tailed sheep were known in the days of Herodotus 

 and Aristotle. He further states : ' The tail is 

 simply a mass of fat, and is used for grease, for lamps, 



