10 



ROCKY-MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 



whole is white; the horns appear to have stood on the 

 top of the head, somewhat in the manner of those of a 

 c^oat^ or of those on the figure of Shaw's Pigmy Antelope, 

 Gen. Zool. vol. ii. plate 188, and vignette on the title- 

 page. But one* horn is now attached to the skin, and that 

 measures three inches and three quarters in length, on the 

 fore part; it is slightly recurved, cylindrical and acumina- 

 ted, its base is somewhat tumid, and, with its lower half, 

 is scabrous, its upper part smooth, obsoletely striated, 

 and of a black colour. 



A cut of this horn, of the size of 

 nature, accompanies this account, by 

 which figure it will be evident to the 

 iiaturalist, that the above described 

 sheep is a distinct species. It is tru€ 

 that the animal was young, and we 

 have no positive evidence that when 

 full-grown or old the horns do not 

 increase in size, so as to resemble 

 those of some well-known species or 

 varieties of the genus. One of Lewis 

 and Clark's men informed them that 

 he had seen the animal in the Black 

 Hills, and that the horns were laria- 

 ted like those of the domestic sheep. 

 The Indians asserted that the horns 

 were erect ^nd pointed. The latter ac- 

 count is the more probable, as it has 

 been remarked by travellers, that, in describing those na- 

 tural productions with which they are conversant, our In- 

 dians seldom deviate from the truth. 



* The other horn is in Peale'ti Museum. 



