ORDER RUMINANTIA. 333 



Campo. The Souari breed resides in winter on the borders 

 of Estremadura, Andalusia, and New Castille. They remove 

 at the end of April cross the Tagus at Talavera de la 

 Reyna, and at Puente del Arzobispo, direct their march to- 

 wards Madrid, and from thence to Soria, where a part re- 

 mains in the mountains, and the rest cross the Ebro to 

 graze in Navarre and the Pyrenees. These three breeds are 

 known by the epithet of Transhumante, or travelling, to 

 distinguish them from the Estantes, or such as do not mi- 

 grate. Of these latter the best breeds reside about the 

 flanks of the Guadarama and Somosierra ranges, and in 

 the environs of Segovia, where they are shorn in places 

 named Esquileos ; but the Leonese breed has the finest form, 

 and produces the most abundant fleeces. 



The fleece of Merinos weighs, upon an average, from three 

 to five pounds. In colour, the best are on the surface dark- 

 brown, almost black, from the dust adhering to the greasy 

 character of the pile ; beneath, it is pure white, producing 

 a striking contrast with the rosy hue of the skin ; the harder 

 the fleece, and the more it resists pressure, the more close 

 and fine will be the wool. Since His late Majesty spread his 

 fine flock of Merinos over England, the breed is much in- 

 termixed, and with the Ryeland, by late experiments, four, 

 or at most five times crossed, it has produced wool of equal 

 excellence, and more than double the weight : one instance 

 is recorded of a ram producing a fleece of twelve pounds. 



Great Britain, however, produces the most valuable 

 sheep, taking all the qualities required into consideration. 

 From the reign of Edward I. the wool produced was an ar- 

 ticle of immense value to the kingdom ; and from Edward 

 III. to Henry VII. the wool staple was an object of repeated 

 legislative attention. It is curious that in earlier periods 

 the English breed was transported to Spain*, and that from 



* Baker says " King Edward IV. enters into a league with 

 John, King of Arragon, to whom he sent a score of Cotsal Ewes and 

 five Rams, a small present in shew, but great in the event ; for it 



