AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



195 



a proportionate magnitude, their voice resembles rather the 

 lowing of a calf than the bleating of a Sheep. They are 

 remarkably prolific, usually producing two, and not unfre- 

 quently three at a birth. The varieties usually raised in the 

 United States, are the various English kinds and the merino, 

 with the various crossed breeds between. 



As we have already observed, the wild races approximate 

 so very closely to each other, as to render it doubtful whe- 

 ther they may not be identical, and the slight differences 

 between them be merely owing to change of locality. They 

 were all included, by Linnasus, under the specific name of 

 ammon, in which he has been followed by many recent 

 naturalists. To bring the whole matter before our readers, we 

 will, therefore, give a short sketch of each of the species, as 

 admitted by Baron Cuvier, in his last edition of the Regne 

 Animal, before speaking of that inhabiting this country. 

 The Siberian Argali, [0. amnion,) which is found in a great 

 part of northern Asia, is distinguished by horns situate on 

 the summit of the head, which at first rise upright, then 

 bend backwards, and finallj'' twist outwards and upwards, 

 these horns are triangular at their base, rounded at the 

 angles, flat on the interior side, and deeply striated trans- 

 versely. The head resembles that of the common ram, 

 with, however, smaller ears ; it is nearly the size of a small 

 stag; the fore legs are shorter than the hinder; the tail is 

 very short and white tipped with yellowish. The hair of 

 the body is very short in summer, and of a yellowish colour, 

 mixed with gray. In winter it acquires a greater length, 

 and becomes of a fenuginous gray, with white at the muz- 

 zle, throat, and under the belly. At all times it has a lighter 

 spot of colour around the root of the tail. The favourite 

 resorts of this species are the mountainous districts of Sibe- 

 ria, Kamschatka, &c. They are gregarious, though the 

 flocks are small. They form the principal food of the inha- 

 bitants of those dreary countries. They are shot with fire- 

 arms, or with bows, sometimes with cross-bows, placed in 

 their paths, and discharged by their treading on a string 

 communicating with the trigger. They are so swift, that, 

 when chased by dogs, they leave their pursuers far in the 

 rear, though from these animals driving them to situations 

 in which they are exposed to the aim of the hunter, it is a; 

 favourite mode of chasing them. 



The Corsican or Sardinian Argali, (O. murimon,) is the 

 species spoken of by Pliny, under the name of murmon. 

 They are termed Mufri by the Corsicans, and inhabit the 

 highest parts of the island. They can only be shot or cap- 

 tured by stratagem. They feed on the roost acrid plants ; 

 their flesh, though lean, is highly esteemed ; the skin is 

 thick, and is employed as a hunting shirt, to defend the body 

 against the thorns and briars in passing through thickets. 

 From the accounts of some early British writers, it would 



prevails on the anterior aspect of the legs. The tail is dark 

 appear as if this species had once inhabited Scotland. Hec- 

 tor Boetius speaks of a Sheep in St. Kilda, the descrip- 

 tion of which agrees with this animal, added to which a 

 figure of one was discovered in a piece of sculpture taken 

 from the wall of Antoninus, near Glasgow. The Corsican 

 Argali only diSers from the Siberian, in not being as large, 

 in the female rarely having horns, and those very small. 



The American species is very closely allied to the Sibe- 

 rian, if not identical with it, the only difference being, that 

 it is a larger animal, and that its horns form a more spiral 

 curve. Unfortunately we are but little acquainted with the 

 habits and peculiarities of this animal; the following account 

 if it is principally derived from Dr. Richardson, whose 

 excellent work on the quadrupeds of the northern parts of 

 America, we have so frequently drawn upon for informa- 

 tion. 



" Size much greater than the largest sized varieties of 

 the domestic Sheep. It is bigger than the Argali." 



The horns of the male are very large, arise a short way 

 above the eyes, and occupy almost the whole space between 

 the ears, but do not touch each other at their bases. They 

 curve first backwards, then downwards, forwards, and 

 upwards, until they form a complete turn, during the whole 

 course of which, they recede from the side of the head in 

 a spiral manner. They diminish in size rapidly towards 

 their points, which are turned upwards. At their bases, 

 and for a considerable portion of their length, they are three 

 sided, the anterior or upper side being, as it were, thick- 

 ened, and projecting obtusely at its union with the two 

 others. This side is marked by transverse furrows, which 

 are less deep the further they are from the skull ; and 

 towards the tips the horns are rounded, and but obscurely 

 wrinkled. The furrows extend to the other two sides of 

 the horn, but are there less distinct. The intervals of the 

 furrows swell out, or are rounded. 



The horns of the female are much smaller, and nearly 

 erect, having but a slight curvature, and an inclination back- 

 wards and outwards. 



The ears are of a moderate size; the facial angle straight, 

 and the general form of the animal rather elegant, being 

 intermediate betwixt that of the sheep and the stag. Tail 

 very short. The hair like that of the rein deer, being, on 

 its first growth in the autumn, short, fine, and flexible; but 

 as the winter approaches, becoming much coarser, dry, and 

 brittle, though at the same time it feels soft to the touch. 

 In the latter season the hair is so close at its roots, that it is 

 necessarily erect. The legs are covered with shorter hairs. 



The head, buttocks, and posterior part of the belly white; 

 the rest of the body and the neck of a pale umber, or dusky 

 wood brown, colour. A deeper and more shining brown 



