140 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



is not till this curve is completed that the horn 

 assumes the upward direction distinctive of the 

 breed. The horns of the ewes are much smaller, 

 and frequently take an almost straight outward 

 direction. In Hungary the zackel sheep is known 

 as the spiral-horned rasko sheep ; the word spiral 

 being used as indicative of a corkscrew-like twist. 

 An idea that the zackel sheep has been pro- 

 duced by crossing the markhor goat with ordinary 

 sheep has, of course, not the slightest foundation 

 in fact. 



In the large ram with strongly divergent horns, 

 which appears to represent the typical form of the 

 breed, the whole head and neck, as well as the 

 limbs, are black, the fleece being dirty white ; but 

 in the one with less divergent horns the face is 

 clay-red in colour. In other cases only the face and 

 legs are black ; while not infrequently the entire 

 colour is dirty white. The long woolly hair on the 

 sides of the body may attain a length of fully ten 

 inches. 



In Wallachia and Hungary zackel sheep are 

 kept in large herds, which during the winter are 

 fed in the plains, whereas in summer they are 

 taken to high mountain-pastures. During winter 

 many of the flocks are driven to the milder districts 

 of Rumelia, and even to the shores of the Black 

 Sea. These sheep stand wet soil and a damp 

 climate much better than most breeds ; when in 



