BREEDS OF ASIATIC HIGHLANDS 155 



the domesticated sheep of Tibet and the adjacent 

 districts of the Himalaya are much better known 

 than are those of any other part of the Asiatic 

 highlands ; and it is to these that attention is mainly 

 directed in this volume. Mr. Hodgson's article, 

 which is entitled " The Tame Sheep and Goats of 

 the sub- Himalayas and Tibet," was published at 

 Calcutta in the year 1847 in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society' of Bengal, vol. xvi. pp. 1003-1026, 

 and contains good illustrations of the various 

 breeds. 



The breed specially characteristic of the Tibetan 

 plateau, and the one employed in carrying salt and 

 borax over the stupendous passes, some of which 

 can be crossed only by yak, sheep, and goats, is 

 known in the western districts as the Hunia, and in 

 the eastern provinces as the haluk. 1 1 is a tall, black- 

 faced, and often black -headed sheep (pi. xii. 

 fig. i), standing from 30 to 32 inches at the withers, 

 usually with horns in both sexes, although these 

 may be absent in the ewes, and a tail not exceeding 

 from ic\ to 5^ inches in length. Frequently the 

 rams carry two pairs of horns, which are then small. 

 When, however, only a single pair is developed in 

 this sex they are relatively slender, set far apart 

 from one another on the crown of the head, and 

 curve spirally outwards, so as to form, when fully 

 developed, two complete turns. In colour they are 

 black. The skin of a four-horned ram presented 



