156 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



by Hodgson to the British Museum, and still pre- 

 served there, has the whole head and neck black, 

 and some black markings on the legs. In these 

 respects it exactly resembles the under-mentioned 

 " unicorn " rams, from which, however, it is dis- 

 tinguished by the larger ears and slighter horns. 

 The ears are well - developed, but differ from 

 those of wild species in showing a tendency to 

 droop ; and the nose, or chaffron, is somewhat more 

 convex than in the latter. 



Summing up the characteristics of the Hunia, 

 Hodgson remarked that this fine breed is distin- 

 guished " by extreme docility, by superior size, 

 gracefulness of form, slender horns, of which there 

 are frequently four, and, rarely, even five, a poly- 

 cerate [many-horned] tendency displayed by no 

 other tame breed of these regions ; and, lastly, by 

 the almost invariable mark of a black face. The 

 general colour is almost as invariably white. I 

 never saw a wholly black sheep of this breed ; nor, 

 I think, one with perfectly white face and legs. 

 Both the latter parts are invariably dark, black or 

 brown, and there are patches of the same hue 

 occasionally on the neck or hips. 



" This genuinely Tibetan race cannot endure 

 the rank pasture or high temperature, or both, of 

 the sub- Himalayas south of the Cachar. ... But 

 the Hunia does well in the Cachar, and may with care 

 be bred, or at least fattened, in the central regions 



