BREEDS OF ASIATIC HIGHLANDS 157 



at heights not under 7000 to 8000 feet, where the 

 maximum temperature in the shade is not more 

 than 70°. . . . The wool is of the kind called long 

 staple." 



The second Tibetan breed of short-tailed sheep 

 is described by Mr. Hodgson as the peluk, or 

 Silinga sheep ; the former term being apparently 

 its native designation, while the latter indicates 

 the country where it is produced, Siling being 

 an old title for the Tangut district, lying to the 

 south of the Nan-Shan. The Silinga is indeed 

 essentially the sheep of eastern Tibet and the high- 

 lands of the adjacent provinces of China, being 

 found in the neighbourhood of Lhasa, but unknown 

 on the Nari plateau, where the Hunia abounds. It is 

 also imported into Nepal and Sikhim. In general 

 character the Silinga is a smaller and more slender 

 replica of the Hunia, but the face is generally white, 

 although, like the legs, it may be tinged with fawn. 

 Wholly black individuals appear to be less un- 

 common than in the case of the Hunia. The Silinga 

 and the Hunia supply the Tibetans, who dress 

 wholly in woollens, with the materials for their 

 garments and blankets. 



Of these sheep, on the passes north of Sikhim, 

 Sir J. D. (then Dr.) Hooker^ wrote as follows : — 



" They [the Tibetans] had with them above one 

 hundred sheep, of a tall, long-legged Roman-nosed 



' Himalayan Journals, 2nd ed., vol. i. p. 259, London, 1855. 



