FAT-TAILED AND LONG-TAILED SHEEP 173 



This beautiful coat retains its character only for a 

 very few days, after which the close locks open out 

 and the wool lengthens. 



These sheep in most parts of their habitat are 

 kept in the open throughout the year, being taken 

 in summer to the higher grounds, but in winter 

 are brought down to the lower valleys in order to 

 escape the extreme cold. The special interest 

 attaching to these sheep is that they form the chief 

 source of the beautiful fur known as Astrakhan, 

 which is the product of the very young rams. The 

 great bulk of these skins comes from Bokhara and 

 Persia, the Crimea yielding a smaller amount. The 

 most valuable are those of unborn lambs, termed by 

 the natives bareujen, as in these the double curls of 

 the fleece lie quite close to the skin, and have a 

 beautiful shining and silky appearance, which recalls 

 watered silk or damask. A story was long current 

 that the Bokharans were in the habit of killing 

 pregnant ewes for the sake of the unborn lambs ; 

 but this would be, in the first place, a very unprofit- 

 able business, while it would likewise be regarded 

 as a crime by the Mohammedans of Central Asia. 

 Such skins of unborn lambs as come into the 

 market are derived from ewes which have died from 

 disease or accident, as was long ago pointed out by 

 the German traveller Pallas, in his account of the 

 sheep of the Russian empire. Most of the supply 

 is, however, derived from young male lambs, which 



