FAT-TAILED AND LONG-TAILED SHEEP 191 



in quality to that of their roving brethren. Before 

 Spanish and English wools came into the con- 

 tinental market, that of the mobile flocks of Taren- 

 tinian long-tails commanded a high price. 



The last representative of the long-tailed group 

 is the Circassian sheep. Both sexes may carry horns, 

 although the ewes are mostly polled : in the rams 

 the horns are nearly smooth on the front surface, 

 and form a shell-like spiral, with the tip directed 

 inwards. The colour of the moderately long, fine, 

 and silky wool is silvery white, with a bluish sheen. 

 In addition to their larger horns, the rams are 

 distinguished from the ewes by the greater length 

 of the tail, which includes from twenty to twenty- 

 two vertebrae. 



Flocks of these handsome, long-tailed sheep are 

 kept by the shepherds of the Caucasus, but more 

 especially by the Circassians in Great and Little 

 Kabarda, on the north side of the main range, and 

 also in the vicinity of the Black Sea. They are 

 likewise reared in southern Russia, inclusive of the 

 Crimea, as well as in Little Russia to the south of 

 the Oka ; while from southern Russia they extend 

 into Podolia and parts of Poland. By Peter the 

 Great Circassian sheep were introduced into Kazan 

 and Astrakhan ; and, as the result of this, a few. 

 flocks were to be met with in Fitzinger's time in 

 various parts of the government of Orenburg. 

 These sheep are essentially a mountain breed, and 



