196 THE SHEEP AND ITS COUSINS 



of the otherwise black ears. The ewes are smaller 

 than the rams ; and the lambs, which are born with 

 a distinct rudiment of a tail, are characterised by the 

 shiny, wavy, and doubly curled coat. 



The wide steppes on which these sheep are reared 

 are for most of the year dry and comparatively 

 barren, although clothed in spring with an abundant 

 vegetation. At the commencement of summer the 

 flocks are driven to the higher grounds, on which 

 grow various sorts of hard and dry grasses, together 

 with low bushes of the wormwood group, and several 

 kinds of plants rich in sqda-salts. In many places 

 are natron-springs, and nearly all the water is more 

 or less brackish. Here the flocks remain through- 

 out the summer, their sojourn being marked by the 

 great increase in the amount of fat they carry, 

 especially on the rump ; the maximum development 

 occurring in autumn, when the plants of the worm- 

 wood group attain their full growth. Long before 

 winter sets in the flocks are driven south, to find 

 protection in sheltered valleys, where, however, 

 owing to the poorer fodder, and, above all, the 

 diminished supply of salts, all the sheep lose much 

 of their fat. When they cannot get brackish water 

 to drink, they are said to lick up a saline dew which 

 collects on the leaves of the plants during the night 

 in certain districts ; all this pointing to the conclu- 

 sion that salts are the main factor in the excessive 

 development of fat distinctive of this breed. This 



