MUSK-SHEEP. : 59 
ing on its northern course to the Arctic Ocean. Their 
principal food is the various mosses, the leaves of stunted 
brush, and the fine velvety grasses that sparsely crop up in 
wet localities. 
For animals so unwieldy in shape and appearance musk- 
sheep are wonderfully nimble, making always for the rough- 
est grounds when pursued, leaping with agility from rock 
to rock, and scaling the faces of slopes so perpendicular, 
that the hunter, with hands and feet brought into play, finds 
it almost impossible to follow. Their hearing and sight are 
very acute; at the same time, so suspicious and cautious 
are they, that, although always assembled in little parties of 
from ten to twenty, sentinels are regularly told off for duty, 
which place themselves in the most commanding positions, 
ready to whistle the signal of alarm on the.slightest sus- 
picion of danger, accompanied by the usual sheep-like stamp 
of displeasure, which summons the herd to assist in inspect- 
ing the supposed intruder before they shift their feeding- 
grounds for haunts that previous experience has taught 
them are more secure. 
From the high latitudes in which they have their habitat, 
Captain Parry, the celebrated voyager, classes them among 
the dwellers north of the Arctic Circle; and well might he 
or others do so, for so well are they protected by nature 
from the inclement weather of the inhospitable regions 
which they inhabit, that the most severe snow and frost 
little interfere with the routine of their life. Their wool is 
remarkably soft, long, and densely close; so that at a small 
distance, if they are walking over irregular-surfaced soil, 
their feet are scarcely seen, the body of surrounding fringe 
giving the observer the impression which would arise if you 
saw an animal surrounded with a petticoat. Their color is 
much the same as that of the buffaloes of the plains, possi- 
bly a little darker, and at a distance they might easily be 
