23-4 CURIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



ings of the aborigines are formed of a framework of 

 sticks, over which is plastered a thick layer of turf 

 and mud ; this is covered with sand, so that a village 

 of Milmenduras, as these people are called, would 

 never be taken for anything else than a collection of 

 sand heaps overgrown, perhaps, with the abundant 

 creeping plant, the montsrry, which bears a small fruit 

 resembling in form and taste a miniature apple. 



A HOME IN A HORN, 



AND THE ANIMAL THAT LIVES IN IT. 



A mammal that makes its home in the horn of a 

 sheep is certainly a novelty. But such a dwelling 

 place is no novelty to the animal, for from time im- 

 memorial he and his ancestors have had no other. 



Giants among their kind, the mountain sheep not 

 only surpass all others in stature, but their horns, in 

 proportion to the animal that carries them, are far the 

 largest borne. Among these huge sheep the argali 

 of Siberia is pre-eminent, being almost equal in bulk 

 and weight to an average-sized ox, and the horns he 

 bears are proportionally enormous. 



Much resembling those of our own Rocky Moun- 

 tain sheep, the horns of the argali are yet larger. 

 Springing upward from the forehead, they curve 

 backward and with a bold sweep descend below the 

 muzzle, then, recurving upward, taper oif to a point. 



