228 
NATURE NOTES. 
animal who has died from the disease, and dexterously to 
introduce some of the poisonous membrane into the root of 
the ear of every goat of the flock, and by this means he seems 
to be able to arrest the spread of the murrain amongst the flocks 
and herds that may have become infected. 
Amongst his memoranda I find Mr. Barlow alludes to a habit 
with the Indian goats, which may not, however, be peculiar to 
those only, of a sort of low groaning noise or deep murmuring 
sound emitted by them after grazing all day, and which the 
early Mahommedans were not slow to observe, and to attach to it 
a legend of their own. Their saying is, that Moses was with his 
flocks one day, and was suddenly struck with fever, and that 
the goats in unison began to pray for his recovery, and have 
been mumbling this prayer ever since. 
But I must hurry on to describe some of the sheep of that 
northern part of India. First of all, and by far the handsomest 
is what is designated by the natives “ Beeangee.” Their home 
is the snow-line towards “ Spiti ” and “Lahool” in the 
“Jalandhar” district, not far from “ Kangra ” ; and where the 
majority of the population are Tibetans, who pasture goats and 
sheep on their southern table-lands. During the annual migra- 
tions, these sheep are brought down in flocks to the salt mines 
of the Rajah of Mundie. Each sheep then carries across its 
back a couple of sacks containing together about ten pounds of 
borax, for which these tribes find a ready sale, and when the 
winter is over many of the sheep are taken back with a return 
load of salt and crude sugar which they call “goor.” It is 
noteworthy that every flock is preceded by two or more hardy 
goats, who are considered better able to lead the herd than 
their timid cousins. These “ Beeang ” sheep, both males and 
females, are furnished with horns, those of the former being 
large and elegantly twisted. Their wool is both long and fine, 
and is woven by the people into warm blankets which are much 
esteemed. 
There is also the “Guddee” sheep, which are bred in the 
Himalayas, they are hardier than the “ Beeangee,” but in no 
way to be compared with them in weight or appearance ; the 
flesh, however, is much prized by Europeans on the hill stations 
of Simla and thereabouts. Hindoos as a rule prefer eating the 
flesh of goats rather than of sheep, and they choose goats in 
sacrifices to their gods. The Mahommedans, on the other hand, 
esteem the flesh of sheep, while it is a common saying with 
natives of all religions, “ See how quietly the sheep takes his 
death, and how noisy and clamorous is the goat when about to 
be killed.” 
Again, there is the variety chiefly to be found in the North- 
west Provinces, which is possessed of a long pendulous tail, 
and is styled the “ Doombah ” from the Persian word “ Doom ” 
a tail ; but their flesh is inferior to the short-tailed sheep of 
the Punjab, and which are known generally as “ Choor-rura.” 
