120 
A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER 
II. 
May 20, &c. 
Maycay, or 
long-legged 
goat. 
One man and a dog will take care of a flock of ten rams and a 
hundred ewes. The males that are not wanted for breeding are 
partly offered up, when lambs, as sacrifices by the shepherds them- 
selves, and of course are eaten by them ; or, while in their third 
year, they are emasculated, and a year afterwards sold to the 
butcher. The ewes breed at two years of age, without observing 
any particular season ; and, after having given about four lambs, 
are sold to the butcher. For three months the lamb is suffered to 
draw the whole milk. Once a day afterwards, for from two to four 
weeks, a moderate portion is taken by the shepherd. The milk is 
mixed with that of cows and buffaloes ; and thirty ewes do not 
give daily to the shepherd more than a quart. The sheep are shorn 
twice a year, and fifty fleeces produce about a Maund (or 24-lb. 
6 ounces), or nearly half a pound each. The wool here is all coarse, 
and is usually manufactured into a kind of blanket. A good wether 
sells for 1 ^ Rupee, (2 s. 8 ~d.) an old ewe for one Rupee (2 s. 2 d.), the 
fleeces of seven sheep sell for one Fanam (8 d). The sheep are fed 
entirely on the grass that is found in waste lands ; for which no- 
thing is paid to government, only the shepherd is occasionally re- 
quired to furnish a sacrifice for the village gods. Tn general, they 
are confined at night in a pen contiguous to the shepherd’s hut ; 
but in the ploughing season, they are lent out to the farmers, to be 
folded on their fields. For this, so long as he is employed, the 
shepherd receives his food. The sheep must have water twice a 
day, at noon, and two hours afterwards. 
The long-legged-goat, called Maycay in the Canarese language, 
is a very different breed from the common goat; but the two 
kinds can propagate together* It seems to approach nearly to the 
Syrian goat, as may be seen by the accompanying figure of a male, 
Fig. 10. By the Mussulmans here, it is most absurdly classed with 
the sheep : while the short-legged goat has an appropriate name. 
In every flock of sheep there is commonly a proportion of Maycays , 
which may be from ten to twenty out of every hundred. This does 
