144l OR ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 
they were exceedingly wild, alarmed their compa- 
nions on the approach of danger by a hissing noise, 
and scaled tlie rocks w'ith a speed and agility which 
batBed pursuit. Their favourite feeding-places are 
grassy knolls, skirted by craggy rocks, to which 
they can retreat when pursued by dogs or wolves. 
They are accustomed to pay daily visits to certain 
caves in the mountains, that are encrusted with a sa- 
line efflorescence of which they are fond. The horns 
of the old rams attain a size so enormous, and curve 
so much forwards and downwards, that they effec- 
tually prevent the animal from feeding on level ground. 
The flesh is quite delicious when in season, far su- 
perior to that of any of the deer which frequent the 
same quarter, and even exceeding in flavour the 
finest English mutton.” * 
In 1818, Professor Jameson presented a skin of 
the Kocky Mountain sheep to the Wernerian So- 
ciety of Edinburgh, and recommended an attempt to 
be made for its introduction to this country. For 
this pui^pose, a committee was appointed to confer 
with the Directors of the Highland Society, and 
Mr Thomas Laurie (the eminent land- valuator) was 
requested to give in a report regarding the value of 
the fleece. We have thought that gentleman’s re- 
marks upon the wool worthy of insertion : — " The 
wool, which forms the chief covering of the skin, is 
fully an inch and a half long, and is of the very finest 
quality. It is unlike the fleece of the common sheep, 
• Fauna Boreali-Americana, i. p. 271. 
