150 
THE MERINO, 
saw no place for fire, but they have it, since they 
dress here the flesh of their sheep, and in the night 
sometimes keep oif the bears by whirling firebrands : 
four of them, belonging to the flock mentioned above, 
lie here. I viewed their flock very carefully, and, 
by means of our guide and interpreter, made some 
inquiries of the shepherds, which they answered 
readily and very civilly. A Spaniard at Venesque, 
a city in the Pyrenees, gives 600 livres French (the 
livre is 10-i-d. English) a-year for the pasturage of 
this flock of 2000 sheep. In the winter he sends 
them into the lower part of Catalonia, a journey of 
twelve or thirteen days ; and when the snow is melt- 
ed in the spring, they are conducted back again. 
They are the whole year kept in motion, and mov- 
ing from spot to spot, which is owing to the great 
range they everywhere have of pasture. They are 
always in the open air, never housed or under cover, 
and never taste of any food hut what they can find 
on the hills. 
“ Four shepherds, and from four to six large Spa- 
nish dogs, have the care of this flock : the latter are 
in France called of the Pyrenees breed ; they are 
black and white, of the size of a large wolf, a large 
head and neck, armed with collars stuck with iron 
spikes. No wolf can stand against them ; but bears 
are moie potent adversaries ; if a bear can reach a 
tree, he is safe ; he rises on his bind legs with his 
back to the tree, and sets the dogs at defiance. In 
the night the shepherds rely entirely on their dogs ; 
