286 
SHEEP. 
others so remarkably long, ag to obtain the sheep 
that carry them the denomination of long tailed 
sheep. The short thick-tailed sheep are common 
among the Tartars. Tibet affords the broad-tail- 
ed sheep ; which are in that kingdom distinguish- 
ed likewise for the superior fineness of their wool. 
This wool, not inferior in quality to that of Cara- 
mania, is, like it, wrought into shawls for the 
great omrahs, which are sold at a higher price 
than those of any other manufacture. The long- 
tailed sheep form the flocks of the Dutch colonists 
at the Cape of Good Hope. A late travel ler, 
who advanced from the Cape a considerable way 
into the inland country, relates that he saw among 
the Hottentots, in the country adjacent to Orange 
river, a sort of sheep with much longer tails than 
those of the sheep about the Cape, and covered, 
not with wool, but with coarse hair, which gave 
them, at a distance, the appearance rather of 
dogs than of sheep. The Cape sheep are not less 
distinguished by their ears, which are large and 
pendent, than by their tails. The tail, in its na- 
ture between fat and marrow, is a delicacy worthy 
of the approbation of the nicest epicure. This 
variety of the sheep was not unknown to the an- 
cient Greeks and Romans. Aristotle mentions 
them as inhabitants of Syria ; and Pliny, proba- 
bly on Aristotle's authority, repeats the same 
fact. 
Another variety of this species is the fat-rump- 
ed sheep, which is not provided with a tail. Its 
buttocks swell out like two globes, are perfectly 
smooth, and scarce leave the os occygis discern- 
ible. Its nose is arched ; its ears are pendulous ; 
its legs are slender ; its head black ; its fleece 
commonly white, but at times black, reddish, or 
spotted. The globular buttocks are composed 
solely of suet ; and are sometimes so large as to 
