THE CULTIVATOR. 
127 
dary of Portugal, and as no other than the Leonesa Trash- 
umantes are found in that part of Spain, there can be but 
little doubt that they belonged to that race. 
I attempted in 1806, also in 1807, to obtain some from 
the most celebrated flocks, but the laws were so strict 
against their exportation without royal license, that I 
failed of success. After the French invasion in 1808, the 
j «came more relaxed, and in 1809, by special favor, 
3 ned two hundred Escurials. At the second inva¬ 
sion of the French under Joseph Bonaparte, the rapidity 
of the march of the French troops hurried the Supreme 
Junta from Madrid, and they retired to Badajos. Being 
without money, and being afraid of disgusting the Estra- 
madurans, by levying a tax upon them, they were com¬ 
pelled to sell four of the first flocks in Spain, which had 
been confiscated in consequence of the proprietors joining 
the French. These were the Paular, previously owned 
by the Prince of Peace; the Negretti, previously owned 
by the Conde Del Campo tie Alange; the Aqueirres, 
which had been owned by the Conde of the same name, 
and the Montarco, owned by the Conde deMontarco, and 
were such sheep as could not have been got out of Spain, 
had it not been for the invasion of the French and the 
distracted state of the country growing out of that inva¬ 
sion. When the Junta sold, it was upon the express con¬ 
dition of their granting licenses to carry them out of the 
kingdom. Four thousand of the Paular flock were sent 
to England for the king; and Col. Downie, a Scotch offi¬ 
cer in the British service, but who then held the rank of 
General in the Spanish service, ami I, purchased the re¬ 
mainder of the flock, between three and four thousand 
more; and of this purchase, I took fourteen hundred, and 
he sent the rest to Scotland with the exception of two or 
three hundred, which he sold to come to this country. 
Sir Charles Stewart purchased the Negretti flock and sent 
them to England, with the exception of about a hundred 
I got out of his flock after they reached Lisbon. 
I purchased about seventeen hundred of the Aiqueirres 
flock of the Junta, and the remainder was sold and sent to 
England. The Montarco flock was bought by a Spaniard 
and a Portuguese, and about two thousand seven hundred 
were shipped to this country. I shipped to the United 
States, the fourteen hundred Paulars, one thousand seven 
hundred Aqueirres, two hundred Escurial one hundred 
Negrettis, and about two hundred Montarcos. Of this 
number, about one hundred were sent to Wiscasset and 
Portland, one thousand one hundred to Boston and New- 
buryport, one thousand five hundred to New-York, three 
hundred and fifty to Philadelphia, two hundred and fifty 
to Baltimore, one hundred to Alexandria, and two hun¬ 
dred to Norfolk and Richmond. Besides those which I 
shipped to the United States on my own account, there 
were about three hundred Gaudaloupes purchased by oth¬ 
ers, and two to three hundred of the Paular flock sold by 
Gen. Downie, shipped to Boston; and of the Montarco 
flock, shipped by others, about two thousand five hundred 
were sent to Boston, Providence, New-York, Philadel¬ 
phia, Baltimore and Savannah. The Gaudaloupes, Pau¬ 
lars and Montarcos, which were shipped to Boston by 
others, were for the account of Gorham Parsons, Esq , 
Gen. Sumner, D. Tichenor and E. H. Derby, Esq. All 
these sheep were shipped in the latter part of 1809, du¬ 
ring 1810 and the early part of 1811, and were the only 
Leonesa Trashumantes, if we include Gen. Humphreys’ 
and Chancellor Livingston’s, (which I have no doubt 
were of the same stock) that were ever shipped to the 
United States. Badajos is but little over one hundred 
miles from Lisbon, and all the sheep purchased there and 
in that vicinity, were shipped from Lisbon. I was then 
Consul there, and from my office was accurately acquaint¬ 
ed with all the shipments, as certificates of property from 
me always accompanied them. 
I shall now, in compliance with your wishes, give you 
a description of the sheep of the different flocks sent to 
this country. The Paulars were undoubtedly one of the 
handsomest flocks in Spain. They were of middling 
height, round bodied, well spread, straight on the back, 
the neck of the bucks rising in a moderate curve from 
the withers to the setting on of the head, their head hand¬ 
some, with aquilline curve of the nose, with short, fine 
glossy hair on the fiace, and generally hair on the legs, 
the skin pretty smooth, that is, not rolling up or doubling 
about the neck and body, as in some other flocks, the 
crimp in the wool was not so short as in many other 
flocks, the wool was somewhat longer, but it was close 
and compact and was soft and silky to the touch, and the 
surface was not so much covered with gum. This flock 
was originally owned by the Carthusian friars of Pau¬ 
lar, who were the best agriculturists in Spain, and was 
sold by that order to the Prince of Peace when he came 
into power. The Negretti flock were the tallest merinos 
in Spain, but were not handsomely formed, being rather 
flat sided, roach back and the neck inclining to sink down 
from the withers; the wool was somewhat shorter than 
the Paular and more crimped, the skin was more loose 
and inclined to double, and many of them were wooled 
on their faces and legs down to their hoofs. All the 
loose skinned sheep had large dewlaps. The Aqueirres 
were short legged, round, broad bodied, with loose skins, 
and were more wooled about their faces and legs than 
any other flock I ever saw, the wool was more crimped 
than the Paular, and less than the Negretti, but was thick 
and soft. This flock formerly belonged to the Moors of 
Spain, and at their expulsion, was bought by the family 
of Aquirres. The wool in England was known as the 
Muros flock, and was highly esteemed. All the bucks 
of these three flocks had large horns. The Escurials 
were about as tall as the Paulars, but not quite so round 
and broad, being in general rather more slight in their 
make; their wool was crimped, but not quite so thick as 
the Paular or Negretti, nor were their skins so loose as 
the Negretti and Aqueirres, nor had they so much wool 
on the face and legs. The Montarco bore a considerable 
resemblance to the Escurials. The Escurial flock had 
formerly belonged to the crown, but when Philip the 2d 
built the Escurial palace, he gave them to the friars, 
whom he placed in a convent that was attached to the 
palace, as a source of revenue. These four flocks were 
moderately gummed. The Gaudaloupe flock was rather 
larger in the bone than the two preceding, about the same 
height, but not quite so handsomely formed, their wool 
was thick and crimped, their skins loose and doubling, 
their faces and legs not materially different from the two 
latter flocks, but in general they were more gummed 
than either of the other flocks. In point of fineness there 
was very little difference between these six flocks, and as 
I have been told by well informed persons, there is very 
little difference in this respect among the Leonesa Trash- 
umantes in general. The Escurials, the Montarcos and 
the Gaudaloupes were not in general so heavy horned as 
the other three flocks, and about one in six of the bucks 
were without horns, or what is commonly called a polled 
buck. 
I had selected by the Paular shepherds, who came with 
that flock, three hundred sheep which I shipped to New- 
buryport. The half of these were Paulars, a fourth 
Aqueirres, an eighth Escurials and the other eighth 
Montarcos and Negrettis. These I put on the farm in 
Weathersfield, Vt., that I bought after my return to the 
United States, and also drove up about a hundred, the re¬ 
mainder of those I had shipped to Boston. In compli¬ 
ance with the invariable practice in Spain, I bred the re¬ 
spective flocks separately, or what in farmer's language 
is called in and in; the custom in Spain having existed 
from time immemorial, of breeding the bucks and ewes 
of the same cabanna or flock together, or in and in; but 
in about 1816 or 1817, I mixed the different flocks to¬ 
gether, and have so bred my merinos ever since. 
About ten years ago I found some twenty or thirty sam¬ 
ples of the Paular flock that was sent me from Spain to 
Lisbon, and by clipping from my sheep about as many 
samples, just as they came to hand, I was satisfied that my 
flock had improved; and some ten or a dozen wool grow¬ 
ers who compared the two, were of the same opinion. 
Whether this was owing to mixing the several flocks to¬ 
gether, or to a very close attention to the selection of my 
bucks, I cannot say, but the fact unquestionably is so. I 
well know, as you say, that many have been latterly run¬ 
ning about the country puffiing up their sheep as full blood 
Paulars, which name has doubtless been adopted because it 
is generally understood that the Paular flock carried the 
heaviest fleeces, but with the exception of eight or ten pure 
