THE SHEEP. 131

Of the foreign varieties, the most celebrated are the
Many-horned Sheep (Ovis polycerata), found in Iceland and
the north of Russie, which greatly resembles the domestic
sheep in form, but is larger ; the wool is long, smooth, of a
hairy nature and a dark brown colour, under which is a
fine, short, and soft kind of wool or fur.

The Cretan Sheep (Ovis strepsicerus) is found principally
in Crete, but is kept in some parts of Europe for the singu-
larity of its appearance, the horns being very large, long,
and spiral, those of the male upright, of the female at right
angles to the head.

A variety met with in the deserts of Tartary have long
legs, horns in the male, black heads, large pendent ears,
and the tail so enveloped in fat as to be scarcely visible, the
parts on each side swelling out considerably. The broad-
tailed sheep (Ovis laticauda) is common. in Tartary, Arabia,
Persia, Syria, and Egypt, and is remarkable for its enormous
tail, which often weighs between ten and twenty pounds:
the upper part is covered with wool, underneath it is quite
bare ; the fat of which it is composed is esteemed a great
delicacy.

The African Sheep (Ovis Guimeensis) is an inhabitant of
all tropical countries, both in Africa and the East. It is