road.

From Spain comes the Merino, so celebrated for the quality of its wool;
while in Astracan and other Oriental countries there is a breed, the
lambs of which furnish the well-known Astracan lambs'-skin, one of the
most beautiful and valuable of furs. The Wallachian sheep, bred in
Hungary, Transylvania, and the Danubian principalities, also produces a
flue fur-like skin, much worn by the peasantry of Eastern Europe, in
jackets and cloaks termed "bundas."

A very similar kind of hairy-coated sheep is propagated throughout
Asiatic Russia and Siberia--the skins affording a warm and comfortable
clothing for the natives of these cold countries.

In the Indian countries there are many varieties, such as the Barwall of
Nepaul, and also the Huniah, Cago, and Seeling, belonging to the same
kingdom. Again, in the Deccan there is a breed known as Deccan sheep,
another called Garar, and two others in Mysore denominated respectively
the Carrimbar and Shaymbliar. China has a variety known as the Morvan,
with very long legs; and in Russia, again, there is a kind with tails so
long that their tops drag upon the ground; and another in Northern
Russia, with tails so short that they appear altogether wanting!

With regard to tails, no breed has these appendages so developed as the
broad or fat-tailed sheep. This kind is supposed to have originally
come from Barbary; but they are now propagated in different parts of the
world. In Asia they are found among the Tartars, Persians, Buchanans,
and Thibetians. In Africa itself they are common among the Abyssinians,
and are also kept in large flocks by the Dutch colonists of the Cape.
The tails of these sheep are sometimes so large and heavy, that it is
with difficulty the animals can carry them; and in some instances they
are dragged along the ground as the sheep move from place to place! The
fat of which this appendage is composed is esteemed a great delicacy;
and at the Cape, as elsewhere, it constitutes an important article of
the _cuisine_.

There are several other curious breeds of sheep reared in the different
countries of Africa. These are, the Guinea sheep of the western coast;
the Morocco sheep, bred in the kingdom of the same name; the African
sheep, an inhabitant of the Sahara; and the smooth-haired African sheep.
There are also the Tezzan sheep, belonging to Tripoli; the Saint Helena
sheep, of the celebrated Island of Saint Helena; the Congo sheep, of
Congo; and the