The AMMON of Tibet has been known to measure as much as four feet and
an inch at the shoulder, and has a most imposing appearance on account
of the erect attitude in which it holds its head. Its horns attain a
great size, being sometimes as much as four feet long and twenty-two
inches in circumference at their bases, forming a single sweep of
about four-fifths of a circle, their points being turned slightly
outwards and ending bluntly. Its body colour is dark brown above, paler
posteriorly and below. A mane surrounds its neck, white in the male,
dark brown in the female. The tail measures only an inch in length. In
the female the horns do not exceed twenty-two inches in length.
The BURHEL, or Himalayan “blue wild Sheep,” stands three feet at the
shoulder, and has horns which, commencing very close together on the
forehead, describe a half circle of two feet or so, and are directed
very much outwards and backwards. In the female the horns do not exceed
eight inches in length, and stand backward instead of diverging. The
coarse fleece of winter is of an ashy-blue colour, which, in summer, is
replaced by one that is much darker. The abdomen is white, and a black
stripe runs along each side of the body, the front of the legs and the
chest being also black. It has no beard.
The AMERICAN ARGALI, or BIG-HORN, inhabits the range of the Rocky
Mountains. Its height is three and a half feet at the shoulder. The
horns form a complete circle, and are nearly three feet long in the
male. They are said to come so far forward and downward that old rams
find it impossible to feed on level ground. Its flesh is peculiarly
well flavoured.
The WILD SHEEP OF BARBARY, known also as the TRAGELAPHUS, is a large
and handsome species, with a comparatively lengthy tail, tufted at
its end. The hair on the chin is short, whilst that along the lower
margin of the neck, as well as on the front of the knees, attains a
great length. The horns are not massive, and hardly exceed two feet in
length. They are black, and are directed outward as well as backward.
THE GOATS.[3]
Modern naturalists, as intermediate forms become more numerous, find
much difficulty in separating off the Goats (which constitute the genus
_Capra_ of earlier authors) from the Sheep (_Ovis_). In the Goats the
horns are flattened from side to side, and rough in front and arched
backwards, whilst in the Sheep they are more uniformly cylindrical,
turned laterally, curling downwards, and often cork-screwed. A beard is
a common addition to the former animal, and a most unpleasant odour is
emitted by them.
[Illustration: BARBARY WILD SHEEP.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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