There Are Also
In Arabia Two Kinds Of Sheep Worthy Of Admiration, The Like Of Which Is
Nowhere Else To
Be seen; the one kind has long tails, not less than three
cubits in length, which, if they were allowed
To trail on the ground,
would be bruised and fall into sores. As it is, all the shepherds know
enough of carpentering to make little trucks for their sheep's tails. The
trucks are placed under the tails, each sheep having one to himself, and
the tails are then tied down upon them. The other kind has a broad tail,
which is a cubit across sometimes."
Canon G. Rawlinson, in his edition of Herodotus, has the following note on
this subject (II., p. 500): -
"Sheep of this character have acquired among our writers the name of Cape
Sheep, from the fact that they are the species chiefly affected by our
settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. They are common in Africa and
throughout the East, being found not only in Arabia, but in Persia, Syria,
Affghanistan, Egypt, Barbary, and even Asia Minor. A recent traveller,
writing from Smyrna, says: 'The sheep of the country are the Cape sheep,
having a kind of apron tail, entirely of rich marrowy fat, extending to
the width of their hind quarters, and frequently trailing on the ground;
the weight of the tail is often more than six or eight pounds' (FELLOWS'S
Asia Minor, p. 10). Leo Africanus, writing in the 15th century, regards
the broad tail as the great difference between the sheep of Africa and
that of Europe.
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