[Illustration:
THE SHEEP.
]
Sheep supply us both with food and clothing: and the wool alone affords,
in some countries, an amazing source of industry and wealth. They are
harmless animals, and, in general, very shy and timid. The Sheep in the
high mountains of Wales are very wild, and do not collect into large
flocks, but graze in parties of from eight to a dozen. One is always
placed at a distance from the rest, to give notice of the approach of
danger. When he observes a stranger advancing, he allows him to approach
as near, perhaps, as eighty or a hundred yards, but keeps a watchful eye
upon his motions; if the stranger shows a design of coming closer, he
alarms the rest of the flock by a loud hiss or whistle, twice or thrice
repeated, when the whole party instantly scour away with great speed, to
the most inaccessible parts of the mountains. No country produces finer
Sheep than Great Britain. Of these the Sheep that are bred in
Lincolnshire and the northern parts, are the largest and bear the most
wool. In other parts of England they are generally smaller; and in the
mountainous parts of Wales and Scotland they are very small.
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