The sheep is perhaps the most useful animal we have in our country;
the flesh, called mutton, is most wholesome food. The hair of the
skin, called wool, is made into cloth, flannel, and worsted. The skin
is made into parchment to write upon, and leather; and from other
parts of its body are made the strings for harps and violins, &c. The
finest wool is procured from the sheep which are bred in Spain. The
sheep is very timid and harmless, and lives as you often may see in
flocks, feeding on the grass of the fields and mountains. The hills
and mountains which are too steep and barren for growing corn afford
pasturage for the sheep. It very soon knows the shepherd who is set
over it, and is easily guided by him. The young of the sheep are
called lambs. Here is a picture of a Scotch shepherd keeping sheep in
the Highlands.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: TIGER.]