DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11638#0272
AND LOWER EGYPT. 249
have added, by himself. I resolved to dissemble;
(he Copht had influence in the country, and if I
could not depend upon the sincerity of his pro-
testations of devotcdness aud service, I had rea-
son to fear that he might become a very dangerous
enemy.
On repaying his visit I saw in his court-yard se-
veral sheep of Yemen, a species the body of which
is slender and very long, the head small in propor-
tion to the body, the forehead arched, the ears de-
pending, and the fleece rather short and silky down
than real wool. This sheep, though not precisely
the same as the adhnain or great sheep cf Senegal
and the Indies, of which Buffon takes notice*, re-
sembles it in so many respects, that the slight dis-
tinctions which subsist between these two animals
appear to arise rather from local circumstances
than from a perpetual variety. Besides, these
sheep of Arabia do not form a part of the flocks of
Egypt > those which 1 saw at Kous had been sent
to Factor as curiosities.
A country whose extent is entirely measured la-
iitudinally, whose climate, soil, and even inhabit-
ants present sensible gradations, will naturally
contain productions modified by difference of si-
tuations. This impression, occasioned by a tem-
* Natural History of Quadrupeds. O-.-is Guintensis. Lin.
perature
have added, by himself. I resolved to dissemble;
(he Copht had influence in the country, and if I
could not depend upon the sincerity of his pro-
testations of devotcdness aud service, I had rea-
son to fear that he might become a very dangerous
enemy.
On repaying his visit I saw in his court-yard se-
veral sheep of Yemen, a species the body of which
is slender and very long, the head small in propor-
tion to the body, the forehead arched, the ears de-
pending, and the fleece rather short and silky down
than real wool. This sheep, though not precisely
the same as the adhnain or great sheep cf Senegal
and the Indies, of which Buffon takes notice*, re-
sembles it in so many respects, that the slight dis-
tinctions which subsist between these two animals
appear to arise rather from local circumstances
than from a perpetual variety. Besides, these
sheep of Arabia do not form a part of the flocks of
Egypt > those which 1 saw at Kous had been sent
to Factor as curiosities.
A country whose extent is entirely measured la-
iitudinally, whose climate, soil, and even inhabit-
ants present sensible gradations, will naturally
contain productions modified by difference of si-
tuations. This impression, occasioned by a tem-
* Natural History of Quadrupeds. O-.-is Guintensis. Lin.
perature