We will begin this chapter by treating of that which, by universal consent, is allowed to be the best and most wholesome of animal food - that is, mutton.

In the colonies mutton ranks with daily bread as a prime necessity of life - mutton chops for breakfast, mutton roasted or boiled for dinner, and cold mutton for supper, till people say they are ashamed to look a sheep in the face; but it speaks well for the wholesomeness and tooth-someness of the meat, that it can thus be eaten daily from year's end to year's end without producing disease or satiety. Perhaps of no other meat could the same be said.

The sheep was probably the earliest of domesticated animals, for Abel was a keeper of sheep; but in many countries in which it now abounds it was unknown before the advent of Europeans. The many millions of sheep now pastured in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand owe their origin to those taken over from Europe, for there was no indigenous species in those countries; but there are many wild varieties of this useful animal in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and from these our domesticated varieties have sprung. All these are traced by some naturalists to that remarkable animal the mouflon, which is still found wild in Sardinia and Corsica, and certainly has the most singular resemblance to the sheep, the goat, and the deer combined.

There is a very curious wild sheep in the Rocky Mountains, much larger than any of our domestic breeds; it has close hair, rather than wool, whilst the wild goat of the same region has a very long fleece. The rams have such enormous horns that they are said to be unable to feed on level ground.

Our European sheep seem to belong to two principal divisions - the horned and the hornless - but of each of these there are innumerable varieties; and one very singular kind, common in Asia and Africa, is not known in Europe. This is the fat-tailed sheep.

When ancient writers spoke of sheep having hair instead of wool, and tails so long and so large that they were obliged to have little waggons to carry them on, the wise men of Europe laughed, and hinted at 'long-bows' and 'travellers' tales;' nevertheless, our friends in South Africa know these broad-tailed sheep well, and have even told us of small boughs being fastened under the precious caudal appendage, to prevent its being bruised and torn by dragging over rough ground, for the tail is a delicacy, and, being almost all firm fat, is often cured, and takes the place of bacon. It is also used for many culinary purposes, being superior to suet and equal to marrow; but as the sheep has no wool, and the flesh is coarse and poor, it seems wasteful in these utilitarian days to rear it for the sake of the tail, and in consequence the breed will probably soon die out - it is, in fact, seldom met with now in South Africa, except when kept as a curiosity, but the skin is valuable, having twice the strength and thickness of that of an ordinary sheep.

There are several varieties of this broad-tailed sheep in Asia, which are supposed to have been derived from Barbary, Egypt, and the Levant. Two very curious varieties of this sheep are found in Tibet: in one, known as the fat-rumped sheep, the tail is short and thin, and the rump extremely fat, whilst in the other the tail is very broad, and the head is adorned with four, five, or even six horns. The wool of the first is good, but that of the latter very coarse. Then there is the Angora sheep, found in Asiatic Turkey, long-legged, lop-eared, and with very long tails, but not particularly fat.

In almost all these varieties the wool is poor and hairy and the flesh coarse, but, in the present day, the sheep is bred entirely for its fleece and the quality of the meat, and, therefore, the hairy fat-tailed species is retained only in countries where farming is not carried out scientifically, or where the finer long-woolled varieties will not thrive.

The merino sheep seems to be the prime favourite among colonists, and certainly it would appear to possess many excellent qualities, both as regards flesh and wool. In England the Southdown mutton is esteemed the finest, and the little Welsh mutton, fed upon the short heathery mountain grasses, is a delicacy, although the housekeeper is frequently imposed upon by inferior kinds falsely denominated Welsh.

Mutton is not particularly good on the Continent, the sheep producing it being generally of the long-legged lop-eared variety, and not all the condiments with which it is served can conceal the coarse quality and woolly flavour of the meat. Our own sheep possess naturally long thin tails, but it is found advisable, if not necessary, to amputate them at an early age to prevent injury to the fleece and to the animal itself. Lamb-tail pie is a 'dainty dish to set before a king,' but we have heard an anecdote regarding it which is worth repeating.

A lady sat at the table of a wealthy colonist, enjoying a delicious lamb-tail pie. 'But,' said she, addressing the host, 'is it not very extravagant to kill so many dear little lambs just for the sake of their tails?'

'Kill the lambs! my dear madam; why, bless my soul, no! That would never do ! The lambs are all alive and well, and you shall see them skipping about and enjoying themselves to-morrow.'

'What?' exclaimed the lady, horrified, 'and have we been eating the tails of live lambs? How very dreadful!' and she put down her knife and fork in disgust.

The occupation of the shepherd has perhaps given rise to more poetic descriptions and to more artistic effects than any other known to man. The biblical similes relating to sheep and shepherds are innumerable, and no pastoral picture, no descriptive poem, would be complete without them. From the great god Pan, with his horns and goat's legs, who piped to his flocks in Arcady, to the dainty little Watteau shepherdesses in lovely costumes not at all suited to their vocation, artists have found exquisite subjects for their pencils, although not compatible with real life. Nevertheless, the shepherd of the Campagna, seated on a broken monument, with his pipe and shaggy goatskin breeches, is a picturesque object not so very unlike the Pan of ancient days. The Watteau shepherdess is only met with at fancy dress balls, but the Swiss and Tyrolean senneren are perhaps quite as picturesque. Nor must we omit the shepherd's faithful companion, friend, and helper - the dog - for without him no rural landscape would be complete. We all know Landseer's touching picture 'The Shepherd's Chief Mourner,' and, indeed, among the Highlands and the mountains of Wales, the dog is indispensable, for sheep have a peculiar faculty for going astray, and, like men, will follow their leader blindly into any boggle, so that whole flocks would frequently perish did not the sagacious dog come to the rescue. It is an interesting sight to see a well-trained dog watching his master's eye, and following his instructions far better than a two-legged servant could do, and the shepherd's dog will sometimes undertake voluntary duty. I witnessed a case of this kind some years ago in the Lake district.