The Icelandic Sheep -           An early perspective...					"The sheep of this frozen climate are of two kinds; a small, and probably a native breed, in colour varying from dun to almost black; and a larger white breed, probably imported from a more southerly region. The coat is that which nature would give to the inhabitants of such a clime. It consists of long coarse hair externally, and a close layer of wool within, which no wet or cold can penetrate. This wool, however, when freed from the hair, is of little value for manufacturing purposes, and is fit only for horse and collar cloths, and common rugs and blankets. Many of the last are exported to South America.     Even in so cold a country they are rarely sheltered from the winter's storm, nor is any provision made for the winter's food; their only refuge is the jutting rock or the mountain cavern. In their haste to reach those places when overtaken by a storm, and the snow driving against them and confusing their vision, many are precipitated by the cliffs, and drowned in the sea beneath. If they are surprised by a snow storm before they can reach the coast, they turn their heads towards each other, and huddle together in a round close body, the united heat of which raises a dense vapour, that penetrates through the snow, and directs the shepherd to the place where his flock is buried, although not always till the sheep are nearly starved, and have begun to feed on each other's wool in order to preserve life. Kerguelin affirms that when the sheep have once been driven to this sad extremity, they will afterwards, even on the most plentiful food that Iceland affords, frequently nibble and tear the fleece of their companions; the habit becomes so inveterate, and the appetite for this strange nutrient so strong, that it seems a kind of mania, and the farmer is compelled to destroy these sheep. Livingston adds, that in cold nights, without snow, and when the bleak wind pinches them, they keep each other warm by pressing close together, and those in the centre relieve in turns those which are in the outer of the circle,and exposed to the greater severity of the blast; thus necessity sharpens the invention of beasts as well as men. The only kindness these animals receive from their keepers in winter, is being fed on fish bones or frozen offal, when their natural food is buried too deep even for their ingenuity and patience to reach it. Yet they repay all this neglect with a supply of wool, which to the Icelander is valuable, and also a quantity of milk, far superior to that which is yielded by any southern flock. If Von Traill is to be believed, an Iceland ewe will yield from two to six quarts per day.     The principal peculiarity about these sheep is the number of their horns, the greater part both of the small and large breed having more than two, and a few of them carrying eight horns; they commonly have three or four or five; most of them of a spiral form, yet often but little developed; the side horns are curved in various directions." (from William Youatt's "Sheep: Their Breeds, Management, and Diseases" 1837, p.168)