Grandpapa. I should have told you that their stomach is made very large, and requires an unusual quantity of food. But if we are disgusted with the manners of a hog, we should be careful not to imitate them; as filth, gluttony, and want of natural affection, must surely be ten times more shocking in the creature man, who is blessed with reason.
CHAPTER IV.
Sheep-Shearing.
The following day being appointed for sheep-shearing, a number of men and boys assembled at an early hour in the great barn. Arthur and Charles went with their grandpapa to see the process, and were greatly pleased with the hurry and bustle of the scene. The sheep were penned in a fold close to the barn, and were fetched away by the lads one by one, as fast as the shearers were ready for them. A few days before, they had all been washed at a mill-pond, so that their fleeces were beautifully white, and they were so thick as to make the animals appear almost twice as large as they really were.
Sheep Shearing.
London. Published by W. Darton Junʳ. Octʳ. 5, 1815.
Arthur observed with surprise, that the poor creatures were perfectly quiet during the time of their being shorn; although they struggled with terror when they were first brought out, and bleated piteously as soon as they were set at liberty.
He wondered at the ease with which the men laid them on the ground, and afterwards turned them over from side to side, as was necessary in the course of the shearing. After watching one of the shearers for some time, he began the following conversation with him:—