ABSTRACT
Barbados Blackbelly sheep combine the rare attributes of adaptation to tropical environments and high reproductive efficiency, which account for their average of two lambs per litter and an average lambing interval of 8 to 9 months. The classic work on the early history of Barbados is the remarkable record by Richard Ligon, who lived and worked on a plantation in Barbados from 1647 to 1650. In emphasizing the African descent of the “Barbados woolless sheep,” Buttenshaw only partially quoted Ligon’s commentary on the early sheep of Barbados and omitted Ligon’s reference to wooled sheep. The leader of the Barbados colony visited the Dutch governor of Guyana and returned with seeds and with Amerindians to teach the English tropical agriculture. The description of degenerating fleeces is similar to that which can be observed in Barbados among sheep of crossbreeding with wooled sheep.
