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TO

WILLIAM YARRELL, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S.,

WHOSE SCIENTIFIC WORKS ON ZOOLOGY

PLACE HIM IN THE FIRST RANK OF NATURALISTS;

AND, MOREOVER,

WHOSE UNOSTENTATIOUS KINDNESS IN CONSULTING THE FEELINGS

AND ADVANCING THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS

IS RARELY EQUALLED,

This Volume is inscribed,

BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND AND ADMIRER,

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

The primary object of the present work, is to give as correct andcomprehensive a view of the animals composing the Ox Tribe, as thepresent state of our knowledge will admit, accompanied by authenticfigures of all the known species and the more remarkable varieties.

Although this genus (comprising all those Ruminants called Buffaloes,Bisons, and Oxen generally,) is as distinct and well characterised asany other genus in the animal kingdom, yet the facts which are atpresent known respecting the various species which compose it, are notsufficiently numerous to enable the naturalist to divide them intosub-genera. This is abundantly proved by the unsuccessful result ofthose attempts which have already been made to arrange them into minorgroups. Nor can we wonder at this want of success, when we consider thateven many of the species usually regarded as distinct are by no meansclearly defined.

The second object, therefore, of this treatise, is (by bringing intojuxta-position all the most important facts concerning the variousindividual specimens which have been described, and by adding severalother facts of importance[Pg x] which have not hitherto been noticed,) toenable the naturalist to define, more correctly than has yet been done,the peculiarities of each species.

A third object is to direct the attention of travellers moreparticularly to this subject; in order that, by their exertions, ourinformation upon this class of animals may be rendered more complete.

A new and important feature in the present Monograph, is theintroduction of a Table of the Number of Vertebræ, carefully constructedfrom an examination of the actual skeletons, by which will be seen at aglance the principal osteological differences of species which havehitherto been confounded with each other. A Table of the Periods ofGestation is likewise added, which presents some equally interestingresults.

Several of the descriptions have been verified by a reference to theliving animals, seven specimens of which are at present (1847) in theGardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park. The several Museums inthe Metropolis have likewise been consulted with advantage.

I am indebted to JudgeFurnam, of the United States, for some originalinformation respecting the American Bison; and also to the late Mr.Cole, who was forty years park-keeper at Chillingham, for answers toseveral questions which I proposed to him on the subject of theChillingham Cattle.

I beg to acknowledge my obligation to Mr.Catlin for kindly allowing me,not only to make extracts, but also[Pg xi] to copy some of the outlines fromhis 'Letters and Notes on the North American Indians,' a work which I donot hesitate to pronounce one of the most curious and interesting whichthe present century has produced,—whether we regard the graphic meritsof its literary or pictorial department.

To ProfessorOwen and the Officers of the Royal College of Surgeons, tothe Officers of the Zoological Society, and to the Officers of theZoological Department of the British Museum, my sincere thanks are duefor the kindness and promptness with which every information has beengiven, and every facility afforded to my inquiries and investigations.

With respect to the engraved figures, I have striven to produce correctdelineations of form and texture, rather than to make pretty pictures bysacrificing truth and nature for the sake of ideal beauty and artisticeffect.

I cannot conclude this Preface without expressing my thanks to Messrs.Adlard for the first-rate style in which this volume has been printed;particularly for the successful manner in which the impressions of theengravings have been produced, superior, in general, to India-proofimpressions.

ADDENDUM.

PENNANT—BUFFON—GOLDSMITH—BEWICK—BINGLEY.

In addition to the critical remarks on the writings of others, on thissubject, which the reader will find in the following pages, I havefurther to observe that, although Pennant and Buffon have held a veryhigh character, for many years, as scientific naturalists, the portionof their works which treats of theGenus Bos, appears to have been theresult of the most careless and superficial observation. With theexception of the facts and observations furnished by such men asDaubenton and Pallas, Buffon's works are little more than flimsyspeculations. As to Pennant's history of the Ox Tribe, it is calculatedrather to bewilder than to inform; it is, in fact, an incoherent mass ofdubious statements, huddled together in a most inextricable confusion:as a piece of Natural History it is absolutely worse than nothing.

Goldsmith, Bewick, and Bingley, three of our most popular writers onNatural History, appear to have done little more than compile fromPennant and Buffon, and consequently are but little deserving of credit.These strictures apply exclusively to such portions of their works asrelate to the Ox Tribe.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Page

Introduction1

American Bison21

Aurochs40

Yak45

Gyall51

Gayal57

Domestic Gayal68

Jungly Gau71

Buffalo75

Italian Buffalo76

Manilla Buffalo81

Condore Buffalo84

Cape Buffalo86

Pegasse95

Gaur97

Arnee105

Zamouse112

Musk Ox115

Galla Ox120

Zebu, or Brahmin Bull125

Backeley Ox133

African Bull137

Chillingham Cattle140

Kyloe, or Highland Ox150

Table of the Number of Vertebræ152

Table of the Periods of Gestation153

Note on the Skeleton of the American Bison154

APPENDIX.

Page

Free Martin155

Short-nosed Ox159

On the utility of the Ox Tribe to Mankind160

Account of Alpine Cowherds
—Notice of Ranz des Vaches164

Table of Habitat168

---- Mode of Life169

Indefinite Definitions of Col. H. Smith170

Mr. Swainson's Transcendental Attempt at Classification176

On Species and Variety181

Banteng (Bos Bantiger)185

British Domestic Cattle186

Influence of Colour in Breedingib.

Influence of Male in Breeding187

Generative Precocityib.

Milk188

Butter189

Mr. Youatt's Philosophy of Rabies190

Statistics192

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

(The Engravings not otherwise acknowledged are from originalDrawings.)

Page

1. Frontispiece.—The Sangu, or Abyssinian Oxi

2. Stomach of Manilla Buffalo4

3. Gastro-duct (Œsophagean Canal), after Flourens6

4. Stomach of a young Calf12

5. Stomach of a full-grown Cow13

6. Skull of Domestic Ox17

7. Skeleton of Domestic Ox20

8. American Bison21

9. Young Female Bison23

10. Wounded Bison24

11. Indian shooting a Bison29

12. Bison surrounded by Wolves32

13. Bison Calf, after Cuvier33

14. Skin Canoes of the Mandan Indians36

15. Head of young Male Bison39

16. Aurochs, or European Bison40

17. Yak, from Asiatic Transactions45

18. Yak, from Oriental Annual49

19. Gyall (Bos Frontalis)51

20. Head of Gyall53

21. Gayal, from Asiatic Transactions58

22. Head of Asseel Gayal67

23. Domestic Gayal68

24. Skull of Domestic Gayal69

25. Occipital View of the same Skullib.

[Pg xv]26. Head of Domestic Gayalib.

27. Jungly Gau, after Cuvier71

28. Syrian Ox, anon.74

29. Italian Buffalo—Brandt and Ratzeburg76

30. Herefordshire Cow, after Howitt80

31. Manilla Buffalo81

32. Outlines of Buffaloes Backs82

33. Head of Manilla Buffalo83

34. Pulo Condore Buffalo84

35. Short-horned Bull, after Howitt85

36. Cape Buffalo86

37. Young Cape Buffalo, after Col. Smith90

38. Head of Cape Buffalo94

39. Pegasse, from a Drawing in the Berlin Library95

40. Horns of Cape Buffalo96

41. Gaur, from Specimen in British Museum97

42. Horns of Gaur, Edin. Phil. Trans.103

43. Head of Gaur104

44. Arnee, from Shaw's Zoology105

45. Horns of Young Arnee, from 'The Bee'107

46. Horns of Arnee, from Mus. Coll. Surg.108

47. Horns of Arnee, from British Museumib.

48. Arnee from Indian Painting111

49. Zamouse, or Bush Cow112

50. Head of Zamouse114

51. Musk Ox115

52. Foot of Musk Ox, Griff., Cuv.117

53. Head of Musk Ox119

54. Horns of Galla Ox, Mus. Coll. Surg.123

55. Horns of Hungarian Ox, Brit. Mus.124

56. Brahmin Bull, Harvey, Zool. Gar.125

57. Zebu (var. β), after Cuvier128

58. Zebus (var. γ) and Car, anon.129

59. Zebu (var. δ), anon.132

60. African Bull, Harvey137

61. Eyes of African Bull, Harvey139

62. Lateral Hoofs of African Bull, Harveyib.

63. Dewlap of African Bull, Harvey139

64. Chillingham Bull140

[Pg xvi]65. Heads of Chillingham Cattle148

66. Kyloe, or Highland Ox, Howitt150

67. Free Martin, Hunter's Animal Economy156

Skull of Domestic Ox, (repetition of fig. 6)158

68. Skull of Short-nosed Ox of the Pampas159

69. Outlines of Manilla Buffalo174

70. Hungarian Ox, from British Museum175

71. Banteng, from a Specimen in Brit. Mus.185

72. Alderney Cow, after Howitt189

INTRODUCTION.

Ruminantia is the term used by naturalists to designate thosemammiferous quadrupeds which chew the cud; or, in other words, whichswallow their food, in the first instance, with a very slightmastication, and afterwards regurgitate it, in order that it may undergoa second and more complete mastication: this second operation is calledruminating, or chewing the cud. The order of animals which possess thispeculiarity, is divided into nine groups or genera, namely:—

The last named forms the subject of the following pages, and is called,in zoological language, theGenus Bos, in popular language, theOxTribe.

One of the most interesting occupations which the wide field of Zoologyoffers to the naturalist, is the investigation of those remarkableadaptations of organs to functions, and of these again to thenecessities and well-being of the entire animal. Nor does it in theleast diminish our interest in the investigation of individual[Pg 2]adaptations, or our admiration on becoming acquainted with them, that weknow,à priori, this universal truth, that all the constituents ofevery organised body, be that organisation what it may, are invariablyadapted, in the most perfect manner, to each other, and to the whole.

It is by a knowledge of this exact harmony in the animal economy, thatthe comparative anatomist can determine, with almost unerring precision,the genus, or even species of an animal, by an examination of anyimportant part of its organisation, as the teeth, stomach, bones, orextremities. In some cases, a single bone, or even the fragment of abone, is sufficient to convey an idea of the entire animal to which itbelonged.

In illustration of this:—if the viscera of an animal are so organisedas only to be fitted for the digestion of recent flesh, we find that thejaws are so contracted as to fit them for devouring prey; the claws forseizing and tearing it to pieces; the teeth for cutting and dividing itsflesh; the entire system of the limbs, or organs of motion, for pursuingand overtaking it; and the organs of sense for discovering it at adistance. Moreover, the brain of the animal is also endowed withinstincts sufficient for concealing itself, and for laying plans tocatch its necessary prey.

Again, we are well aware that allhoofed animals must necessarily beherbivorous, or vegetable feeders, because they are possessed of nomeans of seizing prey. It is also evident, having no other use for theirfore-legs than to support their bodies, that they have no[Pg 3] occasion fora shoulder so vigorously organised as that of carnivorous animals; owingto which they have no clavicles, and their shoulder-blades areproportionally narrow. Having also no occasion to turn their forearms,their radius is joined by ossification to the ulna, or is at leastarticulated by gynglymus with the humerus. Their food being entirelyherbaceous, requires teeth with flat surfaces, on purpose to bruise theseeds and plants on which they feed. For this purpose, also, thesesurfaces require to be unequal, and are, consequently, composed ofalternate perpendicular layers of enamel and softer bone. Teeth of thisstructure necessarily require horizontal motions to enable them totriturate, or grind down the herbaceous food; and accordingly thecondyles of the jaw could not be formed into such confined joints as inthe carnivorous animals, but must have a flattened form, correspondentto sockets in the temporal bones. The depressions, also, of the temporalbones, having smaller muscles to contain, are narrower and not so deep;and so on, throughout the whole organisation.

The digestive system of the ruminantia is more complicated in structurethan that of any other class of animals; and, owing to this complexity,and the consequent difficulty of investigating it, its nature andfunctions have been less perfectly understood.

The stomach of the Manilla Buffalo, which will serve as an example ofall the other species, is divided into four cavities or ventricles,which are usually (but improperly) considered as four distinctstomachs.[Pg 4]

The following figure represents the form, relative size, and position ofthese four cavities when detached from the animal, and fully inflated.

The interior of those cavities present some remarkable differences inpoint of structure, which, in the present work, can only be alluded toin a very general manner. For a particular account of the internalanatomy of these complicated organs, the reader is referred to theinteresting work on 'Cattle,' by W. Youatt.[Pg 5]

The paunch is lined with a thick membrane, presenting numerous prominentand hard papillæ. The inner surface of the second cavity is veryartificially divided into angular cells, giving it somewhat theappearance of honeycomb, whence its name "honeycomb-bag." The liningmembrane of the third cavity forms numerous deep folds, lying upon eachother like the leaves of a book, and beset with small hard tubercles.These folds vary in breadth in a regular alternate order, a narrow foldbeing placed between each of the broader ones. The fourth cavity islined with a velvety mucous membrane disposed in longitudinal folds. Itis this part of the stomach that furnishes the gastric juice, and,consequently, it is in this cavity that the proper digestion of the foodtakes place; it is here, also, that the milk taken by the calf iscoagulated. The reed or fourth cavity of the calf's stomach retains itspower of coagulating milk even after it has been taken from the animal.We have a familiar instance of its operation in the formation of curdsand whey.

The first and second cavities (a andb) are placed parallel (or on alevel) with each other; and the œsophagus (e) opens, almostequally, into them both. On each side of the termination of theœsophagus there is a muscular ridge projecting, so that the twotogether form a sort of groove or channel, which opens almost equallyinto the second and third cavities (b andc).

[As there has not been, as far as I am aware, any appropriate name givento this very remarkable part of the stomach of ruminants, I here takethe liberty of[Pg 6] suggesting the termGastro-duct, by which epithet thismuscular channel will be designated in the following pages.]

All these parts, namely, the œsophagus, the gastro-duct, and thefirst three cavities, not only communicate with each other, but theycommunicate by one common point, and that point is the gastro-duct. Atthe extremity of the third cavity, opposite to that at which thegastro-duct enters it, is an aperture which communicates immediatelywith the fourth cavity (d).

Such is a very brief description of the complicated stomach of the OxTribe. In what manner the food passes through this curious arrangementof cavities is a problem which has engaged the attention of naturalistsfrom a very early period. A host of great men might be cited who havefailed to solve it. The French physiologist, M. Flourens, by his recentexperiments, has done more than any or all of his predecessors to giveclearness and precision to this intricate subject.

A sheep having been fed on fresh trefoil, was killed and openedimmediately,—that is, before the process of rumination had commenced.He (M. Flourens) found the greatest part of this herb (easily recognisedby its leaves, which were still almost entire,) in the paunch; but healso found a certain portion (une partie notable) of those leaves (inthe same unmasticated state) in the honeycomb. In the other twocavities, (the many-plies and the reed,) there was absolutely none.[Pg 8]

M. Flourens repeated this experiment a great many times, with herbs ofvarious kinds, and the result was constantly the same: from which itappears, that herbaceous food, on its first deglutition, enters into thehoneycomb, as well as into the paunch; the proportion, however, beingconsiderably greater into the paunch than into the honeycomb. It appearsequally certain that, in the first swallowing, this kind of foodonlyenters into the first two cavities, and never passes into the many-pliesor the reed.

Having ascertained this fact with respect toherbs, he instituted asimilar series of experiments, in which the animals were fed uponvarious kinds ofgrain,—rye, barley, wheat, oats, &c. The animalswere killed and examined, as in the former experiments, immediatelyafter being fed. He found the greater part of the grain unmasticated(tout entier) in the paunch; but, as in the case of the herbs, he alsofound a certain portion, in the same unmasticated state, in thehoneycomb. Neither the many-plies nor the reed contained a single grain.He repeated these experiments many times, and always with the sameresult.

He then tried the effect of carrots cut into pieces, from half an inchto an inch in length; and in order that the animals might not chew them,he passed them into the pharynx by means of a tube. In one of thesesheep he found all the morsels in the paunch; but, in the other two,some of the morsels were in the honeycomb, and some in the paunch. Inall the three cases,[Pg 9] there was none either in the many-plies or in thereed.

He then proceeded to ascertain the effect of substances previouslycomminuted. He caused a certain quantity of carrots to be reduced to akind of mash, with which he fed two sheep, and opened them immediatelyafterwards. He found the greatest part of this mash in the paunch and inthe honeycomb; but he likewise found a certain portion in the many-pliesand in the reed.

His next experiments were made upon plain fluids. It is the opinion ofthe generality of authors on this subject that fluids pass immediatelyandentirely, along the gastro-duct, into the third and fourthcavities. But, according to the experiments of M. Flourens, this is notthe case. He found, by making artificial openings (anus artificiel) inthe stomachs of various sheep, that, as the animals drank, the fluidcame directly out at the opening, in whatever cavity it might have beenmade.

It is clear, then, that fluids pass, in part, into the first and secondcavities, and, in part, into the third and fourth; and they pass asdirectly into the former as into the latter.

The following is the result of some experiments which M. Flourens maderespecting the formation of the pellets.

In the first place, after the animal has swallowed a certain quantity offood the first time, successive pellets are formed of this food, whichremount singly to the[Pg 10] mouth; secondly, there is a particular apparatus,which forms these pellets; and, thirdly, this apparatus consists of thetwo closed apertures (ouvertures fermées) of the many-plies, and ofthe œsophagus. Thus, the first two cavities, in contracting, push thealiments which they contain between the edges of the gastro-duct; andthe gastro-duct, contracting in its turn, draws together the twoopenings of the many-plies and œsophagus; and these two openings,closed at this moment of their action, seize a portion of the food,detach it, and form it into a pellet.

The chief utility of rumination, as applicable to all theanimals in which it takes place, and the final purpose of thiswonderfully-complicated function in the animal economy, are stillimperfectly known; what has been already suggested on these points isquite unsatisfactory. Perrault and others supposed that it contributedto the security of those animals, which are at once voracious and timid,by showing the necessity of their remaining long employed in chewing inan open pasture; but the Indian buffalo ruminates, although it does notfly even from the lion; and the wild goat dwells in Alpine countries,which are inaccessible to beasts of prey.

Whatever may be our ignorance of the cause or the object of rumination,it is certain that the nature of the food has a considerable influencein increasing or diminishing the necessity for the performance of thatfunction. Thus, dry food requires to be entirely subjected to a secondmastication, before it can pass into[Pg 11] the many-plies and reed; whilst agreat portion of that which is moist and succulent passes readily intothose cavities, on its first descent into the stomach.

It has already been shown by the illustration, (p. 4,) that the paunchis the largest of the four cavities; but this is not the case with thestomach of the young calf, which, while it continues to suck, does notruminate; in this case thereed, which is the true digestive cavity,is actually larger than the other three taken together.

When the calf begins to feed upon solid food, then it begins toruminate; and as the quantity of solid food is increased, so does thesize of the paunch increase, until it attains its full dimensions. Inthis latter case, thepaunch has become considerably larger than theother three cavities taken together.

A curious modification of an organ to adjust itself to the alteredcondition of the animal is beautifully shown in the instance now underconsideration, the nature of which will be easily understood by areference to the following diagrams, giving the exact relativeproportions of the different cavities of the stomach to each other inthe young calf and in the full-grown cow.

The letters refer to the same parts in each figure:a, the paunch;b, the honeycomb bag;c, the many-plies;d, the reed.

[These engravings, illustrative of the comparative sizes of thedifferent stomachal cavities, are copied from original drawings takenfrom preparations of the stomachs which I made expressly for thispurpose.]

In all herbivorous animals, and especially those of the ruminating kind,the alimentary canal is of an enormous length; measuring in a full grownox, as much as sixty yards. The paunch, in such an animal, will holdfrom fifteen to eighteen gallons.[Pg 14]

Blumenbach observes, that the process of rumination supposes a power ofvoluntary motion in the œsophagus; and, indeed, the influence of thewill throughout the whole process is incontestible. It is not confinedto any particular time, since the animal can delay it according tocircumstances, even when the paunch is quite full. It has been expresslystated of some men, who have had the power of ruminating, that it wasquite voluntary with them. Blumenbach knew four men who ruminated theirfood, and they assured him they had a real enjoyment in doing it: two ofthem had the power of doing or abstaining from it at their pleasure.

A case of human rumination occurred some years ago at Bristol, theparticulars of which are minutely recorded in the 'PhilosophicalTransactions.' It seemed, in this instance, to have been hereditary, asthe father of the individual was subject to the same habit. The youngman usually began to chew his food over again, within a quarter of anhour after eating. His ruminating after a full meal generally lastedabout an hour and a half; nor could he sleep until this task wascompleted. The victuals, upon its return, tasted even more pleasantlythan at first; and seemed as if it had been beaten up in a mortar. If heate a variety of things, that which he ate first, came up again first;and if this return was interrupted for any length of time, it producedsickness and disorder; nor was he ever well till it returned. Thesesingular cases are caused, no doubt, by some abnormal structure of the[Pg 15]interior of the stomach. No account has yet been given of the dissectionof an individual so constituted.

When cattle are at rest, or not employed in grazing or chewing the cud,they are observed frequently to lick themselves. By this means theyraise up the hair of their coats, and often swallow it in considerablequantities. The hair thus swallowed gradually accumulates in thestomach, where it is formed into smooth round balls, which, in time,become invested with a hardish brown crust, composed, apparently, ofinspissated mucilage, that, by continual friction from the coats of thestomach, becomes hard and glossy. It is generally in the paunch thatthese hair-balls are found. They vary in weight from a few ounces to sixor seven pounds. Mr. Walton, author of an 'Account of the PeruvianSheep,' makes mention of one that he had in his possession which weighedeight pounds and a quarter. This hair-ball had been taken from a cowthat fed on the Pampas of Buenos Ayres. It was of a flat circular shape,and measured two feet eleven inches and a half in circumference; twofeet eight inches round the flat part; nine inches diameter also in theflat part; eleven inches diameter in the cross part; and, on immersingit in water, it displaced upwards of eight quarts, which made its bulkcorrespond to 462 cubic inches. The digestive functions are sometimesseriously impaired by these concretions; a loss of appetite ensues, andgeneral debility.

In the Museum of Daniel Crosthwaite, there is a very extraordinary ballof hair, taken from a fatted[Pg 16] calf only seven weeks old. The ball ofhair, when taken out of the animal's stomach, and full of moisture,weighed eleven ounces. The calf was fatted by Daniel Thwaite, of DaleHead Hall, within six miles of Keswick; and slaughtered by John Fisher,butcher, Keswick. The calf was a particularly healthy animal.

Before closing this brief sketch of the digestive apparatus of the ox,it may not be uninteresting to quote some of the quaint speculations ofNathaniel Grew on this subject, from his 'Comparative Anatomy ofStomachs and Guts.'

He says: "Thevoluntary motion of the stomach is that only whichaccompanies rumination. That it is truly voluntary, is clear, from thecommand that ruminating animals have of that action. For this purpose itis, that the muscules of their venters are so thick and strong; and haveseveral duplicatures, as the bases of those muscules, whereupon thestress of their motion lies. By means whereof they are able with ease torowl and tumble any part of the meat from one cell of the same venter toanother; or from one venter to another; or from thence into the gullet,whensoever they are minded to do it; so that the ejectment of the meat,in rumination, is a voluntary eructation.

"The pointed knots, like little papillæ, in the stomachs of ruminatingbeasts, are also of great use, namely, for the tasting of the meat. Theinner membrane of the first three venters is fibrous (like the gustatorypapillæ of the tongue) and not glandulous; the fourth only beingglandulous, as in a man. Of[Pg 17] the fibres of this membrane, and thenervous, are composed those pointed knots, which are, both in substanceand shape, altogether like to those upon the tongue. Whence I doubt not,but that the said three ventricles, as they have a power of voluntarymotion, so, likewise, that they are the seat of taste, and as truly theorgans of that sense, as is the tongue itself."

The mouth of animals of the Ox Tribe contains, when full, thirty-twoteeth. Six molars in each jaw, above, below, and on either side; andeight incisors in the[Pg 18] lower jaw. In the upper jaw there are noincisors; but instead thereof a fibrous and elastic pad, or cushion,which covers the convex extremity of the anterior maxillary bone, andwhich is well worthy of observation.

The final cause of this pad (which stands in the place of upper incisorteeth) and the part it plays in the procuring of food, is thus describedby Youatt. "The grass is collected and rolled together by means of thelong and moveable tongue; it is firmly held between the lower cuttingteeth and the pad, the cartilaginous upper lip assisting in this; andthen by a sudden nodding motion of the head, the little roll of herbageis either torn or cut off, or partly both torn and cut.

"The intention of this singular method of gathering the food, it issomewhat difficult satisfactorily to explain. It is peculiar toruminants, who have one large stomach, in which the food is kept as akind of reservoir until it is ready for the action of the otherstomachs. While it is kept there it is in a state of maceration; it isexposed to the united influence of moisture and warmth, and theconsequence of this is, that a species of decomposition sometimescommences, and a vast deal of gas is extricated.

"That this should not take place in the natural process of retention andmaceration, nature possibly established this mechanism for the firstgathering of the food. It is impossible that half of that which is thusprocured can be fairly cut through; part will be torn, and no littleportion will be torn up by the roots.[Pg 19] If cattle are observed while theyare grazing, it will be seen that many a root mingles with the blades ofgrass; and these roots have sometimes no inconsiderable quantity ofearth about them. The beast, however, seems not to regard this; he eatson, dirt and all, until his paunch is filled.

"It was designed that this earth should be gathered and swallowed; itwas the meaning of this mechanism. A portion of absorbent earth is foundin every soil, sufficient not only to prevent the evil that would resultfrom occasional decomposition, by neutralizing the acid principle asrapidly as it is evolved; but, perhaps, by its presence, preventing thatdecomposition from taking place. Hence the eagerness with whichstall-fed cattle, who have not the opportunity of plucking up the rootsof grass, evince for mould. It is seldom that a cow will pass anewly-raised mole hill without nuzzling into it, and devouring aconsiderable portion of it. This is particularly the case where there isany degree of indigestion."

The general disposition of animals of this class, when unmolested, isinoffensive and retiring; but when excited and irritated, they arefierce and courageous, and extremely dangerous to encounter. It is aremarkable circumstance in their history, that they are generallyprovoked to attack at the sight of red, or any very bright and glaringcolour.[Pg 20]

THE OX TRIBE

Genus BOS,

Is distinguished from other Genera of Ruminantia by possessing hollowpersistent horns, growing on a bony core; the tail long, terminated by atuft of hair; and four inguinal mammæ.

THE AMERICAN BISON.

Bos Americanus.

The head of this animal is enormously large; larger, in fact, inproportion to the size of its body, than that of[Pg 22] any other species ofthe Ox Tribe. This huge head is supported by very powerful muscles,attached to the projecting spinous processes of the dorsal vertebræ; andthese muscles, together with a quantity of fat, constitute the hump onthe shoulders. The horns are short, tapering, round, and very distantfrom each other, as are also the eyes, which are small and dark. Thehead, neck, shoulders, and fore-legs, to the knee-joints, are coveredwith long woolly hair, which likewise forms a beard under the mouth. Therest of the body is clothed only by short, close hair, which becomesrather woolly in the depth of winter. The colour is of a deep brown,nearly black on the head, and lighter about the neck and shoulders. Thelegs are firm and muscular; the tail is short, with a tuft at the end.

The female is, in every respect, much smaller than the male; her hornsare more slender, and the hair on her neck and shoulders is not so thickor long, nor the colour so dark. She brings forth in the spring, andrarely more than one. The calves continue to be suckled nearly twelvemonths, and follow the cows for a much longer period. It is said thatthe cows are not unfrequently followed by the calves of two, or eventhree, breeding seasons.

These animals, both male and female, are timid and shy, notwithstandingtheir fierce appearance; unless they are wounded, or during the breedingseason, when it is dangerous to approach. Their mode of attack is tothrow down, by pushing, as they run with their head; then to crush, bytrampling their enemy under their fore-feet, which, surmounted as theyare, by their tremendous head and shoulder, form most effectual weaponsof destruction.[Pg 23]

The following account, by Dr. Richardson, affords an instance of thedanger to be apprehended from these powerful animals, when wounded, andnot disabled: "Mr. Finnan M'Donald, one of the Hudson's Bay Company'sclerks was descending the Saskatchewan in a boat; and one evening,having pitched his tent for the night, he went out in the dusk to lookfor game. It had become nearly dark when he fired at a Bison bull, whichwas galloping over an eminence; and as he was hastening forward to seeif this shot had taken effect, the wounded beast made a rush at him. Hehad the presence of mind to seize the animal by the long hair on theforehead, as it struck him on the side with its horn, and being aremarkably tall and powerful man, a struggle ensued, which continueduntil his wrist was severely sprained, and his arm was renderedpowerless; he then fell, and after receiving two or three blows, becamesenseless. Shortly afterwards he was found by[Pg 24] his companions, lyingbathed in his blood, being gored in several places, and the Bison wascouched beside him, apparently waiting to renew the attack, had he shownany signs of life. Mr. M'Donald recovered from the immediate effects ofthe injuries, but he died a few months afterwards. Many instances mightbe mentioned of the tenaciousness with which this animal pursues itsrevenge; and I have been told of a hunter being detained for many hoursin a tree, by an old bull, which had taken its post below, to watchhim."

The capture of the Bison is effected in various ways, chiefly with therifle, and on foot. Their sense of smelling, however, is so acute, thatthey are extremely difficult of approach, scenting their enemy fromafar, and retiring with the greatest precipitation. Care, therefore,must be taken to go against the wind, in which case they may beapproached very near, being almost blinded by the long hair hanging overtheir foreheads. The hunters generally aim at the shoulder, which, ifeffectually hit,[Pg 25] causes them to drop at once; otherwise they areinfuriated, and become dangerous antagonists, as was proved in theresult of Mr. M'Donald's adventure.

When flying before their pursuers, it would be in vain for the foremostto halt, or attempt to obstruct the progress of the main body, as thethrong in the rear, still rushing onwards, the leaders must advance,although destruction await the movement. The Indians take advantage ofthis circumstance to destroy great quantities of this favorite game; andcertainly no method could be resorted to more effectually destructive,nor could a more terrible devastation be produced, than that of forcinga numerous herd of these large animals to leap from the brink of adreadful precipice upon a rocky and broken surface, a hundred feetbelow.

When the Indians determine to destroy Bisons in this way, one of theirswiftest-footed and most active young men is selected, who is disguisedin a Bison skin, having the head, ears, and horns adjusted on his ownhead, so as to make the deception very complete; and thus accoutred, hestations himself between the Bison herd and some of the precipices,which often extend for several miles along the rivers. The Indianssurround the herd as nearly as possible, when, at a given signal, theyshow themselves, and rush forward with loud yells. The animals beingalarmed, and seeing no way open but in the direction of the disguisedIndian, run towards him, and he, taking to flight, dashes on to theprecipice, where he suddenly secures himself in some previouslyascertained crevice. The foremost of the herd arrives at thebrink,—there is no possibility of retreat, no chance of escape; theforemost may, for an instant, shrink with[Pg 26] terror, but the crowd behind,who are terrified by the approaching hunters, rush forward withincreasing impetuosity, and the aggregate force hurls them successivelyinto the gulf, where certain death awaits them.

Sometimes they are taken by the following method:—A great number of mendivide and form a vast square; each band then sets fire to the dry grassof the savannah, where the herds are feeding; seeing the fire advance onall sides, they retire in great consternation to the centre of thesquare; the men then close and kill them without the least hazard.

Great numbers are also taken in pounds, constructed with an embankmentof such an elevation as to prevent the return of the Bisons when oncethey are driven into it. A general slaughter then takes place withrifles or arrows.

The following vivid sketch is from the narrative of John Tanner, who,when about seven or eight years of age, was stolen from his parents bythe Indians, and remained with them during a period of thirty years.

"By the end of the second day after we left Pembinah we had not amouthful to eat, and were beginning to be very hungry. When we laid downin our camp (near Craneberry River) at night, and put our ears close tothe ground, we could hear the tramp of the buffaloes, but when we sat upwe could hear nothing; and on the following morning nothing could beseen of them; though we could command a very extensive view of theprairie. As we knew they must not be far off in the direction of thesounds we had heard, eight men, of whom I was one, were selected anddispatched to kill some, and bring the meat to a point where it wasagreed the[Pg 27] party should stop next night. The noise we could still hearnext morning, by applying our ears to the ground; and it seemed about asfar distant, and in the same direction, as before. We started early, androde some hours before we could begin to see them; and when we firstdiscovered the margin of the herd, it must have been at least ten milesdistant. It was like a black line drawn along the edge of the sky, or alow shore seen across a lake. The distance of the herd from the placewhere we first heard them could not have been less than twenty miles.But it was now the rutting season, and various parts of the herd wereall the time kept in rapid motion by the severe fights of the bulls. Tothe noise produced by the knocking together of the two divisions of thehoof, when they raised their feet from the ground, and of theirincessant tramping, was added the loud and furious roar of the bulls,engaged, as they all were, in their terrific and appalling conflicts. Wewere conscious that our approach to the herd would not occasion thealarm now, that it would at any other time, and we rode directly towardsthem. As we came near we killed a wounded bull, which scarcely made aneffort to escape from us. He had wounds in his flanks, into which Icould put my whole hand. As we knew that the flesh of the bulls was notnow good to eat, we did not wish to kill them, though we might easilyhave shot any number. Dismounting, we put our horses in the care of someof our number, who were willing to stay back for that purpose, and thencrept into the herd to try to kill some cows. I had separated from theothers, and advancing, got entangled among the bulls. Before I found anopportunity to shoot a cow, the bulls began[Pg 28] to fight very near me. Intheir fury they were totally unconscious of my presence, and camerushing towards me with such violence, that in some alarm for my safety,I took refuge in one of those holes which are so frequent where thoseanimals abound, and which they themselves dig to wallow in. Here I foundthey were pressing directly upon me, and I was compelled to fire todisperse them, in which I did not succeed until I had killed four ofthem. By this firing the cows were so frightened, that I perceived Ishould not be able to kill any in this quarter; so regaining my horse, Irode to a distant part of the herd, where the Indians had succeeded inkilling a fat cow. But from this cow, as is usual in similar cases, theherd had all moved off, except one bull, who, when I came up, still keptthe Indians at bay. 'You are warriors,' said I, as I rode up, 'going farfrom your own country, to seek an enemy, but you cannot take his wifefrom that old bull, who has nothing in his hands.' So saying, I passedthem directly towards the bull, then standing something more than twohundred yards distant. He no sooner saw me approach, than he cameplunging towards me with such impetuosity, that, knowing the danger tomy horse and myself, I turned and fled. The Indians laughed heartily atmy repulse, but they did not give over their attempts to get at the cow.By dividing the attention of the bull, and creeping up to him ondifferent sides, they at length shot him down. While we were cutting upthe cow, the herd were at no great distance; and an old cow, which theIndians supposed to be the mother of the one we had killed, taking thescent of the blood, came running with great violence towards us. TheIndians were alarmed and fled, many of them not having their[Pg 29] guns intheir hands; but I had carefully reloaded mine, and had it ready foruse. Throwing myself down close to the body of the cow, and behind it, Iwaited till the other came up within a few yards of the carcase, when Ifired upon her; she turned, gave one or two jumps, and fell dead. We hadnow the meat of two fat cows, which was as much as we wanted;accordingly we repaired, without delay, to the appointed place, where wefound our party, whose hunger was already somewhat allayed by a deer oneof them had killed."

In hunting the Bison, the spear and the arrow are still much in useamong the Indians. The following sketch (after Catlin) represents anIndian in the act of shooting a Bison with the arrow:—

In the 'Letters and Notes on the North-American Indians,' by Catlin,there are a great many interesting details of the Bison (or Buffalo, asit is there called).

"Six days of severe travelling have brought us from the Camancheevillage to the north bank of the Canadian, where we are snugly encampedon a beautiful plain, and in the midst of countless numbers ofbuffaloes; and halting a few days to recruit our horses and men, and drymeat to last us the remainder of our journey.[Pg 30]

"The plains around this, for many miles, seem actually speckled, indistance and in every direction, with herds of grazing buffaloes; andfor several days, the officers and men have been indulged in a generallicense to gratify their sporting propensities; and a scene of bustleand cruel slaughter it has been, to be sure! From morning till night,the camp has been daily almost deserted. The men have dispersed inlittle squads, in all directions, and are dealing death to these poorcreatures to a most cruel and wanton extent, merely for the pleasure ofdestroying, generally without stopping to cut out the meat. Duringyesterday and to day, several hundreds have undoubtedly been killed, andnot so much as the flesh of half a dozen used. Such immense swarms ofthem are spread over this tract of country, and so divided and terrifiedhave they become, finding their enemies in all directions where theyrun, that the poor beasts seem completely bewildered, running here andthere, and, as often as otherwise, come singly advancing to thehorsemen, as if to join them for their company, and are easily shotdown. In the turmoil and confusion, when their assailants have beenpushing them forward, they have galloped through our encampment, jumpingover our fires, upsetting pots and kettles, driving horses from theirfastenings, and throwing the whole encampment into the greatestconsternation and alarm."

Speaking of the attacks made upon them by the Wolves, he says, "When theherd is together the Wolves never attack them, as they instantly gatherfor combined resistance, which they effectually make. But when the herdsare travelling, it often happens that an aged or wounded one lingers ata little distance behind, and when[Pg 31] fairly out of sight of the herd, isset upon by the voracious hunters, which often gather to the number offifty or more, and are sure at last to torture him to death, and use himup at a meal. The Buffalo, however, is a huge and furious animal, andwhen his retreat is cut off, makes desperate and deadly resistance,contending to the last moment for the right of life, and oftentimesdeals death by wholesale to his canine assailants.

"During my travels in these regions, I have several times come acrosssuch a gang of these animals surrounding an old or wounded bull, whereit would seem, from appearances, that they had been for several days inattendance, and at intervals desperately engaged in the effort to takehis life. But a short time since, as one of my hunting companions andmyself were returning to our encampment, with our horses loaded withmeat, we discovered at a distance a huge bull, encircled with a gang ofwhite wolves. We rode up as near as we could without driving them away;and being within pistol-shot, we had a remarkably good view, where I satfor a few moments and made a sketch in my note-book. After which we rodeup, and gave the signal for them to disperse, which they instantly did,withdrawing themselves to the distance of fifty or sixty rods, when wefound, to our great surprise, that the animal had made desperateresistance, until his eyes were entirely eaten out of his head; thegristle of his nose was mostly gone; his tongue was half eaten off, andthe skin and flesh of his legs torn almost literally into strings. Inthis tattered and torn condition the poor old veteran stood bracing upin the midst of his devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a fewminutes, to enjoy a sort of parley,[Pg 32] recovering strength to resume theattack in a few moments again. In this group, some were reclining togain breath, whilst others were sneaking about, and licking their chapsin anxiety for a renewal of the attack; and others, less lucky, had beencrushed to death by the feet or the horns of the bull. I rode nearer tothe pitiable object, as he stood bleeding and trembling before me, andsaid to him,—"Now is your time, old fellow, and you had better be off."Though blind, and nearly destroyed, he straightened up, and, tremblingwith excitement, dashed off at full speed upon the prairie, in astraight line. We turned our horses, and resumed our march; and when wehad advanced a mile or more, we looked back, and again saw the ill-fatedanimal surrounded by his tormentors, to whose insatiable voracity heunquestionably soon fell a victim."

It has frequently been noticed, that whenever a female Bison, having acalf, is slain, the young one remains by its fallen dam, with signs ofstrong natural affection,[Pg 33] and instinctively follows the inanimatecarcase of its parent to the residence of the hunter. In this way manycalves are secured.

According to Mr. Catlin's account these young animals are induced tofollow any one who merely breathes in their nostrils. "I have often,"says he, "in concurrence with a known custom of the country, held myhands over the eyes of the calf, and breathed a few strong breaths intoits nostrils; after which I have, with my hunting companions, rodeseveral miles into our encampment, with the little prisoner busilyfollowing the heels of my horse the whole way, as closely as itsinstinct would attach it to the company of its dam.

"This is one of the most extraordinary things that I have met with inthe habits of this wild country; and although I had often heard of it,and felt unable exactly to believe it, I am now willing to beartestimony to the fact, from the numerous instances which I havewitnessed[Pg 34] since I came into the country. During the time that I residedat this post (Teton River) in the spring of the year, on my way up theriver, I assisted in bringing in, in the above manner, several of theselittle prisoners, which sometimes followed for five or six miles closeto our horse's heels, and even into the Fur Company's Fort, and into thestable where our horses were led. In this way, before I left for thehead waters of the Missouri, I think we had collected about a dozen,which Mr. Laidlaw was successfully raising with the aid of a good milchcow, and which were to be committed to the care of Mr. Chouteau, to betransported, by the return of the steamer, to his extensive plantationin the vicinity of St. Louis."

The uses which are made of the various parts of the Bison are numerous.The hide, which is thick and rather porous, is converted by the Indiansinto mocassins for the winter; they also make their shields of it. Whendressed with the hair on, it is made into clothing by the natives, andmost excellent blankets by the European settlers; so valuable, indeed,is it esteemed, that three or four pounds sterling a piece are notunfrequently given for good ones in Canada, where they are used astravelling cloaks. The fleece, which sometimes weighs eight pounds, isspun and wove into cloth. Stockings, gloves, garters, &c., are likewiseknit with it, appearing and lasting as well as those made of the bestsheep's wool. In England it has been made into remarkably fine cloth.

"There are," says Catlin, "by a fair calculation, more than 300,000Indians who are now subsisting on the flesh of the buffaloes, and bythese animals supplied[Pg 35] with, all the luxuries of life which theydesire, as they know of none others. The great variety of uses to whichthey convert the body and other parts of that animal, are almostincredible to the person who has not actually dwelt amongst thesepeople, and closely studied their modes and customs. Every part of theirflesh is converted into food, in one shape or other, and on it theyentirely subsist. The skins of the animals are worn by the Indiansinstead of blankets; their skins, when tanned, are used as coverings fortheir lodges and for their beds; undressed, they are used forconstructing canoes, for saddles, for bridles, l'arrêts, lasos, andthongs. The horns are shaped into ladles and spoons; the brains are usedfor dressing the skins; their bones are used for saddle-trees, forwar-clubs, and scrapers for graining the robes; and others are broken upfor the marrow fat which is contained in them. The sinews are used forstrings and backs to their bows, for thread to string their beads andsew their dresses. The feet of the animals are boiled, with their hoofs,for the glue they contain, for fastening their arrow points, and manyother uses. The hair from the head and shoulders, which is long, istwisted and braided into halters, and the tail is used for a fly-brush."

Again (vol. ii, p. 138), he says, "I have introduced the skin canoes ofthe Mandans (of the Upper Missouri), which are made almost round like atub, by straining a buffalo's skin over a frame of wicker-work, made ofwillow or other boughs. The woman, in paddling these awkward tubs,stands in the bow, and makes the stroke with the paddle, by reaching itforward in the water, and drawing it to her, by which means she pullsthe[Pg 36] canoe along with considerable speed. These very curious andrudely-constructed canoes are made in the form of the Welsh coracle;and, if I mistake not, propelled in the same manner, which is a verycurious circumstance; inasmuch as they are found in the heart of thegreat wilderness of America, where all the surrounding tribes constructtheir canoes in decidedly different forms, and of different materials."

It is generally agreed by travellers, that the flesh of the Bison islittle inferior to the beef of our domestic oxen. The tongue isconsidered a delicacy, and the hump is much esteemed. A kind ofpotted-beef, calledpemmican, is made of the flesh of the Bison, inthe following manner:—The flesh is spread on a skin, dried in the sun,and pounded with stones; then all the hair is carefully sifted out ofit, and melted fat kneeded into it. This, when properly made and keptdry, will keep good for twelve months. The tallow of the Bison forms animportant article of commerce; one fat bull yielding sometimes as muchas 150 pounds weight.

Mr. Turner, a gentleman long resident in America, is of opinion, thatthe Bison is superior even to our domestic cattle for the purposes ofhusbandry, and has expressed a wish to see this animal domesticated onthe[Pg 37] English farms. He informs us, that a farmer on the great Kenhawabroke a young Bison to the plough; and having yoked it with a steer,taken from his tame cattle, it performed its work to admiration. Butthere is another property in which the Bison far surpasses the Ox, andthis is his strength. "Judging from the extraordinary size of his bones,and the depth and formation of the chest, (continues this gentleman,) Ishould not think it unreasonable to assign nearly a double portion ofstrength to this powerful inhabitant of the forest. Reclaim him, and yougain a capital quadruped, both for the draught and for the plough; hisactivity peculiarly fits him for the latter, in preference to the ox."

As there are no Game Laws in America, (except in a very few confinedinstances on the Atlantic border,) the consequence is that the Bison isfast disappearing before the approach of the white settlers. At thecommencement of the eighteenth century these wild cattle were found inlarge numbers all throughout the valley of the Ohio, of the Mississippi,in Western New York, in Virginia, &c. In the beginning of the presentcentury they were still existing in the extreme western or southwesternpart of the State of New York. As late as 1812 they were natives ofOhio, and numerous in that State. And now they are not to be seen intheir native state in any part of the United States, east of theMississippi River; nor are they now to be found in any considerablenumbers west of that great river, until you have travelled some eightyor a hundred miles into the interior of the country.

There were no Bisons west of the Rocky Mountains, when Lewis and Clarketravelled there in 1805. On[Pg 38] their return from the Columbia, or OregonRiver, in July of that year, the first Bison they saw was on the dayafter they commenced their descent of the Rocky Mountains towards theeast. On the second day after that, they saw immense herds of them onthe banks of the Medicine River. One collection of these animals whichthey subsequently saw, on the borders of the Missouri River, theyestimated as being at least 20,000 in number.

In 1823 it was discovered that the Bisons had crossed the RockyMountains, and some were to be seen in the vallies to the west of thatrange.

East of that range of mountains, these animals migrate from the uplandsor mountains to the plains, and from north to south, about the beginningof November; and return from the south to the north, and from the plainsto the uplands, soon after the disappearance of the snow in the spring.

The herds of Bisons wander over the country in search of food, usuallyled by a bull remarkable for strength and fierceness. While feeding,they are often scattered over a great extent of country; but when theymove, they form a dense and almost impenetrable column, which, when oncein motion, is scarcely to be impeded. Their line of march is seldominterrupted, even by considerable rivers, across which they swim,without fear or hesitation, nearly in the order in which they traversethe plains. The Bisons which frequent the woody parts of the countryform smaller herds than those which roam over the plains, but are saidto be individually of a greater size.

The rutting takes place the latter part of July and[Pg 39] the beginning ofAugust, after which the cows separate from the bulls in distinct herds.They bring forth their young in April: from which it appears that theterm of gestation is about nine months.

The pair of American Bisons in the Zoological Gardens produced a calf in1849; from the observations made in that instance, the period ofgestation was calculated at 270 days.

The most important anatomical difference between the American and theEuropean is, that the American has fifteen pairs of ribs, whereas theEuropean has but fourteen.

THE AUROCHS, OR EUROPEAN BISON.

Bos Bison.

In this, as in the American species, the head is very broad, and theforehead arched; but the horns are longer, more curved, and end in afiner point than those of the American Bison. The eyes are large anddark; the hair on the forehead is long and wavy; under the chin and onthe breast it forms a sort of beard. In winter, the whole of the neck,hump, and shoulders are covered with a long woolly hair of a dusky browncolour, intermingled with a short soft fur of a fawn colour. The longhair is gradually cast in the summer, to be again renewed as theinclemency of winter comes on. The legs, back, and[Pg 41] posterior portionsare covered with short, dark brown hair. The tail is of a moderatelength, is covered with hair, and terminates in a large tuft.

The females are not so large as the males, neither are theycharacterised by that abundance of hair on the anterior parts, which isso conspicuous in the bulls.

These animals have never been domesticated, although calves havesometimes been caught, and confined in an enclosed pasture. An instanceof this kind is recorded by Mr. Gilibert, who, while in Poland, had theopportunity of observing the character of four young ones thus reared incaptivity. They were suckled by a she-goat, obstinately refusing totouch a common cow. This antipathy to the domestic cow, which theymanifested so early, maintained its strength as they advanced in years;their anger was sure to be excited at the appearance of any domesticcattle, which, whenever introduced to them, they vigorously expelledfrom their pasture. They were, however, sufficiently tame to acknowledgethe voice of their keeper.

The geographical range of this animal is now comparatively very limited,being confined to the forests of Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, andsome of the Caucasian mountain forests; yet there can be no doubt that,at an early period, they roamed at large over a great part of bothEurope and Asia.

Although they have never been, strictly speaking, domesticated, yetherds of them are kept in certain localities in the forest ofBialowieza, under the special protection of the Emperor of Russia, andunder the immediate superintendence of twelve herdsmen, each herdsmankeeping the number allotted to his charge in a particular department ofthe forest, near some river[Pg 42] or stream. The estimated number of thetwelve herds is about 800.

They feed on grass and brushwood; also on the leaves and bark of youngtrees, particularly the willow, poplar, ash, and birch. In autumn theylikewise browse on heath, and the lichens which cover the bark of trees.In winter, when the ground is covered with snow, fodder is provided forthem.

Their cry is quite peculiar, resembling a groan, or a grunt, more thanthe lowing of an ox.

They do not attain their full stature until after the sixth year, andlive till between thirty and forty.

"The strength of the Zubr," says Dr. Weissenborn, "is enormous; andtrees of five or six inches diameter cannot withstand the thrusts of oldbulls. It is neither afraid of wolf nor bear, and assails its enemiesboth with its horns and hoofs. An old Zubr is a match for four wolves;packs of the latter animal, however, sometimes hunt down even old bullswhen alone; but a herd of Zubrs has nothing to fear from any rapaciousanimal.

"Notwithstanding the great bulk of its body, the Zubr can run veryswiftly. In galloping, its hoofs are raised above its head, which itcarries very low. The animal has, however, but little bottom, and seldomruns farther than one or two English miles. It swims well, and is veryfond of bathing.

"The zubr is generally exceedingly shy, and avoids the approach of man.They can only be approached from the leeward, as their smell isextremely acute. But when accidentally and suddenly fallen in with, theywill passionately assail the intruder. In such fits of passion theanimal thrusts out its tongue repeatedly, lashes its[Pg 43] sides with itstail, and the reddened and sparkling eyes project from their sockets,and roll furiously. Such is their innate wildness, that none of themhave been completely tamed. When taken young they become, it is true,accustomed to their keepers, but the approach of other persons rendersthem furious; and even their keepers must be careful always to wear thesame sort of dress when going near them. Their great antipathy to theBos Taurus, which they either avoid or kill, would render theirdomestication, if it were practicable, but little desirable. Theexperiments made with a view of obtaining a mixed breed from the Zubrand Bos Taurus have all failed, and are now strictly prohibited."

The rutting season is in August, and continues for about a fortnight;the calves are produced in May; thus, the period of gestation is betweennine and ten months. The calves continue to suckle nearly twelve months,and the cows seldom calve oftener than once in three years.

The European Bison differs internally from the common ox in havingfourteen pairs of ribs, whereas the common ox has but thirteen. Theexternal differences between the two animals are too obvious to requirepointing out.

In 1845, the Emperor of Russia presented to the British Museum a veryfine stuffed specimen of this animal, from which the figure at the headof this chapter was taken.

M. Dimitri de Dolmatoff, Master of the Imperial Forests in theGovernment of Grodno, in his note of the capture of the Aurochs,(written in 1847,) alludes to the statement (made by every writer whohas treated of these animals), that the calves, although taken young,invariably refuse to be suckled by the Domestic Cow. This he contradictsin the most explicit manner, on the testimony of his own experience,having had several instances come under his observation, in which theyoung calves of the Aurochs were suckled and reared by cows of thecommon domestic species.

Cæsar, in his account of the "Sylva Hercynia"—the Black Forest—thusmentions the Urus, amongst other animals, there found:

"A third kind [of animals] are those called Uri. They are but littleless than Elephants in size, and are of the species, colour, and form ofa bull. Their strength is very great, and also their speed. They spareneither man nor beast that they see. They cannot be brought to endurethe sight of men, nor be tamed, even when taken young. The people whotake them in pit-falls, assiduously destroy them; and young men hardenthemselves in this labour, and exercise themselves in this kind ofchase; and those who have killed a great number—the horns beingpublicly exhibited in evidence of the fact—obtain great honour. Thehorns, in amplitude, shape, and species, differ much from the horns ofour oxen. They are much sought after; and after having been edged withsilver at their mouths, they are used for drinking vessels at greatfeasts." (De Bello Gallico, lib. vi.)

THE YAK, OR SOORA-GOY.

Bos Grunniens.

The following interesting and circumstantial account of this curiousspecies of Ox, is from the pen of Lieut. Samuel Turner. (AsiaticResearches, vol. iv.)

"The Yak of Tartary, called Soora-Goy in Hindostan, and which I term theBushy-tailed Bull of Tibet, is about the height of an English Bull,which he resembles in the figure of the body, head, and legs. I coulddistinguish between them no essential difference, except only that theYak is covered all over with a thick coat of long hair. The head israther short, crowned with two smooth round horns, that, tapering fromthe setting on, terminate in sharp points, arch inwardly, and near theextremities are a little turned back. The ears are small; the foreheadappears prominent, being adorned with much curling hair; the eyes arefull and large; the nose smooth and convex;[Pg 46] the nostrils small. Theneck is short, describing a curvature nearly equal both above and below;the withers high and arched; the rump low. Over the shoulders rises abunch, which at first sight would seem to be the same kind of exuberancepeculiar to the cattle of Hindostan; but in reality it consists in thesuperior length of the hair only, which, as well as that along the ridgeof the back to the setting on of the tail, grows long and erect, but notharsh. The tail is composed of a prodigious quantity of long flowingglossy hair, descending to the hock; and is so extremely well furnished,that not a joint of it is perceptible; but it has much the appearance ofa large bunch of hair artificially set on. The shoulders, rump, andupper part of the body are clothed with a sort of thick soft wool, butthe inferior parts with straight pendent hair that descends below theknee; and I have seen it so long in some cattle, which were in highhealth and condition, as to trail along the ground. From the chest,between the fore-legs, issues a large pointed tuft of hair, growingsomewhat larger than the rest. The legs are very short. In every otherrespect, hoofs, &c., he resembles the ordinary Bull. There is a greatvariety of colours among them, but black and white are the mostprevalent. It is not uncommon to see the long hair upon the ridge of theback, the tail, the tuft upon the chest, and the legs below the kneewhite, when all the rest of the animal is jet black.

"These cattle, though not large boned, from the profuse quantity of hairwith which they are provided, appear of great bulk. They have a downheavy look, but are fierce, and discover much impatience at the nearapproach of strangers. They do not low loud (like the[Pg 47] cattle ofEngland) any more than those of Hindostan; but make a low gruntingnoise, scarcely audible, and that but seldom, when under some impressionof uneasiness. These cattle are pastured in the coldest part of Tibet,upon short herbage, peculiar to the tops of mountains and bleak plains.That chain of lofty mountains situated between lat. 27° and 28°, whichdivides Tibet from Bootan, and whose summits are most commonly coveredwith snow, is their favourite haunt. In this vicinity the Southern glensafford them food and shelter during the severity of the winter; inmilder seasons the Northern aspect is more congenial to their nature,and admits a wider range. They are a very valuable property to thetribes of illiterate Tartars, who live in tents, and tend them fromplace to place, affording their herdsmen a mode of conveyance, a goodcovering, and subsistence. They are never employed in agriculture, butare extremely useful as beasts of burden; for they are strong,sure-footed, and carry a great weight. Tents and ropes are manufacturedof their hair, and I have seen, though amongst the humblest ranks ofherdsmen, caps and jackets worn of their skins. Their tails are esteemedthroughout the East, as far as luxury or parade have any influence onthe manners of the people; and on the continent of India are found,under the denomination of Chowries, in the hands of the meanest grooms,as well as, occasionally, in those of the first ministers of state. Yetthe best requital with which the care of their keepers is at lengthrewarded for selecting them good pastures, is in the abundant quantityof rich milk they give, yielding most excellent butter, which they havea custom of depositing in skins or bladders, and excluding the air; itkeeps in this cold[Pg 48] climate all the year, so that after some timetending their flocks, when a sufficient stock is accumulated, it remainsonly to load their cattle, and drive them to a proper market with theirown produce, which constitutes, to the utmost verge of Tartary, a mostmaterial article of commerce."

The soft fur upon the hump and shoulders is manufactured by the nativesof Tibet into a fine but strong cloth; and, if submitted to the test ofEuropean skill, might no doubt be made to produce a very superiorfabric.

The herdsmen commonly convert the hides into a loose outer garment thatcovers the whole of their bodies, hanging down to the knees; and itproves a sufficient protection against the lowest temperature of thecold and desolate region which they inhabit. It furnishes at once acloak by day and a bed by night.

The Yak is not generally fierce, but, if intruded upon by strangers, itsometimes manifests very formidable symptoms of impatience, stamping itsfeet, whisking its tail aloft, and tossing its head. When excited, it isnot easily appeased, and is exceedingly tenacious of injury, alwaysshowing great fierceness whenever any one approaches who has chanced toprovoke it.

The cow is calledDhe, of which the wandering Tartars possess greatnumbers, having no means of subsistence but those supplied by theirflocks and herds.

A fine male specimen of this Ox was brought to England by WarrenHastings, and several attempts were made to procure a cross between itand the common English Cow, but without success. He invariably refusedto associate with ordinary cattle, and exhibited a decided antipathy tothem. His portrait was painted, and is now[Pg 49] in the Museum of the Collegeof Surgeons, London. The following figure (taken from the 'OrientalAnnual') is so much like the portrait of Warren Hastings's Yak, that itmight almost be taken for a copy of it.

There is the skin of a Yak in the Zoological Museum, which coincidespretty nearly with the foregoing description. There is also a stuffedspecimen of a female in the British Museum.

Like the European Bison, the skeleton of the Yak has fourteen pairs ofribs. Period of gestation not recorded.

THE GYALL, (Bos Frontalis of Lambert;)

THE GAYAL, (Bos Gavæus of Colebrooke;)

THE JUNGLY GAU, (Bos Sylhetanus of F. Cuvier.)

Of the animals named in the foregoing list, we have had several veryinteresting accounts; but none of these have been sufficiently preciseto enable us to determine the specific character of the animalsdescribed.

Are they, as some affirm, merely different names for the same animal; ordo they designate animals which are really and truly distinct?

Nothing short of an appeal to structure can satisfactorily settle thisor any other disputed point of a similar nature; but, unfortunately forzoology, the opportunities for such appeals are rare, and, when they dooccur, are seldom taken advantage of. Let us hope that this hint willnot be lost on some of our intelligent countrymen in the East; and thatbefore long we may be favoured with the result of their researches.

In the meantime, and in order to facilitate as much as possible theendeavours of those who may have opportunities for such inquiries, thefollowing epitome is given of the various papers which have alreadyappeared on the subject, but which, in their present scattered form, areof very little general utility.

THE GYALL.

The earliest descriptive notice we have of the Gyall was that given in apaper read before the Linnean Society, in 1802, by Mr. Lambert, on theoccasion of a bull of this species arriving in London from India.

"Bos Frontalis.

"General colour a blueish-black; the frontal fascia gray; the hornsshort, thick, and distant at their bases, the tail nearly naked,slender, and with a tuft at the end. The Gyall has no mane; its coat issoft; the edge of the under lip is white, and is fringed with bristlinghair. The horns are pale, with their bases included in the frontalfascia."

The animal of which this description is given, appeared to be betweentwo and three years old, very tame, and inoffensive.[Pg 52] A drawing wastaken of it, which was engraved and published in the LinneanTransactions.

In reply to some inquiries respecting this animal which he made of agentleman, (Mr. Harris,) resident in India, Mr. Lambert received thefollowing:

"Dear Sir,—I have before me your note, with the drawing, whichundoubtedly appears to me to be the figure of the animal I mentioned tohave in my possession. Some parts of the drawing seem to be rather toomuch enlarged, as in the base of the horns, and the rising between thefore shoulders.

"The animal I described to you, and which I have kept and reared theselast seven years, and know by the name of the Gyall, is a native of thehills to the north east and east of the Company's province ofChittagong, in Bengal, inhabiting that range of hills which separates itfrom the country of Arracan.

"The male Gyall is like our Bull in shape and appearance, but I conceivenot quite so tall; it is of a blackish-brown colour; the horns short,but thick and strong towards the base, round which, and across thefrons, the[Pg 53] hair is bushy, and of a dirty white colour; the chest andforehead are broad and thick. He is naturally very bold, and will defendhimself against any of the beasts of prey.

"The female differs a little in appearance; her horns are not quite solarge, and her make is somewhat more slender. She is very quiet, and isused for all the purposes of the dairy; as also, (I have been informedby the natives,) for tilling the ground, and is more tractable than theBuffalo. The milk which these cows give has a peculiar richness in it,arising, I should conceive, from their always feeding on the youngshoots and branches of trees in preference to grass.

"I constantly made it a practice to allow them to range abroad, amongstthe hills and jungles at Chittagong, during the day, to browse; a keeperattending to prevent their straying so far as to endanger losing them.They do not thrive so well in any part of Bengal as in the[Pg 54]afore-mentioned province, and in the adjoining one, Pipperah, where, Ibelieve, the animal is also to be found. I have heard of a female Gyallbreeding with a common Bull. I wish it were in my power to give you moreparticulars, but I am describing entirely from memory."

In February, 1804, Mr. Lambert again addressed the Linnean Society onthe same subject. He says, "Since I presented to the Society the lastaccount of the Bos Frontalis, or Gyall of India, Mr. Fleming, agentleman who has just returned from that country, has very obliginglycommunicated to me the following further particulars. This account wastransmitted to Mr. Fleming by Mr. Macrae, resident at Chittagong, in aletter, dated March 22, 1802, and was accompanied with a drawing, bywhich it appears that the animal from which my figure was taken was fullgrown." (See the figure, p. 51.)

Mr. Macrae's Account.

The Gyall is a species of cow peculiar to the mountains, which form theeastern boundary of the province of Chittagong, where it is foundrunning wild in the woods; and it is also reared as a domestic animal bythe Kookies, or Lunclas, the inhabitants of those hills. It delights tolive in the deepest jungles, feeding on the tender leaves and shoots ofthe brushwood; and is never met with on the plains below, except whenbrought there. Such of them as have been kept by the gentlemen atChittagong, have always preferred browsing among the thickets on theadjacent hills to feeding on the grass of the plains.

It is of a dull heavy appearance, yet of a form that indicates bothstrength and activity; and approaches nearly to that of the wildBuffalo. Its head is set on[Pg 55] like the Buffalo's, and it carries it muchin the same manner, with the nose projecting forward; but in the shapeof the head it differs materially from both the Buffalo and the Cow, thehead of the Gyall being much shorter from the crown to the nose, butmuch broader between the horns than that of either. The withers andshoulders of the Gyall rise higher in proportion than those of Buffaloor Cow, and its tail is small and short, seldom falling lower than thebend in the ham. Its colour is in general brown, varying from a light toa deep shade; it has at times a white forehead, andwhite legs, with awhite belly and brush. The hair of the belly is invariably of a lightercolour than that of the back and flanks. The Gyall calf is of a dull redcolour, which gradually changes to a brown as it advances in age.

The female Gyall receives the bull at three years of age; her term ofgestation is eleven months, when she brings forth, and does not againadmit the male until the second year thereafter, thus producing a calfonce in three years only. So long an interval between each birth musttend to make the species rare. In the length of time she goes withyoung, as well as in that between each conception, the Gyall differsfrom the Buffalo and Cow. The Gyall does not give much milk, but whatshe yields is nearly as rich as the cream of other milk. The calf sucksits dam for eight or nine months, when it is capable of supportingitself. The Kookies tie up the calf until he is sufficiently strong todo so.

The Gyalls live to the age of from fifteen to twenty. They lose theirsight as they grow old, and are subject to a disease of the hoof, whichoften proves fatal at an early age. When the Kookies consider thedisease beyond the[Pg 56] hope of cure, he kills the animal and eats theflesh, which constitutes his first article of luxury.

The Kookies have a very simple method of catching the wild Gyalls, whichis as follows:—On discovering a herd of wild Gyalls in the jungles,they prepare a number of balls, of the size of a man's head, composed ofa particular kind of earth, salt, and cotton. They then drive their tameGyalls towards the wild ones, when the two herds soon meet, andassimilate into one; the males of the one attaching themselves to thefemales of the other, andvice versâ. The Kookies now scatter theirballs over such parts of the jungle as they think the herd most likelyto pass, and watch its motions. The Gyalls, on meeting these balls asthey pass along, are attracted by their appearance and smell, and beginto lick them with their tongues; and relishing the taste of the salt,and the particular earth composing them, they never quit the place untilall the balls are consumed. The Kookies having observed the Gyalls tohave once tasted their balls, prepare a sufficient supply of them toanswer the intended purpose; and as the Gyalls lick them up, they throwdown more; and it is to prevent their being so readily destroyed thatthe cotton is mixed with the earth and the salt. This process generallygoes on for three changes of the moon, or for a month and a half, duringwhich time the tame and the wild Gyalls are always together, licking thedecoy balls; and the Kookie, after the first day or two of their beingso, makes his appearance, at such a distance as not to alarm the wildones. By degrees he approaches nearer and nearer, until at length thesight of him has become so familiar that he can advance to stroke histame Gyalls on the back and[Pg 57] neck, without frightening away the wildones. He next extends his hand to them, and caresses them also, at thesame time giving them plenty of his decoy balls to lick. Thus, in theshort space of time mentioned, he is able to drive them, along with thetame ones, to his parrah, or village, without the least exertion offorce; and so attached do the Gyalls become to the parrah, that when theKookies migrate from one place to another, they always find it necessaryto set fire to the huts they are about to abandon, lest the Gyallsshould return to them from the new grounds.

It is worthy of remark that the new and full moon are the periods atwhich the Kookies in general commence their operations of catching thewild Gyalls, from having observed that at these changes the two sexesare most inclined to associate. The same observation has been made withrespect to Elephants.

THE GAYAL.

About four years after the publication of Mr. Macrae's account of theGyall (namely in 1808,) there appeared, in the Eighth volume of 'AsiaticResearches,' a description of a species of Ox, named Gayal, communicatedby H. T. Colebrooke.

He commences by observing, that "the Gayal was mentioned in an earlyvolume of the 'Researches of the Asiatic Society,' (vol. ii, p. 188,1790,) by its Indian name, which was explained by the phrase "Cattle ofthe mountains." It had been obscurely noticed (if indeed the samespecies of Ox be meant) by Knox, in his historical relation of Ceylon(p. 21), and it has been imperfectly[Pg 58] described by Captain Turner, inhis journey through Bootan, ('Embassy to Tibet,' p. 160).

"Herds of this species of cattle have been long kept by many gentlemenin the eastern districts of Bengal, and also in other parts of thisprovince; but no detailed account of the animal and of its habits hasbeen yet published in India. To remedy this deficiency, Dr. Roxburghundertook, at my solicitation, to describe the Gayal, from those seen byhim in a herd belonging to the Governor-General. Dr. Buchanan has alsoobligingly communicated his observations on the same cattle; withinformation obtained from several gentlemen at Tipura, Sylhet, andChatgaon, relative to the habits of the animal. The original drawingfrom which the plate has been taken was drawn by a native artist."

This representation does not appear to have been taken from a specimenof the animals here described:[Pg 59] it bears a much stronger resemblance toour figure of the Gaur, which was taken from the stuffed specimen in theBritish Museum (see p. 97), than it does to the Gyall (Bos frontalisof Lambert, see p. 51), or to the Gayal, which died in the ZoologicalGardens in 1846, from which our figure was taken, which is given on p.68.

Dr. Roxburgh, who undertook, at the solicitation of Mr. Colebrooke, todescribe the Gayal, appears to have done so by the very simple method ofcopying Mr. Macrae's description of the Gyall, which appeared in the'Linnean Transactions,' in 1804, to which he has added, that the dewlapis deep and pendant; and this, according to every other account, is notthe fact.

With respect to the account given by Dr. Buchanan, I have thought itbest to quote it in full; because (although it repeats several of thecharacteristics already given,) it appears to flow from the pen of onewho really observed what he describes.

He says: "The Gayal generally carries its head with the mouth projectingforward, like that of a Buffalo. The head, at the upper part, is verybroad and flat, and is contracted suddenly towards the nose, which isnaked, like that of the common cow. From the upper angle of the foreheadproceed two thick, short, horizontal processes of bone, which arecovered with hair; on these are placed the horns, which are smooth,shorter than the head, and lie nearly in the plane of the forehead. Theydiverge outward, and turn upward with a gentle curve. At the bases theyare very thick, and are slightly compressed, the flat side being towardthe front and the tail. The edge next the ear is rather the thinnest, sothat a[Pg 60] transverse section would be somewhat ovate. Toward their tipsthe horns are rounded, and end in a sharp point. The eyes resemble thoseof the common Ox; the ears are much longer, broader, and blunter thanthose of that animal.

"The neck is very slender near the head, at some distance from which adewlap commences, but this is not so deep, nor so much undulated as inthe Zebu or Indian Ox. The dewlap is covered with strong longish hairs,so as to form a kind of mane on the lower part of the neck; but this isnot very conspicuous, especially when the animal is young.

"In place of the hump (which is situated between the shoulders of theZebu) the Gayal has a sharp ridge, which commences on the hinder part ofthe neck, slopes gradually up till it comes over the shoulder-joint,then runs horizontally almost a third part of the length of the back,where it terminates with a very sudden slope. The height of this ridgemakes the neck appear much depressed, and also adds greatly to theclumsiness of the chest, which, although narrow, is very deep. Thesternum is covered by a continuation of the dewlap. The rump, or ossacrum, has a more considerable declivity than that of the European Ox,but less than that of the Zebu.

"The tail is covered with short hair, except near the end, where it hasa tuft like that of the common Ox; but in the Gayal the tail descends nolower than the extremity of the tibia.

"The legs, especially the fore ones, are thick and clumsy. The falsehoofs are much larger than those of the Zebu. The hinder parts areweaker in proportion than the fore; and, owing to the contraction of thebelly,[Pg 61] the hinder legs, although in fact the shortest, appear to be thelongest.

"The whole body is covered with a thick coat of short hair, which islengthened out into a mane on the dewlap, and into a pencil-like tuft onthe end of the tail. From the summit of the head there diverges, with awhirl, a bunch of rather long coarse hair, which lies flat, is usuallylighter-coloured than that which is adjacent, and extends towards thehorns and over the forehead. The general colour of the animal is brown,in various shades, which very often approaches to black, but sometimesis rather light. Some parts, especially about the legs and belly, areusually white; but in different individuals these are very differentlydisposed."

"The different species of the Ox kind may be readily distinguished fromthe Gayal by the following marks; the European and Indian oxen by thelength of their tails, which reach to the false hoofs; the American Ox,by the gibbosity on its back; theBovis moschatus, Caffer, andpumilus, by having their horns approximated at their[Pg 62] bases; theBosgrunniens by it's whole tail being covered with long silky hairs; theBos bubalus,(at least the Indian buffalo,) by having the whole lengthof its horns compressed, and by their being longer than the head, andwrinkled—also by its thin coat of hair, by its want of a dewlap, andabove all by its manners; theBos barbatus, by the long beard on itschin.

"The cry of the Gayal has no resemblance to the grunt of the Indian Ox,but a good deal resembles that of the Buffalo. It is a kind of lowing,but shriller, and not near so loud as that of the European Ox. To this,however, the Gayal approaches much nearer than it does to the Buffalo."

Mr. Macrae, who furnished the account in 1804, is again consulted; andfrom his second account, the following additional particulars have beengleaned. [Now, however, as the reader will observe, the name is Gayal,and not Gyall; although, according to Mr. Macrae's own derivation of theword, it would appear to be more correctly Gyall.]

"The Gayal is found wild in the range of mountains that form the easternboundary of the provinces of Aracan, Chittagong (Chatgaon), Tipura, andSylhet.

"The Cucis, or Lunclas, a race of people inhabiting the hillsimmediately to the eastward of Chatgaon, have herds of the Gayal in adomesticated state. By them he is called Shial, from which, mostprobably, his name of Gayal [Gyall] is derived; as he is never seen onthe plains, except when he is brought there. It appears, however, thathe is an animal very little known beyond the limits of his nativemountains, except by the inhabitants of the provinces above mentioned.[Pg 63]

"His disposition is gentle: even when wild in his native hills, he isnot considered to be a dangerous animal; never standing the approach ofman, much less bearing his attack.

"To avoid the noon-day heat, he retires to the deepest shade of theforest; preferring the dry acclivity of the hill to repose on, ratherthan the low swampy ground below; and never, like the Buffalo, wallowingin mud.

"Gayals have been domesticated among the Cucis from time immemorial; andwithout any variation in their appearance from the wild stock. Nodifference whatever is observed in the colour of the wild and tamebreeds; brown of different shades being the general colour of both.

"The wild Gayal is about the size of the wild Buffalo of India. The tameGayals among the Cucis, being bred in nearly the same habits of freedom,and on the same food, without ever undergoing any labour, grow to thesame size with the wild ones.

"The Cucis makes no use whatever of the milk, but rear the Gayalsentirely for the sake of their flesh and skins; they make their shieldsof the hides of these animals. The flesh of the Gayal is in the highestestimation among the Cucis; so much so, that no solemn festival is evercelebrated without slaughtering one or more Gayals, according to theimportance of the occasion.

"The domesticated Gayals are allowed by the Cucis to roam at largeduring the day, through the forest, in the neighbourhood of the village;but as evening approaches, they all return home of their own accord; theyoung Gayal being early taught this habit, by being regularly fed everynight with salt, of which he is very fond; and[Pg 64] from the occasionalcontinuance of this practice, as he grows up, the attachment of theGayal to his native village becomes so strong, that when the Cucismigrate from it, they are obliged to set fire to the huts which they areabout to leave, lest their Gayals should return thither from their newplace of residence, before they become equally attached to it, as to theformer, through the same means.

"The wild Gayal sometimes steals out from the forest in the night, andfeeds in the rice fields bordering on the hills. The Cucis give no grainto their cattle. With us (at Chatgaon) the tame Gayals feed on Caláï(phaseolus max); but as our hills abound with shrubs, it has not beenremarked what particular kind of grass they prefer.

"The Hindus in this province will not kill the Gabay (or Gayal) whichthey hold in equal veneration with the cow. But the As'l Gayal, orSeloï, they hunt and kill, as they do the wild Buffalo. The animal herealluded to is another species of Gayal found wild in the hills ofChatgaon. He has never been domesticated, and is in appearance anddisposition very different from the common Gayal which has just beendescribed. The natives call him the As'l Gayal, in contra-distinction tothe Gabay. The Cucis distinguish him by the name of Seloï; and the Mugsand Burmas by that of P'hanj, and they consider him, next to the tiger,the most dangerous and fiercest animal of their forests."

Mr. Elliot, in writing from Tipura, says,—"I have some Gayals atMunnamutty, and from their mode of feeding I presume that they keep onthe skirts of the vallies, to enable them to feed on the sides of the[Pg 65]mountain, where they can browse; they will not touch grass, if they canfind shrubs.

"While kept at Camerlah, which is situated in a level country, they usedto resort to the banks, and eat on the sides; frequently betakingthemselves to the water, to avoid the heat of the sun. However, theybecame sickly and emaciated, and their eyes suffered much; but, on beingsent to the hills, they soon recovered, and are now (1808) in a healthycondition. They seem fond of the shade, and are observed in the hotweather to take the turn of the hills, so as to be always sheltered fromthe sun. They do not wallow in mud, like Buffaloes, but delight inwater, and stand in it during the greatest heat of the day, with thefront of their heads above the surface.

"Each Cow yields from two and a half to about four sérs [from five toeight pounds] of milk, which is rich, sweet, and almost as thick ascream; it is of a high flavour, and makes excellent butter."

We learn from Mr. Dick that the Gayal is called Gaujangali in thePersian language, Gavaya in Sanscrit, and Mat'hana by the mountaineers;but others name the animal Gobay-goru.

The tame Gayals, however long they may have been domesticated, do not atall differ from the wild ones, unless in temper, for the wild ones arefierce and untractable. The colour of both is the same, namely, that ofthe Antelope, but some are white and others black, none are spotted orpiebald. They graze and range like other cattle, and eat rice, mustard,chiches, and any cultivated produce, as also chaff and chopped straw.

According to this gentleman the Gayal lives to the age of twenty ortwenty-five years, and reaches its full growth[Pg 66] at five years. Thefemale is generally higher than the male. She receives the bull in herfifth year, and bears after ten months.

In reference to the case of Mr. Bird's Gayal breeding with the commonZebu, I may observe that this proves nothing beyond the bare factstated; no inference whatever of an identity of species can be drawnfrom a thousand such cases. It is pretty well known that animals ofperfectly distinct species will, when artificially brought together,produce hybrids, as in the familiar examples of the Horse and the Ass,the Canary and the Goldfinch; but a hybrid is neither a species nor(zoologically speaking) a variety.

In a paper on the Gour, by General Hardwicke, ('Zoological Journal,'Vol. III,) he introduces the following observations on the Gayal: "Ofthe Gayal (Bos Gavæas of Colebrooke) there appears to be more than onespecies. The provinces of Chatgong and Sylhet produce the wild, or, asthe Natives term it, the Asseel Gayal, and the domesticated one. Theformer is considered an untameable animal, extremely fierce, and not tobe taken alive. It rarely quits the mountain tract of the south-eastfrontier, and never mixes with the Gobbay, or village Gayal of theplains. I succeeded in obtaining the skin, with the head, of the AsseelGayal, which is deposited in the Museum of the Hon. East-India Company,in Leadenhall Street." [A drawing was taken of this head, of which theengraving on the opposite page is a copy.]

"I may notice another species of Gayal, of which a male and female werein the Governor General's park, at Barrackpore. This species differs insome particulars[Pg 67] from the domesticated Gayal, and also from the Asseel,or true Gayal; first, in size, being a larger animal than the domesticone; secondly, in the largeness of the dewlap, which is deeper and moreundulated than in either the wild or tame species; and, thirdly, in thesize and form of the horns."

Thus, according to the opinion of General Hardwicke, there are threedistinct species of the Gayal; but in this matter nothing can be decidedwithout further evidence, which we hope will soon appear in the shape ofcomplete skeletons, and accurate drawings and descriptions.

THE TAME OR DOMESTIC GAYAL.

The representation of the Gayal here given was taken from a livingspecimen in the Zoological Gardens, 1846.

The scanty information I was able to glean concerning it, consists inits having been procured at Chitagong, and shipped, as a commercialspeculation, from Calcutta for London, in January 1844, when about twoyears and a half old. It remained in the Zoological Gardens till thesummer of 1846, when it died from inflammation of the bowels, brought onchiefly by eating too much green food.

I had the above particulars from Mr. Bartlett, naturalist, &c., who hadbeen commissioned to dispose of it. He preserved the skeleton, which hekindly allowed me to examine, and from which I made the sketches of theskull and horns, which appear on the following page.

In concluding these details of the Gayal and Gyall, let it be remarkedthat, when we hear one animal called Gayal and another Gyall, we arenot,on that account merely, to set them down as of the same species.It is hardly necessary to say, that similarity or even identity of name,is not the slightest criterion of identity of species. The name Elephantis popularly applied to that animal, whether brought from Africa orAsia; they are, nevertheless, anatomically distinct. The sameobservation may be made respecting the Lions of those countries, andvarious other animals.

It may further be observed, that the value of external characters indetermining a species is very different when applied to ascertain thedistinctions of domestic races, to what it is when applied to ascertainthe distinctions of animals living in a natural state. In domestication,varieties ramify to an indefinite extent, and under such circumstancesexternal characters are comparatively valueless. But wild animals retaintheir external characters with undeviating exactness; exceptional casesmay indeed occur, but so very rarely, that they are not worth takinginto the account; consequently, external forms, and in some cases evencolours, become of importance in ascertaining specific distinction.

THE JUNGLY GAU.

Bos Sylhetanus. (Cuv.)

Further information is requisite to decide the specific character ofthis animal. According to the opinion of Col. Smith, (see 'Synopsis ofthe Species of Mammalia' in Griffith's Translation of Cuvier's AnimalKingdom,) it is a mere variety of the Gayal (Bos Gavæus); and Mr. J.E. Gray, in his 'List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collection ofthe British Museum,' classes it as a domestic variety of the sameanimal, but Mr. Fred. Cuvier regards it as an entirely new species.

The following account of the Jungly Gau (which is the only one that hasbeen published), is a translation from the splendid folio work ofMessrs. St. Hilaire and F. Cuvier.

This species of Ox, which is entirely new, appears to[Pg 72] be the mostnearly allied to our domestic cattle. Those ruminants which are classedunder the generic name of Ox, may be very naturally divided into twodistinct groups. The first includes the Buffaloes, animals in somemeasure aquatic, living in low, swampy localities, or near rivers, inwhich they remain half immersed a great part of the day; havingbroad-based horns, partly spreading over their foreheads, flat on theirinternal side, and round on their external; tongue soft, &c. The secondis that of the Ox, properly so called. These are distinguished from thefirst by their dwelling on more elevated lands, or in the vicinity offorests; having smooth round horns, without enlargement at their base;tongue covered with horny papillæ, &c.

It is to this second family, consisting of the American Bison, theAurox, the Yak, and the domestic Ox, with its varieties, that the JunglyGau undoubtedly belongs. It however differs from the first two in beingentirely destitute of the thick shaggy mane; and, instead of the longsilky hair of the third, it is clothed with close, short hair, equal inuniformity of texture to the sleekest of our domestic cattle. To judgefrom its general appearance, we might be even tempted to take it for amere variety of the domestic species, so close is the resemblance. Butthe information furnished by M. Alfred Duvaucel, in the only descriptionwhich has been given, leaves no doubt as to its being a new species.

The following is M. Duvaucel's account:—"The horns of the Jungly Gaurise from the sides of the occiput, first outward, then forward, with aslight inclination backward of the upper extremity, forming a doublelunation, and separated by a space which gradually diminishes as the[Pg 73]animal grows older; standing equally apart in every individual of thesame age and sex; are round, except at their base, which is slightlycompressed; and they become smoother as the animal advances in age.

"The hump, which is characteristic of the generality of Indian oxen, isreduced in this to a slight prominence, extending to the middle of theback, and is covered with a grayish, woolly hair, rather longer thanthat on the other parts of the body, which spreads likewise over theocciput and the front. The rest of the hair is black except the legs,which are white from the knees downwards. The tail terminates in a largetuft of hair; and, in bulls of two or three years old, the under part ofthe neck is slightly furnished with long, black, silky hair.

"The female is smaller than the male, with horns of a still lessproportionate size. The front of the head, instead of being convex, asin the male, appears to be slightly depressed, in consequence of thesuperior elevation of the muzzle. The colour of the female is not sodeep a black; the gray on the top of the neck and the shoulders extendsto the sides, and the inferior part of the muzzle is white.

"I have long entertained the opinion," continues M. Duvaucel, "thatthese oxen were essentially the same as the domestic—that they wereboth varieties of the same species; but this opinion was formed on theinspection only of such specimens as I had seen in the menagerie atBarracpour. Since that time, I have pursued them myself near themountains of Sylhet; and I have likewise learned from various sourcesthat they are as numerous and as generally diffused as the commonBuffalo; but they appear to be wilder than the Buffalo, and not so[Pg 74]bold, never approaching where man has established his dominion.Nevertheless, when caught, they are easily subdued, and become quitedomesticated in a few months. The milk of this species is said to bemore abundant and nourishing than that of any other."

From all that is at present known respecting this animal, it is regardedby M. F. Cuvier as a new species added to the genusBos; and, from thecircumstance of its having been first seen in a wild state near themountains of Sylhet, he has given it the specific name ofSylhetanus.

The animal represented in the following vignette is the Syrian Ox, whichis considered as a variety ofBos Taurus.

THE BUFFALO.

The animal generally known under the name of theCommon Buffalo isevidently a different species from theCape Buffalo. Much confusion,however, prevails in the accounts, both of travellers and naturalists,on the subject of these two animals. Descriptions of the one are mingledwith descriptions of the other, and anecdotes are related of the onewhich, there is good reason for believing, ought to be referred to theother. It is highly probable that future and more accurate observationswill show that more than one species has been confounded under thegeneral epithets of "the common Buffalo," "the domestic Buffalo," "thetame Buffalo," or, more indeterminate still, "the Buffalo."

The accounts furnished by travellers of the various animals in Asia andAfrica, described by them as Buffaloes, are altogether vague andunsatisfactory, and frequently erroneous; not from any desire on thepart of the authors to deceive, but merely because their observationshave been made in the most careless and indifferent manner; and, in manyinstances, their information is obtained from the verbal communicationsof ignorant natives.

In those descriptions which are confined to the Buffalo, as it atpresent exists in Italy and the south of Europe, tolerable reliance maybe placed, as their character and habits are there well known, being ofevery day observation; yet, even in this case, little or nothing isknown[Pg 76] of the anatomy of the animal, and its period of gestation hasnever been precisely stated. The following information on this latterpoint is given in Griffith's 'Cuvier,' (vol. iv, p. 383,) "Gestationissaid to last twelve months, butit appears not to exceed ten."

THE ITALIAN BUFFALO.

Bos Bubalus.

This animal is more bulky than the domestic Ox, and its limbs arestouter. The head is larger, in proportion to the size of the body, thanthat of the domestic Ox, and is generally carried with the muzzleprojecting; the forehead is rather convex, and higher than broad; thehorns are large, slightly compressed, and recline towards the neck, withthe points turned up; dewlap of a moderate size.[Pg 77]

Throughout the whole range of the Italian peninsula Buffaloes are usedas beasts of burden, and their immense strength renders their servicesinvaluable in the marshy and swampy districts, where the services ofhorses, or ordinary oxen, would be totally unavailing. The roads throughwhich they are obliged to pass are frequently covered to a depth of twoor three feet, through which they work their way with wonderfulperseverance.

On the great plain of Apulia the Buffalo is the ordinary beast ofdraught; and at the annual fair held at Foggia, at the end of May,immense droves of almost wild Buffaloes are brought to the town forsale. Fearful accidents occasionally happen; enraged animals breakingfrom the dense mass, in spite of all the exertions of their drovers, andrushing upon some object of their vengeance, whom they strike down, andtrample to death. It is dangerous to overwork or irritate the Buffalo,and instances have been known in which, when released by the brutaldriver from the cart, they have instantly turned upon the man and killedhim on the spot.

The following part of their history is remarkable: They appear to bemost numerous, and to thrive best in those districts which are mostinfected with malaria. In the Pontine marshes they find a favoriteretreat, and in the pestilential Maremma scarcely any other animals areto be seen. In the northern portions of Italy, where malaria is muchless frequent than in the south. Buffaloes are to be found in thegreatest numbers precisely in those localities where malaria is the mostprevalent.

They are particularly fond of the long rank herbage, which springs up inmoist and undrained lands. In their[Pg 78] habits they are almost amphibious,lying for hours half submerged in water and mud.

When travellers make use of the name "common Buffalo," they are usuallyunderstood to mean an animal identical with the Italian species; if thisreally be the case, its geographical range must be very extensive. It issaid to inhabit the extensive regions of Hindostan, China, Cochin-China,Malabar, Coromandel, Persia, and the Crimea; also Abyssinia, Egypt, andthe south of Europe; to which may be added, most of the large islands inthe Indian Sea.

As an article of food, the flesh of this animal is inferior to the beefof the domestic Ox, but the milk of the female is particularly rich andabundant; the semi-fluid butter, calledghee in India, is made fromit. According to the testimony of Colonel Sykes, the long-horned varietyis reared in vast numbers in the Mawals, or hilly tracts lying along theGhauts:—"In those tracts much rice is planted, and the male Buffalo,from his superior hardihood, is much better suited to resist the effectsof the heavy rains, and the splashy cultivation of the rice than thebullock. The female is also infinitely more valuable than the cow, fromthe very much greater quantity of milk she yields." The hide is alsomuch valued for its strength and durability.

In India they are used as beasts of burden; but the nature of the goodsthey carry must be such as will not suffer from being wet, as they havean invincible propensity to lie down in water. The native princes usethem to fight with tigers in their public shows; and from their fierceand active nature, when excited, they frequently prove more than a matchfor their formidable assailants. With the native herdsman, however, theyare generally[Pg 79] docile: these men ride on their favorites, and spend thenight with them in the midst of jungles and forests, without fear ofwild beasts. When driven along, the herds keep close together, so thatthe driver, if necessary, walks from the back of one to the other,perfectly at his ease. In the south of Europe they are managed by meansof a ring passed through the cartilage of the nose, but in India it is amere rope.

Their fierceness and courage are well exemplified in the followinganecdote, related by Mr. D. Johnson in his interesting 'Sketches ofIndian Field Sports:' "Two Biparies, or carriers of grain andmerchandise on the backs of bullocks, were driving a loaded string ofthese animals from Palamow to Chittrah: when they were come within a fewmiles of the latter place, a tiger seized on the man in the rear, whichwas seen by a Guallah (herdsman), as he was watching his Buffaloesgrazing. He boldly ran up to the man's assistance, and cut the tigerseverely with his sword; upon which he dropped the Biparie, and seizedthe herdsman. The Buffaloes observing it, attacked the tiger, andrescued the herdsman; they tossed him about from one to the other, and,to the best of my recollection, killed him. Both the wounded men werebrought to me; the Biparie recovered, and the herdsman died."

Speaking of the Buffalo at Malabar, Dillon says, "It is an ugly animal,almost destitute of hair, goes slowly, but carries very heavy burdens.Herds may be seen, as of common cows; and they afford milk, which servesto make butter and cheese. Their flesh is good, though less delicate,than that of the ox: the animal swims perfectly well, and traverses thebroadest rivers. Besides the tame[Pg 80] ones, there are wild Buffaloes, whichare extremely dangerous, tearing men to pieces, or crushing them with asingle blow of the head; they are less to be dreaded in woods thanelsewhere, because their horns often catch in the branches, and givetime for the persons pursued to escape by flight. The skins of theseanimals serve for an infinity of purposes, and even cruses are made ofthem for holding water or liquors. The animals on the coast of Malabarare all wild, and strangers are not prevented from hunting them fortheir flesh."

Whether the animals alluded to, in all these cases, constitute only onespecies, or consist of several, the accounts which have been given ofthem (from their vagueness and want of precision) afford no means ofdeciding.

The following tail-piece is a representation of the Herefordshire Cow,Bos Taurus.

The Manilla Buffalo.

Bos Bubalis?

The animal which is represented in the above engraving, was living inthe Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, in 1846, at which time the sketchwas taken.

In size the Manilla Buffalo is about equal to the Kyloe Ox. The hornsare of a similar shape, and take nearly the same direction, as those ofthe Italian Buffalo. They differ, however, from the horns of the ItalianBuffalo in three particulars: first, in not being above half so thick orbulky; second, in having a much larger curve; and third, in beingconsiderably more compressed, which compression exists throughout theirentire length: the colour of the upper surface of the horn is lightish,on the lower side nearly black. The head is narrow, and the muzzle fine;the ears are long and nearly naked; the eyes large and bright, with apeculiarly timid and suspicious expression. The limbs are slender, andindeed the whole frame is slight, and seems to betoken greater speedthan strength.

We have a notable example of the uncertainty of framing genericcharacters, before the peculiar attributes[Pg 82] of each species are known,in Griffiths' work, already referred to (vol. iv, p. 382). "Buffaloesin general" are there said to possessstrong and solid limbs,large head,broad muzzle,long and slender tail, backratherstraight. Here we have an animal (a Buffalo by universal consent) whoselimbs areslender, headsmall, muzzlefine; whose tail isnotlong, and whose back is any thing but straight. The Cape Buffalo, also,(see p. 86,) hasrather a small head, its tail is absolutelyshort,and its back has very considerable curvature.

The preceding outline of the backs of four Buffaloes will show howinappropriate the character of astraight back is, when applied to"Buffaloesin general." The lowest outline (5), inserted by way ofcontrast, represents the back of the Domestic Ox, to which the characterof straight might very properly be applied. (1) Italian Buffalo. (2)Manilla Buffalo. (3) Pulo Condore Buffalo. (4) Cape Buffalo.

Generic characters should be such (and suchonly) as will apply toevery species included in the genus.

The period of gestation of the Manilla Buffalo is between forty-eightand forty-nine weeks. In two actual cases of a female now living in theZoological Gardens, the periods were, in the one case, 340 days, in theother, 341 days; being 70 days longer than the ordinary term of thedomestic Cow.

PULO CONDORE BUFFALO.

Bos Bubalus?

Not much is known of the Buffalo which is found in the island of PuloCondore. It is related by those navigators who completed the voyage tothe Pacific Ocean, begun by Captain Cook, that when at Pulo Condore,they procured eight Buffaloes, which were to be conducted to the shipsby means of ropes put through their nostrils and round their horns; butwhen they were brought within sight of the sailors, they became sofurious that some of them tore out the cartilage of their nostrils, andset themselves at liberty. All attempts to get them on board would haveproved fruitless, had it not been for some[Pg 85] children, whom the animalswould suffer to approach them, and by whose puerile management theirrage was quickly appeased; and when the animals were brought to thebeach, it was by their assistance, in twisting ropes around their legs,that the men were enabled to throw them down, and by that means get theminto the boats. And what appears to have been no less singular than thiscircumstance was, that they had not been a day on board before theybecame perfectly gentle.

Whether this be a distinct species, or merely a variety, we have not, atpresent, the least means of ascertaining.

The tail-piece below represents a short-horned Bull of the Domesticspecies,Bos Taurus.

THE CAPE BUFFALO.

Bos Caffer.

This species of ox is only to be found in Africa, and is chieflyconfined to the wooded districts lying north of the Cape of Good Hope.What Lavater endeavours to prove of the human being, namely, that theface is the index of the mind or disposition, may be applied, with atleast equal truth, to the Cape Buffalo. His broad, projecting muzzle,lowering eyebrows, shaggy pendulous ears, surmounted by a pair of hugehorns, give a look of bold determination to this animal, which forms atolerably correct index of his character; his firm-set limbs and bulkybody convey a no less adequate idea of his enormous strength.

These animals are gregarious, living in small herds in the brushwoods oropen forests, of Caffraria, occasionally uniting in large droves. Oldbulls are often met with[Pg 87] alone; but though they are fiercer than theyoung ones, they are less dangerous, because less active, and lessinclined to exertion.

It is worthy of observation, that the males of every species of theGenus Bos are remarkably bold and courageous, as are likewise thefemales when they have calves. It is not, therefore, surprising that thehunting of this animal should be attended with danger, and frequentlywith fatal consequences. The European colonists generally pursue thesport on horseback; but the Caffers and other natives, who are moreactive, and accustomed to the intricacies of the forest, preferfollowing the game on foot.

Professor Thunberg, whilst investigating the interior of Caffraria, in1772, in company with a sergeant and a European gardener, who hadresided in the colony some time, and who acted as guide on the occasion,met with the following perilous adventure:—

"We had not advanced far into the wood," says the traveller, "before wehad the misfortune of meeting with a large old male Buffalo, which waslying down quite alone, in a spot that was free from bushes for thespace of a few square yards. He no sooner discovered Auge, the gardener,who went first, than, roaring horribly, he rushed upon him. The gardenerturning his horse short round, behind a large tree, by that means got insome measure out of the Buffalo's sight, which now rushed straightforward towards the sergeant, who followed next, and gored his horse inthe belly in such a terrible manner, that it fell on its back thatinstant, with its feet turned up in the air, and all its entrailshanging out, in which state it lived almost half an hour. The gardenerand the sergeant,[Pg 88] in the meantime, had climbed up into trees, wherethey thought themselves secure. The Buffalo, after this firstachievement, still appeared to take his course in the same direction,and, therefore, could not have failed in his way to pay his complimentsto me, who all the while was coming towards him, and, in the narrow passformed by the boughs and branches of the trees, and on account of therustling noise these made against my saddle and baggage, had neitherseen nor heard anything of what had passed; as in my way I frequentlystopped to take up plants, and put them into my handkerchief, Igenerally kept behind my companions.

"The sergeant had brought two horses with him for the journey. One ofthem had already been despatched, and the other now stood just in theway of the Buffalo, who was going out of the wood. As soon as theBuffalo saw this second horse, he became more outrageous than before,and he attacked it with such fury, that he not only drove his horns intothe horse's breast, and out again through the very saddle, but alsothrew it to the ground with such violence, that it died that veryinstant, and most of its bones were broken. Just at the moment that hewas occupied with this latter horse, I came up to the opening, where thewood was so thick that I had neither room to turn my horse, nor to geton one side; I was, therefore, obliged to abandon him to his fate, andtake refuge in a tolerably high tree, up which I climbed.

"The Buffalo, having finished this his second exploit, suddenly turnedround, and shaped his course the same way which we had intended to take.

"From the height of my situation in the tree, I could plainly perceiveone of the horses quite dead; the other[Pg 89] sprawling with his feet, andendeavouring to rise, which it had not strength to do; the other twohorses shivering with fear, and unable to make their escape; but I couldneither see nor hear anything of my fellow-travellers, which induced meto fear that they had fallen victims to the first transports of theBuffalo's fury. I, therefore, made all possible haste to search forthem, to see if I could, in any way, assist them; but not discoveringany trace of them in the whole field of battle, I began to call outafter them, when I discovered these magnanimous heroes sitting fast,like two cats, on the trees, with their guns on their backs, loaded withfine shot, and unable to utter a single word.

"I encouraged them as well as I could, and advised them to come down,and get away as fast as possible from such a dangerous place, where weran the risk of being once more attacked. The sergeant at length burstout into tears, deploring the loss of his two spirited steeds; but thegardener was so strongly affected, that he could scarcely speak for somedays after."

Speaking of a small settlement in the interior, he says: "Buffaloes wereshot here by a Hottentot, who had been trained to the business by thefarmer, and in this manner found the whole family in meat, withouthaving recourse to the herd. The balls were counted out to him everytime he went a shooting, and he was obliged to furnish the same numberof dead Buffaloes as he received of balls. Thus the many Hottentots thatlived here were supported without expense, and without the decrease ofthe tame cattle which constitute the whole of the farmer's wealth. Thegreatest part of the flesh of the Buffalo falls to the share of theHottentots, but the hide to that of the master."[Pg 90]

The Caffres, who at that time (1772) did not possess fire-arms, were,nevertheless, dextrous in the use of their javelins. When a Caffre hasdiscovered a spot where several Buffaloes are assembled, he blows apipe, made of the thigh-bone of a sheep, which is heard at a greatdistance. In consequence of this, several of his comrades run up to thespot, and surrounding the Buffaloes, at the same time approaching themby degrees, throw their javelins at them. In this case, out of ten ortwelve Buffaloes, it is very rare for one to escape. It sometimeshappens, however, that while the Buffaloes are running off, some one ofthe hunters, who stands in the way of them, is tossed and killed, which,by the people of this nation, is not much regarded. When the chase isover, each one takes his share of the game.

Since the introduction of fire-arms by the Europeans, the natives, aswell as the colonists, bring down the Buffalo by means of the gun.Nevertheless, great circumspection is required in following the sport,as the animal is sometimes capable of revenging himself even after beingseverely wounded. On one occasion a party of huntsmen discovered a smallherd of Buffaloes grazing on a piece of marshy ground. As it wasimpossible to get near enough without crossing a marsh, which did notafford a safe footing for their horses, they left them in charge of theHottentots, and proceeded on foot, thinking, that if the Buffaloesshould turn upon them, it would be easy to retreat by crossing thequagmire, which, though firm enough to support a man, would not bear theweight of a Buffalo. They advanced accordingly, and, under shelter ofthe bushes, approached with such advantage, that the first volleybrought down three of the fattest of the herd,[Pg 92] and so severely woundedthe great bull leader, that he dropped on his knees, bellowing mostfuriously. Supposing him mortally wounded, the foremost of the huntsmenissued from the covert, and began reloading his musket as he advanced,to give him a finishing shot; but no sooner did the enraged animal seehis enemy in front of him than he sprang up, and ran furiously upon him.The man, throwing down his gun, fled towards the quagmire; but the beastwas so close upon him, that, despairing to escape in that direction, hesuddenly turned round a clump of copsewood, and began to ascend a tree.The raging animal, however, was too quick for him, and bounding forwardwith a tremendous roar, he caught the unfortunate man with his terriblehorns, just as he had nearly escaped his reach, and tossed him into theair with such force, that the body fell dreadfully mangled into thecleft of a tree. The Buffalo ran round the tree once or twice,apparently looking for the man, until weakened with loss of blood, heagain sank on his knees. The rest of the party, recovering from theirconfusion, then came up and despatched him, though too late to savetheir comrade, whose body was hanging in the tree quite dead.

The length of a full-grown Buffalo is about eight feet from horns toroot of tail, and the height five feet and a half. The horns are massiveand heavy, measuring from six to nine feet, following the curve from tipto tip. They are broad at the base, and very nearly meet on the centreof the forehead. Hamilton Smith says, they are "in contact at the base;"but this is not the case in the several specimens which I have examined,namely, three in the College of Surgeons, four in the British Museum,and two in the Zoological Gardens.[Pg 93]

In the living specimen in the Zoological Gardens, from which the figureat the head of this article was taken, there is a good deal of hair of adark brown colour on the neck and shoulders, and some small tufts on thefore-legs, but the rest of the body is almost naked. The tail is short,with a tuft at the end.

The individual here referred to is by no means a large specimen, beingonly four feet ten inches high at the shoulders; probably he is young,and not yet full-grown. He is so active, as to be able to clear afour-feet fence, and he frequently leaps over the half-door (about threefeet high,) which separates his little enclosure from his dormitory. Hisintelligence is much superior to that of ordinary cattle: the entranceto his apartment is furnished with four doors, two on each door-post;and when closed, they of course meet in the middle of the entrance. Whenhe is outside, (as the doors all open inwardly,) a mere push with hishorns sends them open. But when he is inside, it requires four distinctoperations to shut them, and these he performs with the greatestadroitness, going from one to the other, until all are closed. He opensthem also from within with equal skill, by applying the tip of one ofhis horns to each separately, and retiring a step or two to allow themroom to open.

The flesh of the Cape Buffalo is reckoned excellent eating, especiallythat of the young calf, which is equal to the veal of the domestic calf.The horns are made into various articles, having a fine close grain, andtaking a beautiful polish. But the hide is the most valuable part ofthis animal, being so thick and tough, that shields, proof against amusket-shot, are formed of it; and it affords the strongest and bestthongs for harness and[Pg 94] whips. The skin of the living Buffalo is sodense that it is impenetrable, in many parts, to an ordinarymusket-ball; the balls used by the huntsmen are, therefore, mixed withtin, and even these are often flattened by the resistance. In examiningthe skeleton of this Buffalo, the ribs are found to be remarkably strongand wide—measuring from three inches to three inches and seven-tenthsin width, and overlapping each other like the scales of a fish: thedifficulty of wounding this animal may be partly owing to thisarrangement of the ribs.

Since the increase of the settlements about the Cape of Good Hope, theBuffalo has become rather a rare animal in the colony; but, on theplains of Caffraria, they are so common that herds of a hundred andfifty, or two hundred, may be frequently seen grazing together towardsthe evening, but during the day they lie retired among the woods andthickets. They range along the eastern side of Africa, to an unknowndistance in the interior.

THE PEGASSE.

Bos Pegasus.

The above figure is copied from an engraving in the fourth volume ofGriffiths' 'Cuvier,' of which the following account is given: "In thecollection of drawings, formerly the property of Prince John Maurice ofNassau, now in the Berlin library, there is the figure of a ruminantwith the name Pacasse written under it. Judging from the generalappearance of the painting, it represents a young animal, although thehorns are already about as long as the head. They are of a darkishcolour, with something like ridges passing transversely, commencing atthe sides of the frontal ridge, turned down and outwards, with the[Pg 96]points slightly upwards; the head is short, thick, abrupt at the nose;the forehead wide; the eyes large and full, dark, with a crimsoncanthus; the neck maned with a dense and rough mane; the tail descendingbelow the hough, entirely covered with dark, long hair, appearingwoolly; the carcass short, and the legs high and clumsy; but the mostremarkable character appears to consist in pendulous ears, nearly aslong as the head. The mane and tail are dark; the head, neck, body, andlimbs dark brown, excepting the pastern joints, which are white; thisfigure cannot be referred to a known species, and is sufficientlycurious to merit an engraving."

Swainson says that this animal only occurs in the interior of WesternAfrica; but he does not mention on what authority.

As the exploration of the interior of Africa is becoming an object ofincreasing importance and interest, we may expect, before long, to befurnished with some authentic details of the Pegasse, if such an animalreally exist.

THE GAUR, OR GOUR.

Bos Gaurus.

The above representation of this animal was sketched from a stuffedspecimen in the British Museum, the dimensions of which are given on p.102.

The following interesting particulars are taken from Mr. T. S. Traill'spaper on the Gour, in the 'Edinburgh Philosophical Journal,' October,1824.

"The Gaur is considered by the Indians as of a species totally distinctfrom either the Arna or the common Buffalo. The only animal with whichit appears to have affinity is the Gayal, or Bos Gavæus, described byMr. Colebrook, in the 'Asiatic Researches,' vol. viii. That animal issaid to exist, both wild and domestic, in[Pg 98] the hilly countries of UpperIndia, and to have a high dorsal ridge, somewhat similar to what weshall immediately find in the Gaur; but the very different form of itshead,the presence of a distinct dewlap, and the general habit of theGayal, appear sufficient to distinguish it from the Gaur.

The Gaur occurs in several mountainous parts of central India, but ischiefly found in Myn Pat, or Mine Paut, (Pat or Paut, in Hindostanee,signifies table-land,) a high, insulated mountain, with a tabularsummit, in the province of Sergojah, in South Bahar.

This table-land is about 36 miles in length, by 24 or 25 in medialbreadth, and rises above the neighbouring plains probably 2000 feet. Thesides of the mountain slope with considerable steepness, and arefurrowed by streams that water narrow valleys, the verdant banks ofwhich are the favorite haunts of Gaurs. On being disturbed, they retreatinto the thick jungles (of saul-trees), which cover the sides of thewhole range. The south-east side of the mountain presents an extensivemural precipice from 20 to 40 feet high. The rugged slopes at its footare covered by impenetrable green jungle, and abound with dens formed offallen blocks of rock, the suitable retreats of Tigers, Bears, andHyænas. The western slopes are less rugged, but the soil is parched, andthe forests seem withered by excess of heat. The summit of the mountainpresents a mixture of open lawns and woods. There were once twenty-fivevillages on Myn Pat, but they have long been deserted, on account of thenumber and ferocity of the beasts of prey. On this mountain, however,the Gaur maintains his seat. The Indians assert that even the Tiger hasno chance in combat[Pg 99] with the full-grown Gaur, though he mayoccasionally succeed in carrying off an unprotected calf. The wildBuffalo abounds in the plains below the mountains; but he so much dreadsthe Gaur, according to the natives, that he rarely attempts to invadehis haunts. The forests which shield the Gaur abound, however, inHog-deer, Saumurs, and Porcupines.

The size of the Gaur is its most striking peculiarity. The followingmeasurement of one not fully grown will show the enormous bulk of theanimal:—

The form of the Gaur is not so lengthened as that of the Arna. Its backis strongly arched, so as to form a pretty uniform curve from the noseto the origin of the tail, when the animal stands still. This appearanceis partly owing to the curved form of the nose and forehead, and stillmore to a remarkable ridge, of no great thickness, which rises six orseven inches above the general line of the back, from the last of thecervical to beyond the middle of the dorsal vertebræ, from which itgradually is lost in the outline of the back. This peculiarity proceedsfrom an unusual elongation of the spinous processes of the dorsalcolumn. It is very conspicuous in the Gaurs of all ages, although loadedwith fat; and has no resemblance to the hunch which is found on some ofthe domestic cattle of India. It bears some resemblance, certainly, tothe ridgedescribed as existing in the Gayal; but the Gaur is said tobe distinguished from that animal by the remarkable peculiarity of atotal want of a dewlap. Neither the male nor female Gaur, at any age,has the[Pg 100] slightest trace of this appendage, which is found on everyother known animal of this genus.

The colour of the Gaur is a very deep brownish black, almost approachingto blueish black, except a tuft of curling dirty white hair between thehorns, and rings of the same colour just above the hoof. The hair overthe skin is extremely short and sleek, and has somewhat of theoilyappearance of a fresh seal-skin.

The character of the head differs little from that of the domestic Bull,excepting that the outline of the face is more curved—the os-frontismore solid and projecting. The horns are short, thick at the base,considerably curved towards the tip, slightly compressed on one side,and in the natural state are rough. They are, however, capable of a goodpolish, when they are of a horn gray colour, with black solid tips. Apair in my possession measure one foot eleven inches along their convexsides; one foot from the centre of the base to the tip, in a straightline; and one foot in their widest circumference; but as they are cutand polished, a portion of their length and thickness has been lost.They are of a very dense substance, as their weight indicates, for evenin their dressed state the pair weigh 5 lbs. 11 oz. avoirdupois.

The limbs of the Gaur have more of the form of the deer than any otherof the bovine genus. This is particularly observable in the acuteness ofthe angle formed by the tibia and tarsus, and in the slenderness of thelower part of the legs. They give the idea, however, of great strengthcombined with fleetness; and the animal is observed tocanter withgreat velocity. The form of the hoof, too, is longer, neater, andstronger than in the ox, and the whole foot appears to have greaterflexibility.

When wounded the Gaur utters a short bellow, which may be best imitatedby the syllable—ugh-ugh.

It is said that the Gaur will not live in a state of captivity; evenwhen taken very young, the calf soon droops and dies. The bull-calf ofthe first year is called, by the natives, Purorah; the female, Pareeah;and when full-grown the cow is called Gourin.

Gaurs associate in herds consisting usually of from ten to twentyanimals. So numerous are they on Myn Pat, that, in one day hunting, theparty computed that not less than eighty had passed through the stationoccupied by the sportsmen.

The Gaurs browse on the leaves and tender shoots of trees and shrubs,and also graze on the banks of the streams. During the cold season theyremain concealed in thesaul forests, but in hot weather come out tofeed in the green vallies and lawns, which occur on the mountain of MynPat. They show no disposition to wallow in mire or swamps, like theBuffalo; a habit, indeed, which the sleekness of their skins renders notat all probable.

The period of gestation is said to be twelve months, and they bringforth usually in August."

To the preceding observations of Dr. Traill, I have to[Pg 102] add theimportant fact (which of itself will be sufficient to constitute aspecific difference between the Gaur and the Gayal), namely, that in theskeleton of the Gaur there are only thirteen pairs of ribs, whilst theskeleton of the Gayal possesses fourteen pairs. This fact I haveascertained from an examination of both the skeletons; that of the Gaurin the museum of the Zoological Society, and that of the Gayal, in thepossession of Mr. Bartlett, Russell Street, Covent Garden. (See p. 68.)

The skeleton of the Gaur just referred to, strikingly confirms Dr.Traill's account of the elevated dorsal ridge of this animal; several ofthe dorsal vertebræ measuring, with their spinous processes, upwards ofseventeen inches each, the longest being twenty inches and a half.

The Gaur, from which this skeleton was taken, was killed at Nicecond,November 8, 1843. There is another fine specimen of the skull and hornsof the Gaur, in the Museum of the Zoological Society, taken from ananimal killed by Lieut. Nelson, on the Neilsburry Hills, Salem district.This animal measured nineteen hands and half an inch at the shoulder.

In Mr. D. Johnson's Sketches, the Gaur is described as a kind of wildbullock, of prodigious size, residing in the Ramghur district, not wellknown to Europeans. Mr. Johnson says: "I have never obtained a sight ofthem,[Pg 103] but have often seen the print of their feet, the impression ofone of them covering as large a space as a common china plate. Accordingto the account I received from a number of persons they are much largerthan the largest of our oxen; light brown colour, with short horns, andinhabit the thickest covers. They keep together in herds, and a herd ofthem is always near the Luggo-hill; they are also in the heavy junglesbetween Ramghur and Nagpoor. I saw the skin of one that had been killedby Rajah Futty Narrain; its exact size I do not recollect, but I wellremember that it astonished me, having never seen the skin of any animalso large. Some gentlemen at Chittrah have tried all in their power toprocure a calf without success. The Shecarries and villagers are so muchafraid of these animals, that they cannot be prevailed on to go nearthem, or to endeavour to catch any of their young. It is a prevailingopinion in the country, that if they are in the least molested, theywill attack the persons disturbing them, and never quit them until theyare destroyed; and should they get into a tree, they will remain near itfor many days."

The word Gau, or Ghoo, as it is sometimes spelled by European writers,appears to be used both as a generic and specific term, in Persia andHindostan; and as it has the same meaning, and nearly the same sound, asthe German wordKuh, and the EnglishCow, it is highly probable thatits origin is the same. As the wordur, in Hindostan, appears to havethe meaning ofwild, orsavage, the name Gaur, or Gau-ur, literallysignifies thewild cow. Should the prefixaur, in the German wordAurochs, be merely a form, or different mode of spelling the prefixur, then the nameAurochs would be precisely synonymous[Pg 104] with theHindostaneeGau-ur. Thataur is, in this instance, merely adifferent spelling of the prefixur, would appear to be corroboratedby the circumstance that the termUrus is the latinized form of theGermanAurochs.—From a MS. Note by Mr. W. A. Chatto.

THE ARNEE, OR ARNA.

It does not appear, that the Arnee had been noticed by Europeans untilthe year 1792, when the following detailed account appeared in a weeklyMiscellany, called 'The Bee,' conducted by Dr. J. Anderson.

This animal is hitherto unknown among the naturalists of Europe. It is anative of the higher parts of Hindostan, being scarcely ever found lowerdown than the Plains of Plassy, above which they are found inconsiderable numbers, and are well known by the natives.[Pg 106]

The figure, which is given at the end of this article, is copied from acurious Indian painting, in the possession of Gilbert Innes, of Stow. Itforms one of a numerous group of figures, represented at a grand Easternfestival. There are two more of them in the same painting. In this andboth the others, the horns bend inwards in a circular form; and it wouldseem, too, that if a transverse section of the horn was made at anyplace, that also would be circular. But this is a defect in thepainting, for although all the horns of the Arnee tribe bend in acircular form, yet if the horn be cut transversely, the section is notcircular, but rather of a triangular shape. The horns of the Arnee risein a curve upwards, nearly in the same plane with the forehead, neitherbending forward nor backward. That part of the horn which fronts youwhen the animal looks you in the face, is nearly flat, having a ridgeprojecting a little forward all along, nearer the outer curvature of thehorn; from that ridge outward it goes backward, not at right angles, butbending a little outward; and near the back part there is another obtuserounded ridge, where it turns inward, so as to join another obtuse,rounded angle, at the inner curvature of the horn. Along the wholelength, especially toward the base of the horn, there are irregulartransverse dimples, or hollows and rugosities, more nearly resemblingthose of a ram, than that of a common ox's horn, but no appearance ofrings, denoting the age of the animal, as in the horns of our cattle.

This description of the horns is taken from a pair of real horns of theanimal, now in the possession of Mr. James Haig, merchant in Leith, thatwere sent home to him this year (1792) by his brother, Mr. W. Haig, of[Pg 107]the 'Hawkesbury' East-Indiaman, and of which the following cutrepresents a front view. The little figure markeda, represents asection of the horn near its base.

In this young specimen (1) the length of the skull is exactly two feet,and the distance between the tops of the horns thirty-five inches. Inthe following sketch (2) from the Museum of the College of Surgeons, thelength of the skull is likewise two feet, and the distance between thetips of the horns three feet four inches and a half.

The young animal just referred to, was found in a situation near whichno other animal of this sort had ever before been discovered: it waskilled by the crew of the 'Hawkesbury,' in the river Ganges, about fiftymiles below Calcutta, at the place where the ships usually lie.

The flesh was eaten by the ship's company, by whom it was consideredvery good meat. Although conjectured to be only two years old, itweighed, when cut up, 360 lbs. the quarter, which is 1440 lbs. thecarcase, exclusive of head, legs, hide, and entrails.[Pg 108]

This last sketch (3) is from a pair of horns in the British Museum, ofwhich the following are the dimensions:—

The Arnee is by far the largest animal of the Ox tribe yet known. In itsnative countryit is said to measure usually twelve, sometimesfourteen, feet from the ground to the highest part of the back! The onein the vignette, p. 111, comparing it with the man on its back, wouldnot seem to be quite so tall.

From the appearance of the three Arnees in the painting beforementioned, it would seem that they are quite docile, and easily tamed;for they are all standing quietly, with a person on their back, whoguides them by means of a rein, formed of a cord fastened to the gristleof the nose, in the Eastern manner. The colour of the animal, in all thethree figures, is a pure black, except between the horns, where there isa small tuft of longish hair of a bright red colour.

From the accounts of more recent travellers, there seem to be two orthree varieties of this animal, which exist, both in a wild and domesticstate, in China as well as India.

According to Major Smith, the gigantic or Taur-elephant Arnee, appearsto be rare; found only single, or in small families, in the uppereastern provinces and[Pg 110] forests at the foot of the Himalaya. A party ofofficers of the British Cavalry, stationed in the north of Bengal, wenton a three months' hunting expedition to the eastward, and destroyed inthat time forty-two Tigers, and numerous wild Buffaloes, but only oneArnee. When the head of this specimen rested perpendicularly on theground, it required the out-stretched arms of a man to hold the pointsof the horns. These are described as angular, with the broadest side tothe rear; the two others anterior and inferior; they are of a brownishcolour, and wrinkled; standing outwards, and not bent back; straight fornear two thirds of their length, then curving inwards, with the tipsrather back. The face is nearly straight, and the breadth of theforehead is carried down with little diminution to the foremost grinder.

There is a spirited figure of a long-horned Buffalo in CaptainWilliamson's 'Oriental Field Sports,' which Major Smith considers to bea representation of the great Arnee; and of which Captain Williamsonrelates the following anecdote:—

"The late Dr. Baillie, who was a very keen and capable sportsman, used,in my idea, to run many very foolish risks among Buffaloes. I oftenremonstrated with him on his temerity, but he was so infatuated, that itwas all to no purpose. One morning, as we were riding on the sameelephant to the hunting-ground, to save our horses as much as possible,we saw a very large Buffalo lying on the grass, which was rather shortand thin; as usual, the doctor would have a touch at him, and, heedlessof my expostulation, dismounted with his gun. The Buffalo, seeing himapproach, rose and shook his head as a prelude to immediate hostilities.My friend fired, and hit him on the side.[Pg 111] The enraged brute camethundering at the doctor, who lost no time in running round to theopposite side of the elephant; themohout, at the same time, pushedforward, to meet and screen him from the Buffalo, which absolutely puthis horns under the elephant's belly, and endeavoured to raise him fromthe ground. We had no other gun, and might, perhaps, have felt some moresevere effects from the doctor's frolic, had not the Buffalo, from lossof blood, dropped at our side. The Buffalo was upwards of six feet highat the shoulder, and measured nearly a yard in breadth at the chest. Hishorns were above five feet and a half in length."

In systems of classification, even of very recent date, the Arnee isconsidered merely as a variety of the Buffalo. It appears to me,however, that our information on the subject is not yet sufficientlyprecise to determine this point.

THE ZAMOUSE, OR BUSH COW.

Bos Brachyceros.

[The following extract, from the 'Annals of Nat. Hist.,' vol. ii, p.284, is from the pen of Mr. J. E. Gray.]

"Captain Clapperton and Colonel Denham, when they returned from theirexpedition in Northern and Central Africa, brought with them two headsof a species of Ox, covered with their skins. These heads are thespecimens which are mentioned in Messrs. Children and Vigors' accountsof the animals collected in the expedition, as[Pg 113] belonging to theBuffalo,Bos Bubalus, and they are stated to be calledZamouse bythe natives; but, as no particular locality is given for the head, thisname is probably the one applied to the common Buffalo, which is foundin most parts of North Africa.

"Having some years ago compared these heads with the skull of the commonBuffalo,Bos Bubalus, and satisfied myself, from the difference in theform and position of the horns, that they were a distinct species, inthe 'Mag. of Nat. Hist.,' for 1837 (new series, vol. i, p. 589), Iindicated them as a new species, under the name ofBos Brachyceros.

"In the course of this summer (1838), Mr. Cross, of the SurreyZoological Gardens, received from Sierra Leone, under the name of theBush Cow, a specimen which serves more fully to establish the species.It differs from the Buffalo and all other oxen in several importantcharacters, especially in the large size and particular bearding of theears, and in being totally deficient in any dewlap. It also differs fromthe Buffalo in its forehead, being flatter and quite destitute of theconvex form which is so striking in all the varieties of that animal.

"Mr. Cross's cow is, like the head in the Museum, of a nearly uniformpale chesnut colour. The hair is rather scattered, and nearlyperpendicular to the surface of the body. The legs, about the knees andhocks, are rather darker. The ears are very large, with two rows of verylong hairs on the inner side, and a tuft of long hairs at the tips. Thebody is short and barrel-shaped, and the tail reaches to the hocks,rather thin and tapering, with a tuft of long hairs at the tip. Thechest is rounded and rather dependent, but without the least appearanceof a dewlap; and the horns nearly resemble those of the[Pg 114] Museumspecimen, but are less developed, from the sex and evidently greateryouth of the animal. The Rev. Mr. Morgan informs me that the animal isnot rare in the bush near Sierra Leone.

"I have added a slight sketch of Mr. Cross's animal, which I hope willenable any person to distinguish this very distinct and interestingaddition to the species of this useful genus."

The engraving at the head of this article is a reduced copy of Mr.Gray's figure just alluded to. The following representation of the headis from a specimen in the British Museum.

THE MUSK OX.

Bos Moschatus.

The Musk-ox, in its external appearance, more nearly resembles the Yakof Thibet than any other member of the Bos genus; and they both inhabitmountainous districts near regions of perpetual snow.

The horns of the Musk Bull are remarkably broad at their bases, whichare closely united; they bend down on each side of the head, with anoutward curve turning upwards towards their ends, which taper to a sharppoint. They are two feet long measured along the curvature, and two feetin girth at the base; the weight of a pair of these[Pg 116] horns is sometimessixty pounds. The broad base of the horn is hollow on the inside, and ofa form approaching to a square; when this is separated from the head andthe other part of the horn, it forms a convenient dish, which is verygenerally used by the native Esquimaux for many domestic purposes.

The horns of the cow are nine inches distant from each other at thebase, and are placed exactly on the sides of the head; they are thirteeninches long, and eight or nine inches round at the base.

The head and the body generally is covered with very long silky hairs ofa dark colour; some of which are seventeen inches long; on the middle ofthe back (which is broad and flat), the hair is lighter and not so long.Beneath the long hairs, in all parts, there is a thick coat of cinereouswool of exquisite fineness. M. Jeramie brought some to France, of whichstockings were made more beautiful than silk.

The tail is only three inches long, and completely covered with verylong hairs, so as to be undistinguishable to the sight. Of this tail,the Esquimaux of the northwest side of Hudson's Bay, make a cap of amost horrible appearance, for the hairs fall all round their heads, andcover their faces; yet it is of singular service in keeping off themusquitoes, which would otherwise be intolerable.

The ears are only three inches long, quite erect, and sharp pointed, butdilate much in the middle; they are thickly lined with hair of a duskycolour, marked with a stripe of white.

The frog in the hoof is soft, partially covered with hair, andtransversely ribbed. The following sketch represents[Pg 117] the under surfaceof the foot of the Musk-ox, the external hoof being rounded, theinternal pointed.

The foot-marks of the Musk-ox and those of the rein-deer are so muchalike, that it requires the eye of an experienced hunter to distinguishthem. The mark of the Musk-ox's hoof, however, is a little narrower.

The food of the Musk-ox is the same with that of the rein-deer—lichensand grass; and sometimes twigs and shoots of willow, birch, and pine.

At present this animal is not found in a lower latitude than 66°; butformerly they came much further to the south; and their flesh used to bebrought by the natives to Fort Churchill in latitude 58°. It wouldappear that they are retiring northward, probably owing to the alarmcreated by the attacks made upon them by fire-arms. It is worthy ofremark, that the American Bison has also retreated considerably to thenorth. According to Dr. Richardson, the Musk-ox inhabits the NorthGeorgian Islands in the summer months. They arrive in Melville Island inthe middle of May, crossing the ice from the southward, and quit it ontheir return towards the end of September.

The Musk-oxen, like the Bison, herd together in bands, and generallyfrequent barren grounds during the summer[Pg 118] months, keeping near therivers; but retire to the woods in winter. They seem to be less watchfulthan most other wild animals; and when feeding are not difficult ofapproach, provided the hunters go against the wind. When two or threemen get so near a herd as to fire at them from different points, theseanimals, instead of separating or running away, huddle closer together,and in this case they are easily shot down; but if the wound is notmortal, they become enraged, and dart in the most furious manner at thehunters, who must be very dexterous to evade them; for, notwithstandingthe shortness of their legs, they can run with great rapidity, and climbhills and rocks, with great ease. They can defend themselves by theirpowerful horns against wolves and bears, which, as the Indians say, theynot unfrequently kill.—(Capt. Franklin's 'Journey to the Polar Sea.')

They are hunted in their winter retreats by the Esquimaux only, theIndian tribes never visiting the barren grounds at that season.

When the Musk-ox is fat, its flesh is well tasted, and it is thenpreferred by the Copper Indians to the rein-deer. The flesh of bulls ishigh-flavoured; but both bulls and cows smell strongly of musk, theirflesh at the same time being very dark and tough. The contents of thepaunch, and other intestinal parts, are relished as much by the Indianas the similar parts of the rein-deer.—(Appendix to Capt. Parry's'Second Voyage.')

The weight of the bulls killed during Capt. Parry's Second Voyage was,on an average about 700 lbs., yielding about 400 lbs. of meat. Theirheight, at the withers, was about ten hands and a half.

They were observed by Capt. Franklin's party to rut[Pg 119] in the end ofAugust and beginning of September; and Hearne says, that they bringforth one calf in the latter end of May, or beginning of June; thus theperiod of gestation is about nine months.

The figure at the beginning of this article, as well as the followingcut of the head, are from the beautiful specimen of the Musk Ox, in theBritish Museum.

THE SANGA, OR GALLA OX.

(See Frontispiece). Bos ——?

This singular animal is only found in Abyssinia, and is famous onaccount of its horns, which are of an almost incredible size.

Bruce the traveller, in speaking of these horns, says, "The animalfurnishing these monstrous horns is a cow or bull which would beconsidered of a middling size in England. This extraordinary size of itshorns proceeds from a disease that the cattle have in these countries,of which they die, and is probably derived from their pasture andclimate. When the animal shows symptoms of this disorder, he is setapart in the very best and quietest grazing place, and never driven ormolested from that moment. His value lies then in his horns, for hisbody becomes emaciated and lank, in proportion as the horns grow large;at the last period of his life, the weight of his head is so great thathe is unable to lift it up, or at least for any space of time. Thejoints of his neck become callous at last, so that it is not any longerin his power to lift his head. In this situation he dies, with scarcelyflesh to cover his bones, and it is then his horns are of the greatestvalue. I have seen horns that would contain as much as a common sizedwater-pail, such as they make use of in the houses in England."[B]

So far Mr. Bruce. Mr. Salt, who visited Abyssinia some years afterwards,gives a somewhat different account. He says: "Here [i. e. at Gibba],for the first time, I was gratified by the sight of the Galla Oxen, orSanga, celebrated throughout Abyssinia for the remarkable size of itshorns. Three of these animals were grazing among the other cattle inperfect health, which circumstance, together with the testimony of thenatives, 'that the size of the horns is in no instance occasioned bydisease,' completely refutes the fanciful theory given by Mr. Brucerespecting this creature. It appears by the papers annexed to the lastedition of Mr. Bruce's work, that he never met with the Sanga; but thathe made many attempts to procure specimens of the horns, through Yanni,a Greek, residing at Adowa. This old man very correctly speaks of them,in his letters, as being only brought by the Cafilas from Antalo; and Ihave now ascertained that they are sent to this country as valuablepresents, by the chiefs of the Galla, whose tribes are spread to thesouthward of Enderta. So far, then, as to the description of the horns,and the purposes to which they are applied by the Abyssinians, Mr.Bruce's statements may be considered as correct; but with respect to'the disease which occasions their size, probably derived from theirpasture and climate,' 'the care taken of them to encourage thisdisease,' 'the emaciation of the animal,' and 'the extending of thedisorder to the spine of the neck, which at last becomes callous, sothat it is not any longer in the power of the animal to lift its head,'they all prove to be mere ingenious conjectures, thrown out by theauthor solely for the exercise of his own ingenuity.

"I should not venture to speak so positively upon this[Pg 122] matter, had Inot indisputably ascertained the facts; for the Ras having subsequentlymade me a present of three of these animals alive, I found them not onlyin excellent health, but so exceedingly wild, that I was obliged to havethem shot. The horns of one of these are now deposited in the Museum ofthe Surgeons' College, and a still larger pair are placed in thecollection of Lord Valentia, at Arley Hall. The length of the largesthorn of this description was nearly four feet, and its circumference atthe base twenty-one inches.

"It might have been expected that the animal, carrying horns of soextraordinary a magnitude, would have proved larger than othersbelonging to the same genus; but in every instance which came under myobservation, this was by no means the case. The etching on the followingpage, which was copied from an original sketch (taken from the life),may serve to convince the reader of this fact; and it will convey abetter idea of the animal than any description in writing I can pretendto give. I shall only further observe, that its colour appeared to varyas much as in the other species of its genus, and that the peculiarityof the size of the horns was not confined to the male, the female beingvery amply provided with this ornamental appendage to her forehead."

Notwithstanding the bold and confident tone of Mr. Salt'scounter-statement, it must be confessed, that the figure which hehimself gives from the life (and of which the frontispiece to thisvolume is an exact copy), seems rather to coincide with Mr. Bruce'saccount, being, to all appearance, both "lank and emaciated."[Pg 123]

Engraving of the horns presented by Mr. Salt to theMuseum of the College of Surgeons.

The Sanga is usually considered as a mere variety ofBos Taurus. Thismay possibly be the fact; but we have no proof whatever that it is so:no information on this point has been presented beyond mere conjecture.This being the case, and in the absence of direct anatomical evidence,we may be pardoned in considering it, at least, as doubtful; especiallyas there are so many points of external dissimilarity. The principaldifferences are: 1st, in the shoulder, upon which there is a hump; 2d,in the[Pg 124] back, which descends (as in the Buffaloes and Zebus), abruptlytowards the tail; 3d, in the greater length of the legs; and 4th, in theforehead, which is only three inches and a half between the bases of thehorns, whilst in the Common Ox it is nine inches.

The horns represented in the following sketch, are those of theHungarian Ox (a variety ofBos Taurus), and are almost as remarkablefor their length and expansion as those of the Abyssinian Sanga. Thelength of each horn is three feet four inches and a half, and thedistance between the tips is five feet one inch. The sketch is from aspecimen in the British Museum.

INDIAN DOMESTIC CATTLE.

Bos ——?

THE ZEBU, OR BRAHMIN OX.—(Var. α.)

The opinions expressed in the following extract from Mr. Bennett'sdescription of the Indian Ox (Gardens and Menag. of the Zool. Soc.), maybe taken as a correct exposition of the views of naturalists generallyon the subject:—

"There can be little doubt that the Zebu, or Indian Ox, is merely avariety of the Common Ox, although it is difficult to ascertain thecauses by which the distinctive characters of the two races have been inthe process of[Pg 126] time gradually produced. But whatever the causes mayhave been, their effects rapidly disappear by the intermixture of thebreeds, and are entirely lost at the end of a few generations. Thisintermixture and its results would alone furnish a sufficient proof ofidentity of origin; which, consequently, scarcely requires theconfirmation to be derived from the perfect agreement of their internalstructure, and of all the more essential particulars of their externalconfirmation. These, however, are not wanting; not only is theiranatomical structure the same, but the form of their heads, whichaffords the only certain means of distinguishing the actual species ofthis genus from each other, presents no difference whatever. In both theforehead is flat, or more properly slightly depressed; nearly square inits outline, its height being equal to its breadth; and bounded above bya prominent line, forming an angular protuberance, passing directlyacross the skull between the bases of the horns. The only circumstancesin fact in which the two animals differ, consists in the fatty hump onthe shoulders of the Zebu, and in the somewhat more slender and delicatemake of its legs."

In a scientific work, it is not sufficient for the author merely to makean assertion; it is not even sufficient for him to say that he has madean experiment or observation, and merely give the result; he should, inevery case where it is practicable, describe the nature of hisexperiment,—thewhen, thewhere, thehow;—and the means andopportunity he had of making his observations, that the curious orsceptical inquirer may be enabled to perform the experiment, or make theobservation for himself.

Mr. Bennett tells us, that the differences observable in the Indian Oxand the Common Ox "rapidly disappear[Pg 127] by the intermixture of thebreeds, and are entirely lost at the end of a few generations;" but hedoes not refer to a single instance of this, authentic or otherwise; norare we aware that any such instance ever occurred.

Again, he states that "their anatomical structure is the same;" but hedoes not inform us when, or where, or how, the comparison was made whichenabled him to arrive at that conclusion.

Wishing to satisfy myself, as far as possible, on this point, I haveexamined the skeleton both of the British Domestic Ox and the Zebu; andthe following is the result of that examination:—

Furthermore, the period of gestation of the Brahmin Cow (according tothe MS. records of the Zoological Society), is 300 days, while that ofthe Common Cow is only 270 days.

Whether the differences here pointed out are sufficient to constitutespecific distinction, is left for the umpires to decide.[Pg 128]

These Indian Cattle are extremely gentle, and admirably adapted toharness. Some of the eastern princes attach them to their artillery; butgenerally they employ the finest to draw their light carriages, which inform are very similar to those of the ancients. In mountainouscountries, they have them shod. Their pace is a kind of amble, and theyare able to sustain a journey of about twenty leagues a day. Guided by acord which passes through the nasal cartilage, they obey the hand withas much precision as a horse.

In the same provinces are seen a race of dwarf Bisons, which arescarcely as tall as our calves of two months old, generally describedunder the name ofZebu. They are lively, well proportioned, andtrained to be mounted by children, or to draw a light car. In both casestheir[Pg 129] pace is a sort of amble, the same as that of the larger species.

The curious Hindoo customs in relation to this animal have been recordedby almost every traveller.

Neither the horse, the sheep, nor the goat, have any peculiar sanctityannexed to them by the Braminical superstition; it is otherwise with thecow, which in India is everywhere regarded with veneration, and is anobject of peculiar worship. Representations of objects are made upon thewalls with cow-dung, and these enter deeply into their routine of dailyobservances. The same materials are also dried, and used as fuel fordressing their victuals; for this purpose the women collect it, and bakeit into cakes, which are placed in a position where they soon become dryand fit for use. The sacred character of the cow probably gives thisfuel a preference to every other in the imagination of a Hindoo, for itis used in Calcutta, where wood is in abundance.

On certain occasions it is customary for the Hindoos to consecrate abull as an offering to their deities; particular[Pg 130] ceremonies are thenperformed, and a mark is impressed upon the animal, expressive of hisfuture condition to all the inhabitants. No consideration will inducethe pious Bengalee to hurt or even control one of these consecratedanimals. You may see them every day roaming at large through the streetsof Calcutta, and tasting rice, grain, or flour in the Bazar, accordingto their pleasure. The utmost a native will do, when he observes theanimal doing too much honour to his goods, is to urge him, by thegentlest hints, to taste of the vegetables or grain of his neighbour'sstall. (Tennant's 'Indian Recreations.')

One of the doctrines of the Brahmins is to believe that kine have inthem somewhat of sacred and divine; that happy is the man who can besprinkled over with the ashes of a cow, burnt by the hand of a Brahmin;but thrice happy is he who, in dying, lays hold of a cow's tail andexpires with it between his hands; for thus assisted, the soul departsout of the body purified, and sometimes returns into the body of a cow.That such a favour, notwithstanding, is not conferred but on heroicsouls, who contemn life, and die generously, either by castingthemselves headlong from a precipice, or leaping into a kindled pile, orthrowing themselves under the holy chariot wheels, to be crushed todeath by the Pagods, when they are carried in triumph about thetown.—(Life of St. Francis Xavier, translated by Dryden, 1688.)

AFRICAN AND OTHER VARIETIES.

LOOSE-HORNED OX.

This is said to be found in Abyssinia and in Madagascar,[Pg 131] and isdistinguished by pendulous ears, and hornsattached only to the skin,so as to hang down on each side!

THE BOURY.

Of the size of a camel, and of a snowy whiteness, with a protuberance onthe back, is a native of Madagascar and some other islands.

THE TINIAN OX.

Bewick mentions that in Persia there are many oxen entirely white, withsmall blunt horns and humps on their backs. They are very strong, andcarry heavy burdens. When about to be loaded, they drop down on theirknees like the Camel, and rise again when their burdens are properlyfastened.

THE BORNOU OX,

which Col. Smith considers a distinct species, is likewise white, of avery large size, with hunched back, and very large horns, which arecouched outwards and downwards, like those of the African Buffalo, withthe tip forming a small half-spiral revolution. The corneous externalcoat is very soft, distinctly fibrous, and at the base not much thickerthan a human nail; the osseous core full of vascular grooves, and insidevery cellular, the pair scarcely weighing four pounds. The skin passesinsensibly to the horny state, so that there is no exact demarcationwhere the one commences or the other ends. The dimension of a hornare:—length measured on the[Pg 132] curve, three feet seven inches;circumference at base, two feet; circumference midway, one foot sixinches; circumference two thirds up the horn, one foot; length in astraight line, from base to tip, one foot five inches and a half. Thespecies has a small neck, and is the common domestic breed of Bornou,where the Buffalo is said to have small horns.

Leguat, in his 'Voyages in 1720,' states that the oxen are of threesorts at the Cape of Good Hope, all of a large size, and very active;some have a hump on the back, others have the horns long and pendent,while others have them turned up and well shaped, as in English cattle.

THE DOMESTIC OXEN OF THE HOTTENTOTS, CALLED BACKELEYS, BACKELEYERS, ORBAKELY-OSSE.

Bos ——?

The following particulars relating to these Oxen are taken from thehighly interesting work 'The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope,'by Peter Kolben, who visited that colony in 1705, and remained thereduring a period of eight years.

"The Hottentots have a sort of oxen they call Backeleyers, or fightingoxen; they use them in their wars, as some nations do elephants; of thetaming and farming of which last creatures upon the like discipline theHottentots as yet know nothing. They are of great use to them, too, inthe government of their herds at pasture; for, upon a signal from theircommanders, they will fetch in stragglers, and bring the herds withincompass. They will likewise run very furiously at strangers, andtherefore are of good defence against the Buschies, or robbers who stealcattle. They are the stateliest oxen of the herd: every Kraal hashalf-a-dozen of these oxen at the least. When one of them dies, or growsso old, that, being unfit for business, his owner kills him, a young oneis chosen out of the herd to succeed him, by an ancient Hottentot, whois judged best able to discern his capacity for instruction. This youngox is associated with an old Backeleyer, and taught, by blows and othermeans, to follow him. At night they tie them together by the horns; andfor some part of the day they fasten them together in the same manner,till at length, by this and I know not what other means, the[Pg 134] young oxis fully instructed, and becomes a watchful guardian of the herds, andan able auxiliary in war.

"The Backeleyers (so called from the Hottentot word Backeley for war)know every inhabitant of the Kraal they belong to, men, women, andchildren, and pay them all just the same respect that is paid by a dogto every person who dwells in his master's house. Any of the inhabitantsmay, therefore, at any time present themselves very safely on any sideof the herds; the Backeleyers will in nowise offend them. But if astranger, especially a European, shall approach the herds, without thecompany of a Hottentot of the Kraal they belong to, he must look sharpto himself; for these Backeleyers, which generally feed at the skirts ofthe herds, quickly discover him, and make at him upon a full gallop. Andif he is not within hearing of any of the Hottentots who keep the herds,or has not a fire-arm, or a light pair of heels, or there is not a treeat hand which he can immediately climb, he is certainly demolished. TheBackeleyers mind not sticks or the throwing of stones at them. This isone great reason why the Europeans always travel the Hottentot countrieswith fire-arms. But the first thing a European does, upon the appearanceof such an enemy, is to shout and call to the Hottentots that look tothe herds. The Hottentot that hears him hastens to his assistance,making all the way a very shrill whistling through his fingers. TheBackeleyers no sooner hear the whistling of their keepers, which theyvery well know, than they stop, turn about, and return leisurely to theherds.

"But if a European, in such a case, does not (upon his shouting andcalling to the keepers), hear the whistle, before the Backeleyers comeup with him, he discharges[Pg 135] his fire-arm,—frightened with the report ofwhich, the Backeleyers run away.

"I have been often run at by the Backeleyers myself. As soon as I sawthem sallying out upon me, I shouted and called to the keepers. But Icould not often make them hear before the Backeleyers came up with me,when I have been obliged to discharge my fire-arm (for I always carriedone about with me), upon which they always turned about and left me.

"In the wars of the Hottentots with one another, these Backeleyers makevery terrible impressions. They gore, and kick, and trample to death,with incredible fury. Each army has a drove of them, which they taketheir opportunity to turn upon the enemy. And if an army, against whichthe Backeleyers are sent, is not alert and upon all its guard, thesecreatures quickly force their way through it, tearing, shattering, andconfounding all the troops that oppose them, and paving for theirmasters an easy way to victory. The courage of these creatures isamazing; and the discipline upon which they are formed does not a littlehonour to the Hottentot genius and dexterity.

"The Hottentots have likewise great numbers of oxen for carriage. These,too, are very strong and stately creatures, chosen out of the herds, atabout the age of two years, by old men, well skilled in cattle. Whenthey have destined an ox to carry burdens, they take and throw him onhis back on the ground; and fastening his head and feet with strongropes to stakes firmly fixed in the ground, they make a hole with asharp knife through his upper lip, between his nostrils. Into this holethey put a stick, about half an inch thick, and a foot and a half long,with a hook at top to prevent its falling[Pg 136] through. By this hooked stickthey break him to obedience and good behaviour; for if he refuses to begoverned, or to carry the burdens they lay upon him, they fix his noseby this hooked stick to the ground, and there hold it till he comes to abetter temper.

"It is an exquisite torture to an Ox to be fastened to the ground by thenose in this manner. He is not, therefore, long exercised this way,before he gets a notion of his duty, and becomes tractable. After which,the very sight alone of the stick, when he is wanton or refractory, willhumble and reduce him to the will of his driver. The terror of thisstick, likewise makes the carriage oxen so attentive to the words ofcommand the Hottentots use to them, that they quickly conceive and, everwhile they live, afterwards retain the intention of them. I have athousand times been surprised at the ready obedience the carriage oxenhave paid to a Hottentot's bare words. They are as quick atapprehending, and as exact in performing the orders of their driver, asis any taught dog in Europe at conceiving and accomplishing the ordersof his master. The stick—the terrible stick—makes them all attentionand diligence."

AFRICAN BULL.

The following notice, which will explain itself, appeared in Loudon's'Magazine of Natural History,' for July, 1828.

"Some Account of a particular Variety of Bull (Bos Taurus), nowexhibiting in London. By Mrs. Harvey.

"Sir,—Agreeably to your request, Mr. Harvey has taken a portrait ofthis animal; and as he has made the drawing on the wood himself, theengraving will be a very perfect resemblance.[C] I have, on my part,drawn up the following particulars, from what my husband told me, and Ishall be happy if they prove of any interest to you or your readers:—

"This animal belongs to a French woman, who says he was brought fromAfrica to Bordeaux when a calf; and, after having been shown indifferent parts of the Continent, was taken to London, and exhibited atthe Grand Bazaar in King's Street, Portman Square, last autumn. He is[Pg 138]at present five years old, four feet high at the shoulder and seven feetin length, from the horns to the insertion of the tail. The length ofhis face is one foot eight inches, and the girth round the collar sevenfeet six inches. His hair is short and silky, and the colour a cream oryellowish white, except two black tufts which appear on each foot. Onthe back of the neck there is a hump or swelling, which seems confinedto this variety. The general aspect of the animal is mild and docile;but, when irritated, his expression is very remarkable, exhibitingitself principally in the eye. This, in its ordinary state, is verypeculiar, (fig. 1,a,) rising more than one-half above the orbit, andbearing a resemblance to a cup and ball, thus enabling the animal to seeon all sides with equal ease. The iris is naturally of a pale bluecolour; but, when the animal is irritated, it varies from a very paleblue or lilac to a deep crimson. Its form is also very remarkable, beinga small oval, or rather a parallelogram, with the ends cut off, andlying transversely across the ball, (fig. 1,b.)

"The black tufts, mentioned above, are the lateral hoofs (fig. 2), whichthe animal sheds annually, and which grow[Pg 139] to the length of five or sixinches. They are not shed together, or at stated periods; for those ofthe fore-feet, (a,b,) in this example, are at present of differentages, and, consequently, of different lengths; the difference betweenthem being exactly that represented in the sketch.

"On the hump or collar, the hair grows much longer than on the otherparts of the body, forming a sort of curled mane, resembling, I shouldimagine, that of the Bison. It is perfectly white, growing to the lengthof one foot six inches, and adding greatly to the height of the risingpart behind the horns. At present the hair is only beginning to grow;but it will be in full beauty at the approach of the winter months, andwill fall off gradually again in the early part of the succeeding spring.

"The keeper pointed out to Mr. Harvey, as a remarkable peculiarity, thatthe dewlap (fig. 3), in passing between the fore-legs (a), and underthe body (b), seemed to divide itself into three parts, which theycalled the three stomachs, (1, 2, 3,) from their being very much actedon in the progress of digestion."

CHILLINGHAM WHITE CATTLE.

Bos Taurus.—Restricted Variety.

Considerable interest has always been connected with the history ofthose herds of white cattle which have been kept secluded, apparentlyfrom time immemorial, in the parks of some of our aristocracy.[D] It hasbeen, and still is,[Pg 141] a matter of lordly pride to their noble owners,that these cattle are held to be of a distinct and untameable race.

Feeling a full share of the interest attached to them, and anxious togain the most accurate and circumstantial information, I was induced topay a visit, during the summer of 1845, to the beautifully wooded andundulating Park of Chillingham, in which a herd of these cattle ispreserved; and, although I have not been able to gather material for aperfect history of these animals, I think it will not be difficult toshow that matters respecting them have been set forth as facts which arefictions; and that from some points of their history which have beencorrectly detailed, inferences have been drawn, which are by no meanswarranted by the facts.

In endeavouring to point out these errors and false reasonings, it willbe necessary to make quotations from the old history of the whitecattle, in Culley's 'Observations on Live Stock,' which has been sooften repeated in works on natural history, and is, moreover, sothoroughly accredited, that it may now appear something like presumptionto call it in question. To what extent it is called in question on thepresent occasion, and the reasons for so doing, will be seen in therunning commentary which accompanies these quotations.

Culley says: "The Wild Breed, from being untameable,[Pg 142] can only be keptwithin walls or good fences; consequently very few of them are now to bemet with, except in the parks of some gentlemen, who keep them forornament, and as a curiosity: those I have seen are at ChillinghamCastle, in Northumberland, a seat belonging to the Earl of Tankerville."

The statement of their being untameable is a mere assertion, foundedupon no evidence whatever. But so far is it from being the fact, that,notwithstanding every means are used to preserve their wildness, such asallowing them to range in an extensive park—seldom intruding uponthem—hunting and shooting them now and then—notwithstanding thesemeans are taken to preserve their wildness, they are even now so fardomesticated as voluntarily to present themselves every winter, at aplace prepared for them, for the purpose of being fed. From which it mayreasonably be concluded, that were they restricted in their pasture,gradually familiarised with the presence of human beings, and in everyother respect treated as ordinary cattle, they would, in the course oftwo or three generations, be equally tame and tractable.

Whilst writing the foregoing I was not aware that any attempt had beenmade to domesticate these so-called untameable oxen; but on reading anaccount of these cattle by Mr. Hindmarsh, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne,(bearing date about 1837,) I find the following paragraph.

"By taking the calves at a very early age, and treating them gently, thepresent keeper succeeded in domesticating an ox and a cow.They becameas tame as domestic animals, and the ox fed as rapidly as ashort-horned steer. He lived eighteen years, and when at his best wascomputed at 8 cwt. 14 lbs. The cow only lived five or six years. She[Pg 143]gave little milk, but the quality was rich. She was crossed by a countrybull, but her progeny very closely resembled herself, being entirelywhite, excepting the ears, which were brown, and the legs, which weremottled." These facts speak for themselves.

Culley, in giving their distinguishing characteristics, says: "Theircolour is invariably of a creamy white; muzzle black; the whole of theinside of the ear, and about one third of the outside, from the tipsdownwards, red; horns white, with black tips, very fine, and bentupwards; some of the bulls have a thin upright mane, about an inch and ahalf, or two inches long."

That their colour is invariably white is simply owing to the care thatis taken to destroy all the calves that are born of a differentdescription. It is pretty well known to the farmers about Chillingham(although pains are taken to conceal the fact,) that the wild cows inthe park not unfrequently drop calves variously spotted. With respect tothe redness of the ears, this is by no means an invariable character,many young ones having been produced without that distinctive mark; andBewick records, that about twenty years before he wrote, there existed afew in the herd withblack ears, but they were destroyed. So far fromthe character here given of the horns being confined to those whitecattle, it is precisely the description of the horns of the Kyloe oxen,or black cattle. The investiture of some of the bulls with a mane isequally gratuitous; Cole, who was park-keeper for more than forty years,and of course had ample means of observation, distinctly informed methat they had no mane, but only some curly hair, about the neck, whichis likewise an attribute of the Kyloe Oxen.[Pg 144]

Culley goes on to say: "From the nature of their pasture, and thefrequent agitation they are put into by the curiosity of strangers, itis scarce to be expected that they should get very fat; yet the sixyears old oxen are generally very good beef, from whence it may befairly supposed, that in proper situations they would feed well."

It would naturally be inferred from this, that the park in which theyare kept is visited by strangers every day, who are allowed to drivethem about, and disturb them in their feeding and ruminating, as boyshunt geese or donkeys on a common. This, however, is so far from beingthe case, that it frequently happens that the park is not visited formany weeks in succession, and certainly on an average it is not visitedonce a week. What is here meant by "the nature of their pasture," and"in proper situations they would feed well," it is difficult to say. Thefact is, their pasture is both good and extensive, and they feed as wellas animals always do who are left to themselves with plenty of food.

Their behaviour to strangers is thus described: "At the first appearanceof any person, they set off at full speed, and gallop a considerabledistance, when they make a wheel round, and come boldly up again,tossing their heads in a menacing manner; on a sudden, they make a fullstop, at a distance of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at theobject of their surprise; but upon the least motion being made, theyturn round again, and gallop off with equal speed; but forming a shortercircle, and, returning with a bolder and more threatening aspect, theyapproach much nearer, when they make another stand, and again gallopoff. This they do several times, shortening[Pg 145] their distance, andapproaching nearer, till they come within a few yards, when most peoplethink it prudent to leave them."

In the instance in which I had an opportunity of witnessing their methodof receiving visitors, the fashion was somewhat different. Thepark-keeper who accompanied me described, as we rode through the park inquest of them, what would be their mode of procedure on our approach.This he did from observations so repeatedly made, as to warrant him insaying that it was their invariable mode. It was perfectly simple, and Ifound it precisely as he had described it. When we came in sight ofthem, they were tranquilly ruminating under a clump of shady trees, someof the herd standing, others lying. On their first observing us, thosethat were lying rose up, and they all then began to moveslowly away,not exactly to a greater distance from us, but in the direction of athickly wooded part of the park, which was as distant on our left as theherd was on our right. To reach this wooded part they had to pass oversome elevated ground. They continued to walk at a gradually acceleratingpace, till they gained the most elevated part, when they broke out intoa trot, then into a canter, which at last gave way to a full gallop, asort of "devil-take-the-hindmost" race, by which they speedily buriedthemselves in the thickest recesses of the wood. What they may have donein Mr. Culley's time, we must take upon that gentleman's word; but atpresent, and for so long as the present park-keeper can recollect, theyhave never been in the habit of describing those curious concentriccircles of which Mr. Culley makes mention in the last quotation.

The late mode of killing them is described as "perhaps[Pg 146] the only modernremains of the grandeur of ancient hunting. On notice being given, thata wild bull would be killed on a certain day, the inhabitants of theneighbourhood came mounted and armed with guns, &c., sometimes to theamount of a hundred horse, and four or five hundred foot, who stood uponwalls or got into trees, while the horsemen rode off the bull from therest of the herd until he stood at bay, when a marksman dismounted andshot. At some of these huntings twenty or thirty shots have been firedbefore he was subdued. On these occasions the bleeding victim grewdesperately furious, from the smarting of his wounds, and the shouts ofsavage joy that were echoing from every side. But from the number ofaccidents that happened, this dangerous mode has been little practisedof late years, the park-keeper alone generally shooting them with arifled gun at one shot."

This vivid portraiture of a scene, which the writer is pleased toconsidergrand, does not appear to have much relation to the historyof theGenus Bos: it however, exhibits the brutal and ferocious habitsof two varieties ofGenus Homo, namelyNobility andMobility—twovarieties which, although distinguished by some external marks ofdifference, possess in common many questionable characteristics.

Culley proceeds:—"When the cows calve, they hide their calves for aweek or ten days in some sequestered situation, and go and suckle themtwo or three times a day. If any person come near the calves, they claptheir heads close to the ground, and lie like a hare in form, to hidethemselves;this is a proof of their native wildness, and iscorroborated by the following circumstance[Pg 147] that happened to Mr. Bailey,of Chillingham, who found a hidden calf, two days old, very lean andvery weak. On stroking its head it got up, pawed two or three times likean old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped back a few steps, and bolted athis legs with all its force; it then began to paw again, bellowed,stepped back, and bolted as before; but knowing its intention, andstepping aside, it missed him, fell, and was so very weak that it couldnot rise, though it made several efforts. But it had done enough: thewhole herd were alarmed, and, coming to its rescue, obliged him toretire; for the dams will allow no person to touch their calves withoutattacking them with impetuous ferocity."

It seems almost unnecessary to remind the reader that all animals arenaturally wild; and that even those animals that have been the longestunder the dominion of man, are born with a strong tendency to the wildstate, to which they would immediately resort, if left to themselves: itappears, therefore, rather gratuitous to tell us that thenaturalactions of young animals (whose parents have been allowed to runwild),are proofs of their native mildness!

The concluding paragraph requires no observation:—"When a calf isintended to be castrated, the park-keeper marks the place where it ishid, and, when the herd are at a distance, takes an assistant with himon horseback; they tie a handkerchief round the calf s mouth, to preventits bellowing, and then perform the operation in the usual way. When anyone happens to be wounded, or is grown weak and feeble through age orsickness, the rest of the herd set upon it, and gore it to death."[Pg 148]

The following engraving exhibits the effects of castration on thecurvature and length of the horns.

We learn, on the authority of the present Lord Tankerville, that duringthe early part of the life-time of his father, the bulls in the herd hadbeen reduced to three; two of them fought and killed each other, and thethird was discovered to be impotent; so that the means of preserving thebreed depended on the accident of some of the cows producing a bullcalf.

In 1844 I wrote to Mr. Cole, the late park-keeper at Chillingham,requesting information on the following queries, to which he returnedthe answers annexed; and although they are not so explicit as might bewished, they embody facts both interesting and important.[Pg 149]

1. How many pairs of ribs are there in the skeleton of the ChillinghamOx?Thirteen pairs.

2. How many vertebræ are there (from the skull to the end of the tail)?Thirty in the back-bone, twenty in the tail.

3. Will the wild cattle breed with the domestic cattle?I have had twocalves from a wild bull and common cow.

4. What is the precise time the wild cow goes with young?The same asthe domestic cow.

5. At what age does the curly hair appear which constitutes the mane ofthe wild bull?They have no mane, but curly hair on their neck andhead; more so in winter, when the hair is long.

6. In what month does the rutting take place among the wild cattle?Atall times,—no particular time.

Here we have precise information on the following points:—namely, thenumber of ribs; the period of gestation; their having no mane; their notbeing in heat at any particular period; in all which points, theyperfectly agree with the ordinary domestic cattle; and it is importantto observe, that in the last point, namely, that of not being in heat atany particular time, they differ from every knownwild species ofcattle, among which the rutting season invariably occurs at a particularperiod of the year.

THE KYLOE, OR HIGHLAND OX.

Bos Taurus.

The Chillingham Cattle arewhite, and the Highland Cattle or Kyloesare generallyblack; but with this exception the same descriptionmight almost serve for both breeds.

In their natural and unimproved state, the Highland cattle arefrequently well formed; their fine eyes, acute face, and livelycountenances, give them an air of fierceness, which is heightened bytheir white, tapering, black-tipped, and sharp horns.

The Kyloe Oxen are very small (another respect in which they resemblethe Chillingham Oxen). They likewise partake much of the nature of wildanimals, which might be expected from the almost unlimited extent oftheir pasture, and their being but little subject to artificialtreatment.[Pg 151]

Upon a close comparison of these two breeds, there appears not to be somuch difference between the Highland cattle and the cattle ofChillingham as there is between any two breeds or varieties of Britishcattle. Indeed so great is the similarity, that the Kyloe appears to beonly a black variety of the Chillingham Ox, and the Chillingham Ox onlya white variety of the Kyloe.

Dr. Anderson speaks of having seen a kind of Highland cattle which had amane on the top of the head, of considerable length, and a tuft betweenthe horns that nearly covered the eyes, giving them a fierce and savageaspect. He likewise mentions another kind which have hair of a pale leadcolour, very beautiful in its appearance, and in its quality as glossyand soft as silk.

The Kyloe Oxen are natives of the Western Highlands and Isles, and arecommonly called the Argyleshire breed, or the breed of the Isle of Skie,one of the islands attached to the county of Argyle. They are generallyof a dark brown colour, or black, though sometimes brindled.

The Cows of the Isle of Skie (as is recorded by Martin, in his'Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,') are exposed to therigour of the coldest seasons, and become mere skeletons in the spring,many of them not being able to rise from the ground without help; butthey recover as the season becomes more favorable, and the grass growsup; then they acquire new beef, which is both sweet and tender; the fatand lean is not so much separated in them as in other cows, but as itwere larded, which renders it very agreeable to the taste. A cow in thisisle may be twelve years old, when at the same time its beef is notabove four, five, or six months old.

TABLE OF THE NUMBER OF VERTEBRÆ IN THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF THE GENUS BOS.

The osteological details in the above Table (except those of the Yak,which are given on the authority of Pallas) are from the Author's ownobservations.

TABLE OF THE PERIODS OF GESTATION OF THE VARIOUS SPECIES OF THE GENUSBOS.

To supply the deficiencies in the foregoing Tables, the results oforiginal observations are respectfully solicited. Address the Author orPublisher.

NOTE ON THE AMERICAN BISON.

It was Cuvier, I believe, who first made the statement, that theAmerican Bison is furnished withfifteen pairs of ribs. In thisparticular he has been implicitly followed by every subsequent writer onthe subject. Not being able to refer to a skeleton, and, moreover, neversuspecting any inaccuracy in the statement, I followed the receivedaccount. But since this work has gone to press, I have had theopportunity of examining two skeletons, by which I find that—

I have, therefore, in the "Table of the Number of Vertebræ," (see p.152,) set this species down as possessing only that number.

Of the two skeletons referred to (both of which are now in the BritishMuseum), one is from a female Bison, some years a living resident in theZoological Gardens; and the other is from a male, late in the possessionof the Earl of Derby, at Knowsley, in Lancashire.

A corroborative circumstance (amounting, indeed, to a complete proof ofthe accuracy of these observations,) is presented by the fact, that, inboth the casesthe number of lumbar vertebræ is preciselyfive; thusmaking the true vertebræ to consist of nineteen, which Professor Owen [E]has shown to be the invariable number possessed by all ruminants.

APPENDIX

THE FREE MARTIN.

Cows usually bring forth but one calf at a birth; occasionally, however,they produce twins. John Hunter, in his 'Observations on the AnimalEconomy,' says: "It is a fact known, and I believe almost universallyunderstood, that when a cow brings forth two calves, one of them abull-calf, and the other to appearance a cow, that the cow-calf is unfitfor propagation; but the bull-calf grows up into a very proper bull.Such a cow-calf is called, in this country, aFree Martin, and iscommonly as well known among the farmers as either cow or bull. It hasall the external marks of a cow-calf, namely, the teats, and theexternal female parts, called by farmers the bearing. It does not showthe least inclination for the bull, nor does the bull ever take theleast notice of it. In form it very much resembles the Ox, or spayedheifer, being considerably larger than either the bull or the cow,having the horns very similar to the horns of an Ox. The bellow of theFree Martin is similar to that of an Ox, having more resemblance to thatof the cow than that of the bull."

Free Martins are very much disposed to grow fat with good food. Theflesh, like that of the Ox or spayed heifer, is generally much finer inthe fibre than either the bull or cow; is even supposed to exceed thatof the Ox and heifer[Pg 156] in delicacy of flavour, and bears a higher priceat market. However this superiority of the flavour does not appear to beuniversal, for Mr. Hunter was informed of a case which occurred inBerkshire, in which the flesh of a Free Martin turned out nearly as badas bull beef. This circumstance probably arose from the animal havingmore the properties of a bull than a cow.

Mr. Hunter, having had many opportunities of dissecting Free Martins,has satisfactorily shown that their incapacity to breed, and all theirother peculiarities, result from their having the generative organs ofboth sexes combined, in a more or less imperfect state of development,in some cases the organs of the male preponderating, in others those ofthe female.

The above, which is copied from an engraving in Hunter's work on the'Animal Economy,' is a representation of a Free Martin, five years old;it shows the external[Pg 157] form of that animal, which is neither like thebull nor cow, but resembling the Ox or spayed heifer.

Although, as Hunter observes, "it is almost universally understood, thatwhen a cow brings forth two calves, one of them a bull-calf, and theother to appearance a cow, that the cow-calf is unfit for propagation,"it is by no means universally the fact, as instances of such twinsbreeding were known even in Hunter's time, and have been witnessed morerecently. The following is recorded in Loudon's 'Mag. of Nat. History,'and occurred a few years previous to 1826: Jos. Holroyd, of Withers,near Leeds, had a cow which calved twins, a bull-calf and a cow-calf. Aspopular opinion was against the cow-calf breeding, it being considered aFree Martin, Mr. Holroyd was determined to make an experiment of them,and reared them together. They copulated, and in due time the heiferbrought forth a bull-calf, and she regularly had calves for six or sevenyears afterwards.

"If," says Hunter, "there are such deviations as of twins being perfectmale and female, why should there not be, on the other hand, anhermaphrodite, produced singly, as in other animals? I had theexamination of one which seemed, upon the strictest inquiry, to havebeen a single calf; and I am the more inclined to think this true, fromhaving found a number of hermaphrodites among black cattle, without thecircumstance of their birth being ascertained."

If Hunter had carried this reasoning a little further, he might haveasked,—Why should there not be a Free Martin, or hermaphrodite,produced in the case of twins, when they are both apparently males, orboth apparently females? Had he done this, he would not, probably,[Pg 158] havemade the following observation: "I need hardly observe, that if a cowhas twins, and they are both bull-calves, they are in every respectperfect bulls; or if they are both cow-calves, they are perfect cows."What is this but saying that a bull-calf is a bull-calf, and a cow-calfis a cow-calf? For a Free Martin, or hermaphrodite, is not, in any case,either a bull or a cow.

There does not appear to be anything known of the peculiar circumstancesunder which, what is termed a Free Martin is produced.

The most general observation that can be made on the subject appears tobe, that cows sometimes produce calves, which, by reason of theirimperfectly developed generative system, are incapable of procreating.[Pg 159]

THE SHORT-NOSED OX.

The common Ox, originally taken over to America by the early Spanishsettlers, now runs wild in immense herds on the Pampas, where it ishunted and slain for its hide. Some idea may be formed of the immensityof these herds, from the circumstance that nearly a million of hides areannually exported from Buenos Ayres and Monte Video to Europe.

Some of the herds in these wild regions have undergone a most singularmodification of the cranium, consisting in a shortening of the nasalbones, together with the superior and inferior maxillaries. There is askull of this variety in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, of whichthe above is a sketch.[Pg 160]

ON THE UTILITY OF THE OX TRIBE TO MANKIND.

How eminently serviceable to man these animals are, is shown in thefollowing table, in which are set forth the most important uses to whichtheir various parts are applied:

Skin.—The skin has been of great use in all ages. The ancient Britonsconstructed their boats with osiers, and covered them with the hides ofbulls; and these boats were sufficiently strong to serve for shortcoasting voyages. Similar vessels are still in use on the Irish lakes,and in Wales on the rivers Dee and Severn. In Ireland they are calledcurach, in Englandcoracles, from the Britishcwrwgl, a wordsignifying a boat of that structure.

Boots, shoes, harness, &c. for horses, and various kinds of travellingtrunks are made from hides when tanned. The skin of the calf isextensively used in the binding of books, and the thinnest of the calfskins are manufactured into vellum. The skin of the Cape Buffalo is madeinto shields and targets, and is so hard that a musket ball willscarcely penetrate it.

Hair.—The short hair is used to stuff saddles and other articles; alsoby bricklayers in the mixing up of certain kinds of mortar. It islikewise frequently used in the manuring of land. Thelong hair fromthe tail is used for stuffing chairs and cushions. The hair of the Bisonis spun into gloves, stockings, and garters, which are very strong, andlook as well as those made of the finest sheep's wool; very beautifulcloth has likewise been manufactured from it. The Esquimaux convert theskin[Pg 161] covering the tail into caps, which are so contrived that the longhair falling over their faces, defends them from the bites of themosquitoes.

Horns.—The horns of cattle consist of an outside horny case, and aninside conical-shaped substance, somewhat between hardened hair andbone. The horny outside furnishes the material for the manufacture of avariety of useful articles. The first process consists in cutting thehorn transversely into three portions.

1. Thelowest of these, next the root of the horn, after undergoingseveral operations by which it is rendered flat, is made into combs.

2. Themiddle of the horn, after being flattened by heat, and itstransparency improved by oil, is split into thin layers, and forms asubstitute for glass in lanterns of the commonest kind. [The merit ofthe invention of these horn plates, and of their application tolanterns, is ascribed to King Alfred, who is said to have first usedlanterns of this description to preserve his candle time-measurers fromthe wind.]

3. Thetips of the horns are generally used to make knife-handles; thelargest and best are used for crutch-stick heads, umbrella handles, andink-horns, and the smallest and commonest serve for the tops and bottomsof ink-horns.

Spoons, small boxes, powder flasks, spectacle frames, and drinking hornsare likewise made of the outer horny case.

The interior or core of the horn is boiled down in water, when a largequantity of fat rises to the surface; this is sold to the makers ofyellow soap.—The liquid itself is used as a kind of glue, and ispurchased by the cloth-dressers for stiffening.—The bony substancewhich remains[Pg 162] behind, is ground down, and sold to the farmers formanure.

Besides these various purposes to which the different parts of the hornare applied, the chippings which arise in comb-making are sold to thefarmer for manure, at about one shilling a bushel. In the first yearafter they are spread over the soil they have comparatively littleeffect; but during the next four or five their efficiency isconsiderable. The shavings, which form the refuse of the lantern-maker,are of a much thinner texture. Some of them are cut into variousfigures, and painted and used as toys; for they curl up when placed inthe palm of a warm hand. But the greater part of these shavings are soldalso for manure, which from their extremely thin and divided form,produce their full effect upon the first crop.

Feet.—An oil is extracted from the feet of oxen—hence calledNeat's-foot-oil—of great use in preparing and softening leather.

Blood is used in the formation of mastic; also in the refining of sugar,oil, &c.; and is an excellent manure for fruit trees.

Gall is used to cleanse woollen garments, and to obliterate greasy andother stains.

Suet,Fat,Tallow are chiefly manufactured into candles; they are alsoused to precipitate the salt that is drawn from briny springs.

Intestines, when dried, are used as envelopes for German and Bolognasausages; in some countries to[Pg 163] carry butter to market. By gold-beaters,in the process of making gold-leaf. Gold-beater's skin, as it is called,forms the most innocent sticking plaster for small cuts on the hands orfingers.

TheStomachs vulgarly calledinwards, after being washed and boiled,are sold as an article of food under the name oftripe.

TheBones are used as a substitute for ivory in the manufacture of avariety of small articles of a common kind; also for manuring land."When calcined they are used as an absorbent to carry off the basermetals in refining silver. From the tibia and carpus is procured an oilmuch used by coach-makers and others in dressing and cleaning harness,and all trappings belonging to carriages."

Flesh, both fresh and salted, is generally esteemed as an article offood.Pemmican is made of the flesh of the American Bison: this isdried in the sun by the Indians, spread on a skin, and pounded withstones. When the Indians have got it into this state, they sell it tothe different forts, where all the hair is carefully sifted out of it,and melted fat kneaded into it. If it be well made, and kept dry, itwill not spoil for a year or two.

Milk, a nutritious beverage,per se, is used in the composition ofinnumerable articles of diet; from milk is obtained cream, butter, andcheese.[Pg 164]

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ALPINE COWHERDS,

WITH A NOTICE OF THE CELEBRATED SWISS AIR

The Ranz des Vaches.

In the Alps, fine cattle are the pride of their keeper, who, not beingsatisfied with their natural beauty, also gratifies his vanity byadorning his best cows with large bells, suspended from broad thongs.EverySenn, or great cow-keeper, has a harmonious set of bells, of atleast two or three, chiming in accordance with the famousRanz desVaches. The finest black cow is adorned with the largest bell, andthose next in appearance wear the two smaller ones.

It is only on particular occasions that these ornaments are worn,namely, in spring, when they are driven to the Alps, or removed from onepasture to another; or in their autumnal descents, when they travel tothe different farmers for the winter. On such days the Senn, even in thedepth of winter, appears dressed in a fine white shirt, with the sleevesrolled above the elbows; neatly embroidered red braces suspend hisyellow linen trowsers, which reach down to the shoes; he wears a smallleather cap on his head, and a new and skilfully carved wooden milk-bowlhangs across his left shoulder. Thus arrayed, the Senn proceeds, singingtheRanz des Vaches, followed by three or four fine goats; next comesthe finest cow, adorned with the great bell; then the other two with thesmaller bells; and these are succeeded by the rest of the cattle,walking one after another, and having in their rear the bull, with aone-legged milking-stool on his horns; the procession is closed by atraineau, or sledge, bearing the dairy implements.[Pg 165]

When dispersed on the Alps, the cattle are collected together by thevoice of the Senn, who is then said to allure them. How well these cowsdistinguish the voice of their keeper, appears from the circumstance oftheir hastening to him, although at a great distance, whenever hecommences singing theRanz des Vaches.

This celebrated air is played on the bagpipes, as well as sung by theyoung Swiss cowherds while watching their cattle on the mountains. Theastonishing effects of this simple melody on the Swiss soldier, whenabsent from his native land, are thus described by Rousseau:

"Cet air, se chéri des Suisses qu'il fut défendu sous peine de mort dele jouer dans leurs troupes, parce qu'il faisait fondre en larmes,déserter, ou mourir, ceux qui l'entendaient, tant il excitait en euxl'ardent desir de revoir leur pays. On chercherait en vain dans cet airles accens énergetiques capables de produire de si étonnans effets. Ceseffets, qui n'ont aucun lieu sur les étrangers, ne viennent qui del'habitude, des souvenirs de mille circonstances qui, retracées par cetair à ceux que l'entendent, et leur rappellant leur pays, leurs anciensplaisirs, leur jeunesse, et toutes leur façons de vivre, excitent en euxune douleur amère d'avoir perdu tout cela. La musique alors n'agit pointprécisément comme musique, mais comme signe memoratif. Cet air, quoiquetoujours le même, ne produit plus aujourd'hui les mêmes effets qu'ilproduisait ci-devant sur les Suisses, parce qu'ayant perdu le gôut deleur première simplicité, ils ne la regrettent plus quand on la leurrappelle. Tant il est vrai que ce n'est pas dans leur action physiquequ'il faut chercher les plus grand effets des sons sur le cœurhumain."[Pg 166]

For the delectation of the musical reader, the notes of this celebratedair are here introduced, with the words, and an English imitation:

IMITATED.

SYNOPTICAL TABLE OF HABITAT

AND MODE OF LIFE.

Mode of Life.

THE INDEFINITE DEFINITIONS OF COL. HAMILTON SMITH.

On commencing this Monograph of theGenus Bos, I entertained theconfident expectation, that in the voluminous work of Cuvier's 'AnimalKingdom,' translated and enlarged by Griffith and others, I should findall that related to generic and specific distinction so clearlyexhibited, and so systematically arranged, that I should have nohesitation in adopting the classification there set forth, and nodifficulty in determining the place of any new species or variety. Withthis expectation I diligently studied that portion of Col. H. Smith'svolume on the Ruminantia, which treat of theGenus Bos, and I heresubjoin (verbatim) the generic and subgeneric characters there given ofthat Genus, by which it will be seen how far they fall short of theclearness and precision which are indispensable to a scientific work.

GENERIC CHARACTERS.

"Genus BOS.—Skull very strong, dense about the frontals, which areconvex, nearly flat, or concave; horns invariably occupying the crest,projecting at first laterally; osseous nucleus throughout porous, evencellular; muzzleinvariably broad, naked, moist,black; ears,ingeneral,middle sized; bodylong; legssolid; staturelarge."

Generic characters should be such as will apply to every species in thegenus; they should likewise be such as will[Pg 171] distinguish the genusdescribed from every other genus. From such observations as I have beenenabled to make, the five last-mentioned characters do not appear toaccord with either of these conditions.

1st. The muzzle is stated to beblack; but in the Yak, and in domesticcattle (as may be observed by any one), the muzzle is very frequentlywhite; and granting that it was invariably black, other genera of theruminantia have the muzzle black: and therefore it cannot be said to bea distinguishing mark of theGenus Bos.

2d. The ears are stated to bein general middle-sized. To pass overthe extreme vagueness of the terms "in general" and "middle-sized,"I may state that having measured the ears of several species, I findthem to be of all lengths, varying from 5 inches to nearly 18 inches.Such a term as "middle-sized" may be applied "in general" to theears of a vast variety of animals; and therefore it cannot be appliedin particular to theGenus Bos.

3d. The body is said to belong. They are, indeed, of all lengths,from 4 ft. 6 in. to nearly 11 ft. Can the term long be equallyapplicable to animals of such different lengths?

4th. The legs are said to besolid. In some species the legs are veryslender, as the Zebu, Manilla Buffalo, and Domestic Ox.

5th. The stature is said to belarge. From actual measurement I findthe stature to vary from 2 ft. 8 in. to upwards of 6 ft.; the smallerspecies weighing not more than 100 lbs., the larger weighing as much as2000 lbs. Can the term large be equally applicable to animals of suchdifferent sizes?[Pg 172]

SUB-GENERIC CHARACTERS.

"Sub-genus I.—Bubalus.—Animals low in proportion to their bulk;limbs very solid; head large, forehead narrow, very strong, convex;chaffron straight; muzzle square, horns lying flat, or bending laterallywith a certain direction to the rear; eyes large; ears mostlyfunnel-shaped; no hunch; a small dewlap;female udder with four mammæ;tail long; slender."

"Sub-genus II.—Bison.—Forehead slightly arched, much broader thanhigh; horns placed before the salient line of the frontal crest; theplane of the occiput forming an obtuse angle with the forehead andsemicircular in shape; fourteen or fifteen pairs of ribs; the shouldersrather elevated; thetail shorter; the legs more slender; the tongueblue; the hair soft and woolly."

"Sub-genus III.—Taurus.—Forehead square from the orbits to theoccipital crest, somewhat concave, not convex, or arched as in theformer; the horns rising from the sides of the salient edge or crest ofthe frontals; the plane of the occiput forming an acute angle with thefrontal, and of quadrangular form; the curve of the horns outwards,upwards, and forwards; no mane; a deep dewlap;thirteen pairs of ribs;tail long;udder four teats in a square."

Subgeneric characters should be such as will clearly distinguish theanimals of one sub-genus from those of another. But here we have setdown, in the sub-genus Bubalus, taillong, slender; in the sub-genusTaurus, taillong; and although the epithet slender is not added inthe latter case, yet in truth it ought to be, as the tail of Taurus isquite as slender as that of Bubalus.

The udder of Bubalus is said to have four mammæ; they are not stated tobe in a square, but, on examination, I find they are so; the udder ofTaurus has likewise four teats in a square.

Thirteen pairs of ribs are set down as a distinguishing character of thesub-genus Taurus; but the Cape Buffalo, Domestic Buffalo, and theManilla Buffalo (in the sub-genus Bubalus), and the Gaur (in thesub-genus Bison), all possess thirteen pairs of ribs.

In the sub-genus Bison the tail is said to beshorter than the tail ofBubalus; but on subjecting them to the infallible test of feet andinches, I find the tails of the Aurochs, Gaur, Yak, and Gayal, to bedecidedlylonger than those of the Cape or the Manilla Buffalo.

The legs of Bisons are stated to be more slender than those ofBuffaloes,—the reverse of this is the fact in the instances which Ihave had an opportunity of observing.

SPECIFIC DETAILS.

The details of a system of scientific classification should be precise,methodical, and consistent; but the method observed by Col. Smith, indescribing the lengths of animals, can scarcely be called either preciseor consistent; for example, he states:[Pg 174]—

4th. That the Domestic Buffalo is eight feet six inches long,withoutmentioning either nose or tail.

In none of these cases can we be even proximately certain of the lengthof the animal.

In the first instance we may err to the amount of the length of thehead; as it is not stated whether the measure was taken when the headwas extended in a line with the back, or in a position at right angleswith the back, or in any intermediate position.

It is obvious that the length of a line from the nose to the tail willvary according to the different positions of the head of the animal.

In the second instance (taking it for granted that the measure was takenfrom the nose), the same difficulty exists with respect to the head, andanother difficulty presents itself in our being left to guess the lengthof the tail, which might be eighteen inches, or it might be four feet.[Pg 175]

In the third instance, the same difficulty exists with respect to thehead, and the difficulty is further complicated by our being left toguess whether theroot or theend of the tail is meant.

The true value of these characteristic distinctions, definitions, ordescriptions, are left to the appreciation of the judicious reader.Colonel Smith may doubtless be, what he has been styled, "anindefatigable naturalist," and "in general" an exact one; but in thisspecial instance of theGenus Bos, his warmest admirers must allowthat his accuracy and precision have not kept pace with his industry.

MR. SWAINSON'S TRANSCENDENTAL ATTEMPT AT CLASSIFICATION.

The following very laboured attempt to arrange the various species ofGenus Bos into groups, according to the Quinary or Circular System ofM'Leay, is from the pen of Mr. Swainson—the precise and fastidiousSwainson—who, from the number and boldness of his hypothetical views inevery department of Zoology, may be truly regarded as the beau-ideal ofa speculative naturalist—one of those, in short, so well described bySwift, "whose chief art in division hath been to grow fond of someproper mystical number, which their imaginations have rendered sacred toa degree, that they force common reason to find room for it in everypart of nature;reducing,including, andadjusting, everygenusandspecies within that compass, by coupling some against their wills,and banishing others at any rate."

After describing the various members of the Bovine Family according tothe Procrustean method of stretching and chopping, Mr. Swainsoncontinues in his peculiarly dogmatic style "The types of form of theGenus Bos, above enumerated,we shall now demonstrate to be anatural group. We have seen that the first represented by theBosScoticus, or Scotch Wild Ox, is an untameable savage race, whichpreserves, even in the domestication of a park, all that fiercenesswhich the ancient writers attributed to the Wild Bulls of Britain and ofthe European Continent. Let those who imagine that the[Pg 177] influence ofcivilization, of care, and of judicious treatment, will alter thenatural instincts of animals, look to this as a palpable refutation oftheir doctrine. Where is that boasted power of man over nature? Wherethe fruits of long-continued efforts and fostering protection? TheBosScoticus is as untameable now as it was centuries ago, simply for thisreason, that it is in accordance with an unalterable law of nature; alaw by which one type in every circular group is to represent the worstpassions of mankind—fierceness, or cruelty, or horror. In theUrus weconsequently have the type of the wild and untameableFeræ amongquadrupeds, the eagles among birds, and the innumerable analogies whichall the subordinate groups of these two great divisions present.Following this is the typical Ox—a god among the ancients, and thatanimal above all others, which, from its vital importance to man, weshould naturally expect such a nation as the ancient Egyptians wouldexalt above all others. It is, in short, the typical perfection of thewhole order of Ruminants, and consequently represents theQuadrumanaamong quadrupeds, and theIncessores among birds. The third type is noless beautiful; but it cannot be illustrated without going into detailswhich it is not our present intention to make public: suffice it,however, to say, that in the prominent hump upon the shoulders we have aperfect representation of the Camel, one of the most striking types ofthe order, while it reminds us at the same time of the Buffalo, thegenusAcronatus among the large Antelopes, and numerous otherrepresentations of the same form. The fourth type is ourBos Pusio:here we find the horns, when present, remarkably small, but in manycases absent; and[Pg 178] the size is diminutive to an extreme. These also aredistinguishing marks of the groups it is to represent: theTenuirostres among birds, and theGlires, or mice, among quadrupeds,are the smallest of their respective classes; and both are typicallydistinguished by wanting all appendages to the head, either in the formof crests or horns. The fifth type is, perhaps, the most extraordinaryof all; it should represent not only the orderRasores among birds,but also theCamelopardalis among ruminating quadrupeds. Hence we findthat, in accordance with the first of these analogies, it is a peacefuldomesticated race, and that it has horns of an unusually large size,even in its own group; while, at the same time, those horns have thatpeculiar structure which can only be traced in the Camelopardalis; theyare covered with skin, which passes so imperceptibly to the horny state,that, as Captain Clapperton observes, "there is no exact demarcationwhere the one commences and the other ends." The five leading types ofquadrupeds and birds being now represented, and in precisely the sameorder,we demonstrate the groups to be natural by the followingtable:—

In regard to the last type, the analogies can only be[Pg 179] traced throughthe animals or types of other groups; but should the habits ofThersites lead it to frequent the water (like the Buffaloes) more thanany other species of true oxen—a supposition highly probable—theanalogy to theCetacea and theNatatores would be direct. When wefind in all the other four types such a surprising representation of thesame peculiarities, we are justified in believing that want ofinformation alone prevents this analogy from being so complete as theothers. These analogies, in point of fact, may be traced through thewhole of the principal groups in this order, the most important, and themost numerous of ungulated animals." Our luminous classifier thentriumphantly winds up:—"Having now demonstrated, in one of the verylowest groups of quadrupeds, the validity of those principles of naturalclassification we have so often illustrated," &c.

Let us not be confounded with high-sounding terms; let us ratherendeavour to ascertain the meaning of them, if indeed they possess ameaning. Here we have, under the head of "Genus Bos—the NaturalTypes"—(see p. 178), certain words arranged in regular columns, which,at a first glance, appear as though they were intended to bear somerelation to each other. But let us ask the most ordinary observer, orthe most profound observer, or the observer of any grade or shadebetween these two extremes, what resemblance—what relation—whatanalogy—can be discovered between an ordinary bull (Taurus) and aman, a monkey, or a bat (Primates); or between Taurus and theIncessores (Perching Birds)? Or between Buffaloes, whose horns arepartially covered with skin (Dermaceros), and cocks and hens(Rasores)? Can any one say wherein consists the similarity between adwarf[Pg 180] Zebu and a Mouse, or a Flamingo? Yet this is the material ofwhich the columns are composed.

But one of the most unhappy of Mr. Swainson's speculations is thatwherein he represents theBos Scoticus, or wild ox, as the type of "anuntameable savage race, which preserves, even in the domestication ofa park, all that fierceness which the ancient writers attributed to thewild bulls of Britain and the European continent. Let those who imaginethat the influence of civilization, of care, and of judicious treatment,will alter the natural instinct of animals, look to this as a palpablerefutation of their doctrine. [!] Where is that boasted power of manover nature? Where the fruits of long-continued efforts and fosteringprotection? [!!] TheBos Scoticus is as untameable now as it wascenturies ago, simply for this reason, that it is in accordance with anunalterable law of nature; a law by which one type in every group is torepresent the worst passions of mankind—fierceness, or cruelty, orhorror." [!!!]

Who would for a moment imagine that all this grandiloquence is bestowedupon an animal, which is so far from being fierce and untameable, thatyoung ones, taken and reared with ordinary cattle, become, even in thefirst generation, as tame as domestic animals? [See account ofChillingham White Cattle, p. 140.]

For a more complete satisfaction of his thought, the reader is referredto Mr. Swainson's volume "On the Natural History and Classification ofQuadrupeds," p. 274, where he has given us an incoherent abstract ofColonel Smith's article on theBovinæ, without, however, making theleast attempt to verify the statements there recorded. The descriptionsand characteristics are[Pg 181] avowedly Colonel Smith's; but, in justice tothe latter gentleman, it must be added, that the disquisitions on thecircular succession of forms, and the analogical relations, are entirelyMr. Swainson's.

ON SPECIES AND VARIETY.

What constitutes a species? And how far do the limits of varietiesextend? Cuvier, who is, perhaps, the best authority we can have uponthis subject, in defining a species, says:—A species comprehends allthe individuals which descend from each other or from a commonparentage, and those which resemble them as much as they do each other.Thus, the different races which they have generated from them areconsidered as varieties but of one species. Our observations, therefore,respecting the differences between the ancestors and the descendants,are the only rules by which we can judge on this subject; all otherconsiderations being merely hypothetical, and destitute of proof. Takingthe wordvariety in this limited sense, we observe that thedifferences which constitute this variety depend upon determinatecircumstances, and that their extent increases in proportion to theintensity of the circumstances which occasion them.

Upon these principles it is obvious, that the most superficialcharacters are the most variable. Thus colour depends much upon light;thickness of hair upon heat;[Pg 182] size upon abundance of food, &c. In wildanimals, however, these varieties are greatly limited by the naturalhabits of the animal, which does not willingly migrate from the placeswhere it finds, in sufficient quantity, what is necessary for thesupport of its species, and does not even extend its haunts to any greatdistances, unless it also finds all these circumstances conjoined. Thus,although the Wolf and the Fox inhabit all the climates from the torridto the frigid zone, we hardly find any other differences among them,through the whole of that vast space, than a little more or less beautyin their furs. The more savage animals, especially the carnivorous,being confined within narrower limits, vary still less; and the onlydifference between the Hyæna of Persia and that of Morocco, consists ina thicker or a thinner mane.

Wild animals which subsist upon herbage, feel the influence of climate alittle more extensively, because there is added to it the influence offood, both in regard to its abundance and its quality. Thus theElephants of one forest are larger than those of another; their tusksalso grow somewhat longer in places where their food may happen to bemore favorable for the production of the substance of ivory. The samemay take place in regard to the horns of Stags and Rein-deer. Besides,the species of herbivorous animals, in their wild state, seem morerestrained from migrating and dispersing than the carnivorous species,being influenced both by climate, and by the kind of nourishment whichthey need.

We never see, in a wild state, intermediate productions between the Hareand the Rabbit, between the Stag and the Doe, or between the Martin andthe Weasel. Human artifice contrives to produce all these[Pg 183] intermixturesof which the various species are susceptible, but which they would neverproduce if left to themselves.

The degrees of these variations are proportional to the intensity of thecauses that produce them, namely, the slavery or subjection under whichthese animals are to man. They do not proceed far in half-domesticatedspecies.

In the domesticated herbivorous quadrupeds, which man transports intoall kinds of climates, and subjects to various kinds of management, bothin regard to labour and nourishment, he procures certainly moreconsiderable variations, but still they are all merely superficial:greater or less size; longer or shorter horns, or even the want of theseentirely; a hump of fat, larger or smaller, on the shoulder; these formthe chief differences among particular races of theBos Taurus, ordomestic Black Cattle; and these differences continue long in suchbreeds as have been transported to great distances from the countries inwhich they were originally produced, when proper care is taken toprevent crossing.

Nature appears also to have guarded against the alterations of specieswhich might proceed from mixture of breeds, by influencing the variousspecies of animals with mutual aversion. Hence all the cunning and allthe force that man is able to exert is necessary to accomplish suchunions, even between species that have the nearest resemblance. And whenthe mule-breeds that are thus produced by these forced conjunctionshappen to be fruitful, which is seldom the case, this fecundity nevercontinues beyond a few generations, and would not probably proceed sofar, without a continuance of the same causes which excited it atfirst.[Pg 184]

This being the case, it is quite clear that the fact of two animalsproducing an intermediate race is no proof whatever of their specificidentity; for it is well known, and has been already alluded to, thatseveral animals. Birds as well as Mammalia, produce offspring, and arenevertheless distinct, both as it regards anatomical structure andexternal form.

Neither does it constitute the species identical if either or both thehybrids be even capable of fruitful intercourse with the original orparent species. Hamilton Smith goes so far as to say, that "if it evenwere proved that a prolific intermediate race exist, produced by theintermixture of both, it would not fully determine that both form onlyone original species: what forms a species, and what a variety, is asyet far from being well understood."

It is, however, pretty generally agreed, that animals are of the samespecies, that is to say, have been derived from one common stock, whentheir offspring have the power,inter se, of indefinitely continuingtheir kind; and conversely, that animals of distinct species, ordescendants of stocks originally different, cannot produce a mixed racewhich shall possess the capability of perpetuating itself.

To conclude, it must be obvious, that permanent anatomical differencesare the only true criteria of distinctions of species.[Pg 185]

THE BANTENG OF JAVA.

Bos Bantinger, or Bantiger. Bos Sondaicus?

The above figure was drawn from a stuffed specimen in the BritishMuseum. In colour, shape, and texture of horns, and apparent want ofdewlap, it bears some resemblance to the Gaur; but in the skeleton ofthe Gaur the sacrum consists offive vertebræ, and the tail ofnineteen; while in the skeleton of the Banteng, the sacrum consists ofbutfour vertebræ, and the tail ofeighteen.[Pg 186]

BRITISH DOMESTIC CATTLE.

It does not come within the scope of the present work to give thevarieties of Domestic Cattle; for these the reader is referred to themany excellent works already published on the subject. It will besufficient in this place to notice a few interesting facts—statistical,anecdotal, &c.—in relation to their domestic history.

INFLUENCE OF COLOUR IN BREEDING.

The following remarkable fact, respecting the colour of the offspringbeing influenced by that of the external objects surrounding the Cow atthe time of copulation, is stated by John Boswell, of Balmuto andKingcaussie, in an essay upon the breeding of Live Stock, communicatedto the Highland Society in 1825. He says:—"One of the most intelligentbreeders I have ever met with in Scotland, Mr. Mustard, an extensivefarmer on Sir James Carnegie's Estate in Angus, told me a singular fact,with regard to what I have now stated. One of his cows happened to comeinto season while pasturing on a field which was bounded by that of oneof his neighbours, out of which field an Ox jumped, and went with theCow, until she was brought home to the Bull. The Ox was white with blackspots, and horned. Mr. Mustard had not a horned beast in his possession,nor one with any white on it. Nevertheless, the produce of the followingspring was a black and white calf,[Pg 187]with horns." Another fact, whichshows the great care required in keeping pure this breed—(the Angusdoddies)—is related of the Keillor Stock, where, two different seasons,a dairy cow of the Ayrshire breed, red and white, was allowed to pasturewith the black doddies. In the first experiment, from pure black Bullsand Cows, there appearedthree red and white calves; and on the secondtrial,two of the calves were of mixed colours. Since that time carehas been taken to have almost every animal on the farm, down to the Pigsand Poultry of a black colour.

INFLUENCE OF THE MALE IN BREEDING.

An ordinary Cow, and a Bull without horns, will produce a calfresembling the male in appearance and character, without horns andwithout that particular prominence of the transverse apophysis of thefrontal bone. The milk of the female from this cross, also, proves theinfluence of the male: it has the peculiar qualities of the hornlessbreed—less abundant, containing less whey, but more cream and curd.

GENERATIVE PRECOCITY.

A Mr. Gordon relates the following singular instance of fecundity andearly maturity in the Aberdeen Cattle. "On the 25th of Sept., 1805, acalf of five months old, of the small Aberdeenshire breed, happening tobe put into an enclosure among other Cattle, admitted a male that wasonly one year old. In the month of June following, at the age offourteen months, she brought forth a very fine calf, and in the Summerof 1807, another equally good. The first calf, after working in[Pg 188] theWinter, Spring, and Summer of 1809, was killed in January, 1810, andweighed 6cwt. 3qrs. 16lb. The second was killed December 16,1810, aged three years six months, and weighed exactly 7cwt.; and onDec. 30, 1807, the mother, after having brought up these calves, waskilled at the age of two years and eight months, and weighed 4cwt. 1qr. the four quarters, sinking the offal."

MILK.

Cows are usually milked three times a day over the greatest part ofScotland, from the time of calving till the milk begins to dry up duringthe Winter season, when the Cows are for the most part in calf; nor isit found that they suffer by that practice in any degree: and it is thegeneral opinion of all who adopt it, that nearly one third more milk isthus obtained than if they were milked only twice.

A Cow, mentioned by Dr. Anderson in his 'Recreations,' (vol. v, p. 309,)was milked three times a day for ten years running, during the space ofnine months, at least, every year; and was never seen, during all thatperiod, but in very excellent order, although she had no other feedingthan was given to the rest of the Cows, some of which were very lowevery winter, when they gave no milk at all.

A farmer of the name of Watkinson had a Cow that, for seventeen years,gave him from ten to twenty quarts of milk every day; was in moderatecondition when taken up, six months in fattening, and being then twentyyears old, was sold for more than £18. Mr. John Holt, of Walton, inLancashire, had a healthy Cow-calf presented[Pg 189] to him, whose dam was inher thirty-second year, and could not be said to have been properly outof milk for the preceding fifteen years.

Yorkshire Cows, which are those chiefly used in the London Dairies, givea very great quantity of milk. It is by no means uncommon for them, inthe beginning of the Summer, to yield thirty quarts a day; there arerare instances of giving thirty-six quarts; but the average measure maybe estimated at twenty-two or twenty-four quarts.

BUTTER.

The Alderney Cow, considering its voracious appetite, yields very littlemilk; that milk, however, is of an extraordinary excellent quality, andgives more butter than can be obtained from the milk of any other cow.John Lawrence states that an Alderney Cow that had strayed[Pg 190] on thepremises of a friend of his, and remained there three weeks, made 19lbs. of butter each week; and the fact was held so extraordinary, as tobe thought worthy of a memorandum in the parish books. The milk of theAlderney Cow fits her for the situation in which she is usually placed,and where the excellence of the article is regarded, and not theexpense.

Lord Hampden, of Glynde, had a cow which in the height of the seasonyielded ten pounds of butter and twelve pounds of cheese every week, andyet her quantity of milk rarely exceeded five gallons per day. The nextyear the same cow gave nine pounds and a half of butter per week forseveral weeks, and then for the rest of the summer between eight andnine pounds per week; and until the hard frost set in, seven pounds; andfour pounds per week during the frost. Yet as a proof of the quality ofthe milk, she at no time gave more than five gallons in the day. To thismay be added that, "four or five years before, the same person had afine black Sussex Cow from Lord Gage, which also gave, in the height ofthe season, five gallons per day, but no more than five pounds of butterwere ever made from it." This is accounted for in a singular way; forthere is a common opinion in the east of Sussex, that "the milk of ablack cow never gives so much butter as that of a red one."

MR. YOUATT'S PHILOSOPHY OF RABIES, OR MADNESS.

In treating of Rabies, Youatt says:—"When a rabid or mad dog iswandering about, labouring under an irrepressible disposition to bite,he seeks out first of all his own species; but if his road lies by aherd of cattle, he[Pg 191] will attack the nearest to him; and if he meet withmuch resistance, he will set upon the whole herd, and bite as many as hecan.... If the disease is to appear at all, it will be about theexpiration of thefifth week, although there will be no absolutesecurity in less than the double number of months," After making theseremarks, our author reasons himself into the sapient conclusion, thatthe poison in all rabid animals resides in the saliva, and does notaffect any other secretion. "The knowledge that the virus is confined tothe saliva," he opines, "will settle a matter that has been the cause ofconsiderable uneasiness. A cow has been observed to be ailing for a dayor two, but she has been milked as usual; her milk has been mingled withthe rest, and has been used for domestic purposes, as heretofore. She isat length discovered to be rabid. Is the family safe? Can the milk of arabid cow be drunk with impunity? Yes, perfectly so, for the poison isconfined to the saliva. The livers of hundreds of rabid dogs have beeneaten in days of ignorance, dressed in all manners of ways, but usuallyfried as nicely as possible, as a preventive against madness. Somemiscreants have sent the flesh of rabid cattle to the market, andithas been eaten without harm; and so, although not very pleasant tothink about,the milk of the rabid cow may be drunk without theslightest danger."

Is it, indeed, possible for any of the secretions of an animal to be ina healthy state, and fit for human food, after it has had the virus of arabid dog circulating in its system for at leastfive weeks?Furthermore, is it consistent in Mr. Youatt to call thosemiscreantswho send the flesh of rabid cattle to market, when he acknowledges,[Pg 192] inthe same breathy that it can be eaten without harm?

According to Mr. Youatt's philosophy, a cow in a rabid state is actuallyas good as a cow in a healthy state; for its milk may be drunk withimpunity—the family isperfectly safe who uses it for domesticpurposes; and, moreover,the flesh of rabid cattle may be eaten withoutharm. What more can be predicated of cattle in the purest state ofhealth?

STATISTICS.

The number of cattle in Great Britain was estimated by Youatt (1838) atupwards of eight millions. 160,000 head of cattle are annually sold inSmithfield alone, without including calves, or thedead market, i.e.,the carcases, sent up from various parts of the country. 1,200,000sheep, 36,000 pigs, and 18,000 calves, are also sent to Smithfield inthe course of a year.

A tenth part of the sheep and lambs die annually of disease (more than4,000,000 perished by the rot alone in the winter of 1829-30), and atleast a fifteenth part of the neat cattle are destroyed by inflammatoryfever and milk fever, red water, hoose, and diarrhœa.

If a tithe of the sheep and lambs, and a fifteenth of the neat cattledie of disease, what proportion areslaughtered and sent to market inthe earlier stages of disease; and, in fact, in all the stagesantecedent to those which are the immediate cause of death?

THE END.

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	Ft.	In.
From the nose to the insertion of the tail	8	6
Height at the shoulder	6	0
" at the croup	5	0
Length of the head	2	1

	Ft.	In.
Length from the nose to the insertion of the tail	9	10
Height at the withers	5	6
" at the rump	4	11
Length of head	1	8
" of tail	3	0

	Ft.	In.
From tip of nose to end of tail	9	2
" tip of hoof of fore foot to top of the rising of back	4	1-1/2
Girth of largest part of abdomen	5	7
From the tip of the hoof of the hind leg to the highest part of the rump	4	0-1/2
" the tip of forehead to end of nose	1	9
Girth of head over the angle of the jaws	2	11-1/2
Between tips of horns	1	8-1/2
Length of horn, externally	0	8-1/2
Girth of horn at largest part	1	1

	Ft.	In.
From nose to summit of head	1	6
Between roots of horns	0	10
From horns to shoulder	3	3
From shoulder to insertion of tail	4	3
Height at shoulder	4	9
Height at loins	4	4
Depth of chest	2	9
Circumference of chest	6	7
Circumference at loins	5	10
Length of horns	1	2
Length of ears	0	10

	Inches.
Distance from tip to tip (a toa)	39
Length of horn (a tob)	16
Circumference of horn at base	17
Distance of bases (b tob)	11
Length of skull (c toc)	19
Fig.d, section of the horn, at the base.

	Ft.	In.
Height from the hoof to the withers	5	11-3/4
Length from nose to end of tail	11	11-3/4

	Ft.	In.
Length from nose to insertion of tail, measuring over the forehead and along the back	11	0
Height at the highest part of the dorsal ridge	5	7-1/2
Height at the croup	5	4
Length of the tail	3	1

	Ft.	In.
The horna, from tip to base, along the outer curve	6	6
The hornb ditto ditto	6	3
Circumference at the base of horna	1	5
Ditto ditto of hornb	1	6 [A]

	Ft.	In.
Length of each round the outer curve	3	10-1/2
Distance between the tips	3	4
Circumference at the base	1	3
Distance between the bases at the forehead	0	3-1/2

	NUMBER OF VERTEBRÆ.
	Cerv.	Dors.	Lumb.	Sac.	Caud.	Total.
In the Zebu	7	13	6	4	18	=	48
In the Common Ox	7	13	6	5	21	=	52

	Periods
American Bison.	270 days.—Zool. Proc., 1849.
European Bison.	Between 9 and 10 months.

Gayal (Domestic)	Over 10 months

Gyall	11 months

Indian Buffalo	10 months 10 days.

Gaur	12 months
Domestic Ox.	270 days

Manilla Buffalo.	340 days

Arnee	12 months
Cape Buffalo	12 months

Zebu, or Brahmin Cow	300 days

Musk Ox	9 months

Buffalo—Bos Bubalus	Asia, North Africa, and South Europe.
Manilla Buffalo	Island of Manilla.
Condore Buffalo	Island of Pulo Condore.
Cape Buffalo	South Africa.
Pegasse	Congo, Angola, Central Africa.
Arnee	India and China.
Gaur	India.
American Bison	North America.
Aurochs	Lithuania.

Yak	Tartary and Hindustan.

Musk Ox	North America.
Zamouse, or Bush Cow	Gambia, Sierra Leone.
Banteng	Island of Java.
Gyall	India.

Gayal	India.
Sanga, or Galla Ox	Abyssinia.
Zebu—Brahmin Ox	Southern Asia, Eastern Africa.
Domestic Ox	Generally diffused.

GenusBOS—the Natural Types.
1.Bos Scoticus.	Fierce, untameable.	Feræ.	Raptores.
2. ——Taurus.	Pre-eminently typical.	Primates.	Incessores.
3. ——Dermaceros.	Appendages on the head greatly developed	Ungulata.	Rasores.
4. ——Pusio.	Stature remarkably small.	Glires.	Grallatores.
5. ——Thersites.	Fore-part of the shoulders elevated	Cetacea.	Natatores.

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The Project Gutenberg eBook ofDelineations of the Ox Tribe: The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes.

DELINEATIONS

OF

THE OX TRIBE.

DELINEATIONS

OF

THE OX TRIBE;

OR,

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF

BULLS, BISONS, AND BUFFALOES.

EXHIBITING

ALL THE KNOWN SPECIES

AND THE MORE REMARKABLE VARIETIES

OF

THE GENUS BOS.

BY GEORGE VASEY.

ILLUSTRATED BY 72 ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD, BY THE AUTHOR.

C. AND J. ADLARD, PRINTERS, BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.

PREFACE.

ADDENDUM.

PENNANT—BUFFON—GOLDSMITH—BEWICK—BINGLEY.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.

(The Engravings not otherwise acknowledged are from originalDrawings.)

INTRODUCTION.

THE OX TRIBE

OR

Genus BOS,

THE AMERICAN BISON.

Bos Americanus.

THE AUROCHS, OR EUROPEAN BISON.

Bos Bison.

THE YAK, OR SOORA-GOY.

Bos Grunniens.

THE GYALL, (Bos Frontalis of Lambert;)

THE GAYAL, (Bos Gavæus of Colebrooke;)

THE JUNGLY GAU, (Bos Sylhetanus of F. Cuvier.)

THE GYALL.

"Bos Frontalis.

Mr. Macrae's Account.

THE GAYAL.

THE TAME OR DOMESTIC GAYAL.

THE JUNGLY GAU.

Bos Sylhetanus. (Cuv.)

THE BUFFALO.

THE ITALIAN BUFFALO.

Bos Bubalus.

The Manilla Buffalo.

Bos Bubalis?

PULO CONDORE BUFFALO.

Bos Bubalus?

THE CAPE BUFFALO.

Bos Caffer.

THE PEGASSE.

Bos Pegasus.

THE GAUR, OR GOUR.

Bos Gaurus.

THE ARNEE, OR ARNA.

FOOTNOTES:

THE ZAMOUSE, OR BUSH COW.

Bos Brachyceros.

THE MUSK OX.

Bos Moschatus.

THE SANGA, OR GALLA OX.

(See Frontispiece). Bos ——?

FOOTNOTES:

INDIAN DOMESTIC CATTLE.

Bos ——?

THE ZEBU, OR BRAHMIN OX.—(Var. α.)

AFRICAN AND OTHER VARIETIES.

LOOSE-HORNED OX.

THE BOURY.

THE TINIAN OX.

THE BORNOU OX,

THE DOMESTIC OXEN OF THE HOTTENTOTS, CALLED BACKELEYS, BACKELEYERS, ORBAKELY-OSSE.

Bos ——?

AFRICAN BULL.

FOOTNOTES:

CHILLINGHAM WHITE CATTLE.