THE INDIAN BISON. 309 



the smaller herd bull, unless it be that their horns being blunt and 

 broken are not a match for the sharp points of the horn of the younger 

 and lighter bull, or it may be that they find in solitude a calm unattain- 

 able in the bosom of their families. I have never found a solitary 

 bull bison join a herd when tracking him, though aged buffalo 

 bulls often do. The bisou is known among natives throughout the 

 Central Provinces as the Or nir. Capt. Forsyth says that the name 

 "Gour" is unknown in Central India, and that he is call Bhinsa or 

 Bun Bhinsa. This is certainly contrary to my experience, and I have 

 shot in the same jungles as Forsyth did, I have heard him sometimes 

 called Bun Bhins, but not often. The latter term is used by the natives 

 for buffalo. It is pronounced through the nose, Bun Bise. The 

 bison, like all the true ruminants, chews the cud by a circular motion 

 of the jaws from right to left or from left to right, and not alter- 

 nately from left to right and then right to left. If you get close 

 enough you can see the cud passing up his throat into his mouth to 

 be chewed in the shape of a ball just as you can in a common cow. 

 Ihe camel chews the cud with alternate bites from left to right 

 and then right to left. I believe the rest of the camel tribe do the 

 same. I intended to have looked at the llama the last time I was 

 in the London Zoological Gardens to see, but my companion, no 

 less a personage than our Chief Magistrate, Mr. C. P. Cooper, 

 displayed no interest in such details, and insisted on going off to 

 lunch and chewing the cud on his own account. Bison have never 

 been reared in captivity. If caught as calves they soon die. There 

 is an animal called the Gayal or Mifchun (Gavceus frontalis) found to 

 the east of the Brahmapootra, that is stated by Jerdon and other 

 authorities to be easily domesticated. There is a large bull in the 

 London Zoological Gardens, the only one I have seen ; it is very like 

 the bison and might be easily mistaken for one. The only difference 

 I could see was that the horns grew out almost straight with little 

 curve, and were rather flatter in shape. The one in London is an 

 old bull, quite black. The colour, white stockings, dorsal ridge, 

 head, &c, are exactly like the bison. His hoofs, owing to not 

 getting sufficient exercise to wear down the new growth, are much 

 mis-shapen. I do not think there is any fear of bison being 

 exterminated. Shooting the old bulls does no harm. The young 

 bulls should be spared, as it takes time to grow a good head. 

 When you first begin shooting them, you will probably shoot a 

 cow or two, as it is difficult for an inexperienced eye to distinguish 



