INDIAN CATTLE. 79 



milkers, and the Kangayen variety ^the Coimbatore), are deserving 

 of mention. 



In the Bombay Presidency the Guzeratis first demand consi- 

 deration. They are large, slow, good-tempered, noble in appearance, 

 and good workers in plough or along country roads. Their form of 

 horn is characteristic and regular, the twist is outwards then 

 upwards, and having a final turn at the tip, and for their medium 

 length the horns are stout. They are justly considered by Wallace to 

 be " decidedly the finest of all large cattle of the North-West of 

 India, and only equalled by the Kistna bullocks of the South." Nariad 

 may be taken as the centre of the breed. Cattle of this kind are 

 constantly seen in the Bombay streets in large carts, but they are 

 slow in the extreme, are considered too soft of foot for street work, 

 and rather more frequently unsound than the Mysore or local 

 country breed. This is a serious matter which ought to be care- 

 fully looked into by cattle breeders. The idea may be erroneous, 

 but there is somewhat a general impression that the breed is degene- 

 rating. The influence of the Guzeratis extends into Kathiawar, 

 northwards into Rajputana, and eastwards to the Ghauts. Outlying 

 sub-breeds are the Kankreji and Malwi, the former occurring on 

 the N.-E. of Guzerat, the latter in the Satpuras. I observe that the 

 Mhow Heavy Field Battery bullocks are recorded as principally 

 Malwis. In Kathiawar the most characteristic animals are the Gir 

 or Junagadh, which have secured such a reputation for milk-produc- 

 ing powers, that they are the principal milch cattle of Western India. 

 They are sometimes called Suratis, but were originally brought from 

 Kathiawar, and Wallace has recorded a tradition that even thither 

 they were imported from the West. He details arguments in sup- 

 port of this view, which seems feasible, for certainly in shape of 

 front and horns the Kathiawaris are remarkably different from other 

 Indian cattle. In Sind is a good breed of working cattle, short- 

 horned, and generally of a white colour ; the cows are said to be good 

 milkers ; the bullocks are good-tempered, but slow in work. 



In some part of the Bombay Presidency the cattle have attained 

 a fair amount of definiteness of breed, although as varieties they are 

 not so well-known as the Guzerati. Thus the Dangis or Hill breed 

 seen near Igatpuri, and the well-bred race of cattle developed at 



