d^ Mr Breton aii the Topo^raphij^ Animals, ^c. 



Paul the haunts of the Gaour seem to be in the deepest jungles 

 in the vallies, probably from the verdure being there more 

 abundant than in the plains. I have, however, seen a few 

 grazing singly on the plains, as if strayed from herds ; and in 

 this situation they appear very timid, for they would not allow 

 any thing to approach them within musket shot, but scamper- 

 ed off into the jungles the moment they descried people in pur- 

 suit of them. The natives attach to this animal great fierce- 

 ness ; for when they are wounded and brought to bay, they 

 will attack any thing that approaches them. 



" The Gaour, if it could be domesticated, would, from its size, 

 structure, and activity, form the finest draught cattle in India. 

 They are, however, so wild and ferocious, that it is very diffi- 

 cult to catch them or their young ; and when the latter are ac- 

 cidentally caught, they cannot, from some unaccountable cause, 

 be reared. The natives declared that every one of the calves 

 that had been taken died a few months after being separated 

 from their dams. In the latter end of 1 822 a Gaour calf, more 

 than quarter grown, was caught at Jushpore, bordering on 

 Surgoojah, and it was suckled by a tame buffalo for about a 

 month, when it was sent with the buffalo by the Rajah to 

 Lieutenant Syers at Hazareebagh. I saw the calf on its arri- 

 val, and am confident it was the Gaour. It was as tame as if 

 it had not been born of wild parents. For a few days after its 

 arrival at Hazareebagh, it appeared to be well and healthy ; 

 it afterwards began to loathe its food, gradually drooped, and 

 died of looseness of the bowels. 



'* Notwithstanding these failures, there is ground for be- 

 lieving that the Gaour might be reared and domesticated if 

 proper means were resorted to ; and with reference to the pro- 

 bable utihty of these animals as draught and carriage cattle, 

 and in yielding abundance of milk, over those of the bovine 

 tribe in Hindostan, it would probably repay any one who 

 could spare time and a little expense in the pursuit, to try the 

 experiment of bringing into «ise probably the noblest species of 

 the bos tribe, evidently designed by nature for something more 

 than as mere beasts of the chase. 



" Although Myn Paut seems to be the principal abode of 

 the Gaour, a few are to be met with in the other districts in the 



