INDIAN WILD CATTLE. 191 



«'The appearance of any one near the pit always caused a furious demon- 

 stration on the part of the gaur, who dug big caves in the side of the pit with 

 his horns, and thus an approach to the edge was rendered dangerous. In 

 ten days' time he had become somewhat tame. He tossed about the grass 

 thrown in to him, and trampled it into the mnd, eating but a small quantity, 

 Eis only drink was water poured into the pit, and which collected in the 

 holes he had made in the mud with his feet. Matters were very little 

 improved by having bundles of grass lowered by a long piece of cane fastened 

 round, for he charged them furiously, and got a lot of the grass on the 

 ground only to trample it into the mud, 



" By degrees he began to eat more and to throw less about. Water was a 

 great difficulty ; any attempt, too, at lowering a bucket to him was futile, 

 and only ended in the bucket being flattened out. 



" It became imperative therefore to get him out of the pit. To attain 

 this end a stockade, about 30 feet square, was made round the pit 

 consisting of stout poles, 15 feet high at the lower, and 10 feet high on 

 the higher part of the ground. They were each sunk about 3 feet in the 

 ground, 18 inches apart, and lashed together with cross-sticks and 

 fibre, and formed an almost solid wall. A sheet-iron trough was fixed in 

 one corner. When complete, large quantities of brushwood, ferns, and grass 

 were thrown into the pic, until by degrees it became half full and the gaur 

 was enabled to jump out. His first act was to charge the corner whence he 

 was being watched, but the only harm done was to himself, his frontal ridge 

 being slightly cut. His attention was then attracted by the water-trough 

 which he knocked about considerably, but finding the water he took one good 

 long drink before finally knocking it to pieces. During his examination cf 

 his new quarters he once more fell into the pit, and this enabled us to repair 

 damages ; but before they were quite completed he jumped out again and 

 caused a general stampede. Having twice hurt his head against the stockade 

 he never again made any attempt to test its strength. The sheet-iron trough 

 seemed to annoy him more than anything else, and was soon rendered useless, 

 A three-cornered wooden trough was then inserted in a corner and protected 

 by stout poles across the corner of the stockade, and this having been satis- 

 factorily arranged the gaur soon became comparatively tame. He allowed 

 the measurements of his horns to be accurately taken, through a window 

 left in the stockade, and very fine horns they were too, measuring 34^ inches 

 across from outside to outside of sweep. Although the pit was filled up 

 level with the ground, his previous experience led him to conclude that it 

 was dangerous and he never crossed it. The result was that the narrow 

 space between the pit and the stockade became ploughed up, and he was 

 up to his hocks in mud. It therefore became necessary to enlarge the 

 enclosure for about 100 yards in length, taking a bit of jungle in for 

 shelter and a small ravine which would hold water, A small shed was 

 erected with sliding bars on the outside and inside with a view of introducing 



