244 BISONS' HORNS. 



somewhat short .and square for the size of the animal, particularly in the 

 bulls. The eye is a peculiar feature, the pupil being a pale slaty blue and 

 very large, which gives a solemn appearance to the animal when at rest. 

 The ears are broad, and are like those of the deer tribe rather than the 

 Bovidce. The neck is short, heavy, and immensely powerful. 



The bison has no hump above the level of the dorsal ridge, but there is 

 an exuberance of flesh in the bulls immediately over the shoulders. The 

 dorsal ridge runs with a slight rise backwards to about the middle of the 

 back, and there ends abruptly with a drop of nearly five inches in largo 

 animals. The quarters are plump and the tail somewhat short. 



The largest bulls stand eighteen hands (six feet) at the shoulder, and 

 according to Elliot, as quoted by Jerdon, even six feet one and a half inch. 

 I have never myself shot them above eighteen hands fair vertical measure- 

 ment. The animal when standing certainly does not look its height. The 

 hide of old bulls is frequently almost devoid of hair on the quarters, and 

 after a sharp hunt gives out an oily sweat. In this peculiarity the bison 

 differs from domestic cattle, which never sweat under any exertion. 



The cow is considerably lighter in make and colour than the bull, and 

 is more active. The horns are more slender and upright, with more inward 

 curvature, and the frontal ridge is scarcely perceptible. In young animals 

 the horns are smooth and polished ; in old bulls they are rugged and in- 

 dented at the base, and massive and worn at the points. 



In old bulls the vertical form of the cows' and younger bulls' horns is 

 replaced by a much more horizontal growth. The largest bull that I have 

 shot had horns which measured as follows : — 



Ft. In. 

 From tip to tip, round the outer edge and across the forehead, . .62 



Across the sweep, . . . • . . 33 



Circumference of horn at base, well clear of forehead, . . . 19 



Between tips, . . . . . . . 19 



Horns are seldom found larger than the above in all their dimensions. 



The bison's appearance is a strange admixture of that of the genera Bos 

 and Buhalus. In Canarese, and, in some localities, in Hindoostanee, the bison 

 is called the jungle-buffalo. The old bulls with almost hairless hides, and 

 both sexes as to their white foreheads and stockings, and the peculiar habit 

 of holding their noses almost horizontally when staring at any strange object, 

 closely resemble the buffalo. Their legs, too, are short, and their carcasses 

 are heavy, which further assists the likeness. I found some difficulty in 

 getting my Mussulman shikaries to eat bison at first, though their throats 

 were duly cut, as they regarded them as buffaloes, which many Mussulmans 



