TIIE ZOOLOGT OF BRITISH INDIA. 11 



" Ceylou" usually attributed to T. Stanley anus is without doubt 

 erroneous. 



We now come to the Bovidse, the last and most important family 

 of Euminantia, both as regards the number of its species, the size of 

 many of them, and their importance to carnivorous Man, as affording 

 him his principal sustenance. The Zebu or Bos indicus of Linnseus 

 is a theoretical name for the species whence the numerous races of 

 the humped cattle of Southern Asia and Africa were derived. 

 Mr. Blyth considers it may have been originally derived from Africa. 

 However this may be, certain it is that it is now unknown in the 

 originally wild state, just as is the case with Bos tauriis and Equus 

 cahallus, though " feral herds" of the Zebu are said to exist in Ceylon 

 and in many parts of India. On the other hand, the Indian penin- 

 sula possesses a fine wild Bos in the Gaour or " Bison" of Indian 

 sportsmen, (B. gaurus) which is found in suitable districts throughout 

 the country, extending into Burmah and the Indo-Chinese region. 

 The G-ayal {Bos frontalis) is a second distinct Indian species, confined, 

 however, to the hill-regions east of the Brahmaputra, and extending 

 thence northwards to the Subhimalayan districts and southwards 

 into the Tenasserim provinces. Unlike the Gaour the Gayal has 

 become a quasi-domestic animal, although it appears only occasion- 

 ally to breed in captivity. The Buffalo {Buhalus hiiffalus) is also 

 a primeval inhabitant of the Subhimalayan forests, but although 

 met with in a w^ld state in other suitable localities — the great 

 swampy jungles of India — is considered by Mr. Blyth to have been 

 introduced there. 



The Antelopine series which we next encounter is, as is well 

 known, African jpar excellence, some 60 or 70 species of this group 

 being met with in various parts of the Ethiopian Eegion. In 

 India, however, there are several animals, which, though mostly 

 distinct from the African types, clearly belong to difierent parts 

 of the same series. These are the Nylghai {Bortax picta) — the 

 Pour-horned Antelope, Tetracerus quadricornis, and the ^^'S>Tn.(Antilope 

 hezartica) aU inhabitants of the peninsula of India — as is likewise the 

 Gazella lennettii — the " Eavine Deer" of Indian sportsmen, a 

 straggling outlier of the African genus Gazella. The Mountain- 

 Antelopes, which form the transition between the Antelopinse and 

 the goats and sheep are, on the other hand, a group distributed 

 over the northern regions of the two Hemispheres of which the well- 



