Game Animals of India, etc. 



They render it practically certain that the latter is not 

 specifically distinct from the gaur ; and it is significant 

 in this connection that the one supposed specimen of a 

 wild gaur was killed in Tenasserim. 



In the young seladang referred to above, figured 

 in plate xlix. of the Zoological Society's Proceedings 

 for 1890, the development of the intercornual ridge 

 appears to be slight in the front view, but is more 

 marked in the profile sketch ; possibly the latter may 

 have been drawn from an Indian gaur. 



The seladang may be named Bos gaurus huhbacki ; 

 a specimen presented by Mr. Hubback to the British 

 Museum being taken as the type. 



THE GAYAL, OR MITHAN 



{Bos \_Bibos'] frontalis) 



Native Names. — Gayal^ or perhaps preferably Gaial^ 

 Hindustani ; Mithan^ Bunerea-goru^ and Gavi or 

 Gabi^ Assamese and in Chittagong ; Sandung^ 

 Manipuri ; She/ OR Shio of the Kukis ; Jhongnua 

 OF THE MuGHis ; Bui-sang and Hui of the Naga 

 Tribes ; Phu of the Akas ; Siba of the Daphla 

 Hill Tribes ; Nuni and Tsaine, Burmese. 



(Plate ii, figs. 2, 2a) 



There has been much discussion as to whether the 

 gayal, or mithan, is a truly wild animal, or only a 

 domesticated breed. If it be the former, there can be 

 no question as to its right to be regarded as a distinct 

 species, or race. If, as seems more likely, it is nothing 

 more than a domesticated breed, then it is probably an 

 artificial derivative from the gaur. 



Although a magnificently built animal, the bull 

 gayal never attains the same dimensions as the gaur, 



64 



