64 THE OX TRIBE. 



from the occasional continuance of this practice, as he 

 grows up, the attachment of the Gayal to his native village 

 becomes so strong, that when the Cucis migrate from it, 

 they are obliged to set fire to the huts which they are 

 about to leave, lest their Gayals should return thither 

 from their new place of residence, before they become 

 equally attached to it, as to the former, through the same 

 means. 



" The wild Gayal sometimes steals out from the forest 

 in the night, and feeds in the rice fields bordering on 

 the hills. The Cucis give no grain to their cattle. With 

 us (at Chatgaon) the tame Gayals feed on Calai (pha- 

 seolus max)', but as our hills abound with shrubs, it has 

 not been remarked what particular kind of grass they 

 prefer. 



" The Hindus in this province will not kill the Gabay 

 (or Gayal) which they hold in equal veneration with the 

 cow. But the As'l Gayal, or Selo'i, they hunt and kill, 

 as they do the wild Buffalo. The animal here alluded to 

 is another species of Gayal found wild in the hills of 

 Chatgaon. He has never been domesticated, and is in 

 appearance and disposition very different from the common 

 Gayal which has just been described. The natives call 

 him the As'l Gayal, in centra-distinction to the Gabay. 

 The Cucis distinguish him by the name of Seloi ; and the 

 Mugs and Burmas by that of P'hanj, and they consider 

 him, next to the tiger, the most dangerous and fiercest 

 animal of their forests." 



Mr. Elliot, in writing from Tipura, says, " I have 

 some Gayals at Munnamutty, and from their mode of 

 feeding I presume that they keep on the skirts of the 

 vallies, to enable them to feed on the sides of the 



