THE SANGA, OR GALLA OX. 121 



So far Mr. Bruce. Mr. Salt, who visited Abyssinia 

 some years afterwards, gives a somewhat different account. 

 He says : " Here [i. e. at Gibba], for the first time, I was 

 gratified by the sight of the Galla Oxen, or Sanga, cele- 

 brated throughout Abyssinia for the remarkable size of its 

 horns. Three of these animals were grazing among the 

 other cattle in perfect health, which circumstance, together 

 with the testimony of the natives, ' that the size of the 

 horns is in no instance occasioned by disease/ completely 

 refutes the fanciful theory given by Mr. Bruce respecting 

 this creature. It appears by the papers annexed to the 

 last edition of Mr. Bruce' s work, that he never met with 

 the Sanga; but that he made many attempts to procure 

 specimens of the horns, through Yanni, a Greek, residing 

 at Adowa. This old man very correctly speaks of them* 

 in his letters, as being only brought by the Cafilas from 

 Antalo ; and I have now ascertained that they are sent to 

 this country as valuable presents, by the chiefs of the 

 Galla, whose tribes are spread to the southward of Enderta. 

 So far, then, as to the description of the horns, and the 

 purposes to which they are applied by the Abyssinians, 

 Mr. Bruce' s statements may be considered as correct ; but 

 with respect to 'the disease which occasions their size, 

 probably derived from their pasture and climate/ ' the care 

 taken of them to encourage this disease/ ' the emaciation 

 of the animal/ and ' the extending of the disorder to the 

 spine of the neck, which at last becomes callous, so that 

 it is not any longer in the power of the animal to lift its 

 head/ they all prove to be mere ingenious conjectures, 

 thrown out by the author solely for the exercise of his 

 own ingenuity. 



" I should not venture to speak so positively upon this 



