Liberia ♦ 



unpenetrated by man — came the goat from Egypt, and the sheep 

 from the same direction. Then the ox in its two African types, 

 one of which is represented in Liberia. In all probability there 

 existed once in North-eastern Africa a type of wild ox which 

 was a connecting link between the wild Indian cattle {Bos 

 indicus, long since extinct, the parent of the humped zebu breed), 

 and Bos taurus, the ancestral type of our own domestic cattle. 

 This intermediate ox is generally known in its domesticated 

 descendant as Bos legyptiacus. It is almost, if not quite, with- 

 out a hump on the shoulder, though the spines of the vertebrae 

 have a tendency to be rather longer, to rise more in a ridge 

 at the shoulder than is the case with Bos taurus. There is a 

 considerable dewlap, the size of the animal is large, and the 

 colour of its coat (in the unmixed type) is uniform,^ generally 

 a light brown with whitish marks round the muzzle and 

 hoofs. 



The horns are the most remarkable feature in this species 

 of ox. They are cylindrical, of very great length, generally 

 longest in the cows, and compared with those of Bos taurus they 

 take a different direction in growth." Instead of rising 

 to little above the height of the forehead and making their 

 circular curve horizontally, they are turned upwards and 

 backwards in the form indicated by the accompanying drawing. 

 Sometimes there is a slight approximation between the points 

 which produces an outline like a squat lyre. In the direc- 

 tion of the horn growth there is no great difference between 

 this type and the Indian ox {^Bos indicus)., but in size and 

 length the advantage in favour of these F^gyptian cattle is 



' By intermixture witli tlie Indian ox or from inherent tendency to vary, the 

 long horned Egyptian cattle may be all-white or pied, and mottled with wliite. 

 They may also be all-black. Their normal colour is light brown. 



' The females of lios taurus approximate much to Bos agyptiacus in t'le 

 direction of their horns. 



90? 



