THE AUROCHS AND DOMESTIC OXEN 753 



were white in color. In the ninth century Charlemagne hunted the aurochs in the 

 forests near Aix-la-Chapelle; while at the close of the following century we find 

 the flesh of these animals alluded to in the rolls of an abbey in Switzerland. The 

 aurochs was met with during the route taken through Germany by the first crusade, 

 in the eleventh century; and that it still lingered in the neighborhood of Worms 

 during the twelfth century is indicated by the mention of the slaughter of four in- 

 dividuals in the Nibelungen- Ivied. The accounts of conflicts with gigantic wild 

 oxen, so rife in classic literature, doubtless refer to the aurochs; and thus indicate 

 that the range of the animal extended as far southward as Greece. Bones of the 

 aurochs have been obtained from England and Scotland, but are unknown in Ireland. 

 On the continent they occur in France, Switzerland, Italy, Scandinavia, Germany, 

 and Austria; while it may be taken as certain that the species roamed over Russia, 

 although its exact eastern and northern limits are not ascertained. Southward the 

 aurochs ranged as far as Algeria. 



The mention of a white aurochs, which may, however, have been a tamed in- 

 dividual, in one of the chronicles referred to above, coupled with the coloration of 

 the Chillingham cattle, renders it probable that the color of the aurochs was white, 

 more or less mingled with dun and red; this inference being confirmed by the 

 prevalence of these colors in so many of our domestic breeds of cattle. 



It is probable that the aurochs was the direct ancestor of our largest 

 n breeds of domestic cattle. At a very early period (although later 

 than the epoch of the brick earths; when the aurochs first existed) the inhabitants 

 of Europe had succeeded in domesticating a small variety of ox, known as the long- 

 fronted ox (Bos longifrons), from which it is considered probable that the small 

 Welsh and Highland breeds of cattle are descended. If, however, we are right 

 in our view that the whole of the cattle of Europe belong to one species, it is 

 evident that the long-fronted ox itself must likewise have been originally derived 

 from the aurochs. 



Having said thus much as to the extinct wild cattle of Europe, we 

 proceed to notice the half -wild races preserved in certain English and 

 Scottish parks, after which we shall pass on to the consideration of the chief domes- 

 tic breeds. It may be premised that while several of the former are probably much 

 closer to the aurochs than are any of the latter, there seems but little doubt that in 

 all cases these half-wild cattle are descended from more or less completely domesti- 

 cated early breeds, and are not directly derived from the wild aurochs. The British 

 park cattle, when pure bred, are white in color, with the exception of the ears and 

 muzzle, and sometimes the front of the legs, which may be either red or black; the 

 horns being white with black tips. In size these cattle are small; but their propor- 

 tions are well-nigh perfect, their heads being small, their backs straight, and their 

 legs short. According to Mr. J. E. Harting, herds of these cattle were for- 

 merly kept at all of the following parks, viz., Auchencruive (in Ayrshire), 

 Barnard Castle (Durham), Bishop Auckland (Durham), Blair Athol (Perth- 

 shire), Burton Constable (Yorkshire), Cadzow Castle (Lanarkshire), Chartley 

 Park (Staffordshire), Chillingham Castle (Northumberland), Ewelme Park 

 (Oxfordshire), Gisburne Park (Yorkshire), Hoghton Tower (Lancashire), Hold- 



