CM ASIA. 



mnthern part of the continent, are to Utii day destitute of either the 

 hone or the aa*. Nothing can present a greater contrail than the 

 companion of the degraded and degenerate am of Europe with the 

 name animal bred in hi native country. Instead of the dejected air, 

 shaggy coat, pinched dimensions, and miserable half -starved appear- 

 aaoe which he presents in theee countries, the an of Persia, Syria, and 

 the Levant approaches nearer to the larger size of the horse, and 

 partakes much of his beautiful symmetry of form, noble carriage, and 

 unriralled speed. 



It appears extremely probable that the camel and dromedary are 

 likewise of Asiatic origin. The wide extent of the Arabian conquests 

 during the middle ages introduced the latter species into most parts 

 of Northern and Central Africa, where it has been ever since estab- 

 lished, and is of the greatest use in crossing the sandy deserts which 

 separate the inhabited regions of the north from the interior of the 

 continent. The camel, which is distinguished from the dromedary by 

 having two humps on the back instead of one, appears to have been 

 in all ages more limited and confined in its geographical distribution 

 than the latter species. The camel is found chiefly, if not solely, 

 among the wandering Tartars from the confines of Siberia to the 

 northern ridges of the great Himalayan chain ; whilst the dromedary 

 spreads not only over Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Persia, but 

 extends into India, and probably into China. These animals are 

 mentioned among the earliest lists of the flocks and herds of the 

 patriarchs ; and it is not a little singular that here, as in the case of 

 most other domestic animals, not the slightest trace seems to remain 

 of the original wild stock from which the species was first reclaimed. 

 Professor Pallas, it in true, reports the existence of wild camels in the 

 neighbourhood of Lake Aral, but he never met with them in his 

 travels though he frequently heard of them ; and Baron Cuvier con- 

 jectures with much seeming probability that the reports refer to some 

 of the wild animals to which the inhabitants of these regions, from 

 religions motives, restore their liberty at the celebration of particular 

 festivals. 



Of the ox kind no fewer than four distinct species have been from 

 time immemorial domesticated in different parts of Asia. The common 

 Indian Ox, or Zebu (Hot Indicia), though usually confounded with the 

 common ox of Western Europe, is in reality a very distinct species ; 

 differing not only by his longer legs and the large hump which marks 

 his shoulders like that of the dromedary, but likewise by his voice, 

 and even by some details of internal conformation. This animal from 

 his superior height and more slender proportions, perhaps the most 

 symmetrical and graceful of all the different species of the ox genus, 

 has been from the earliest ages held in the greatest veneration- by the 

 natives of India ; and there is a strong resemblance between the 

 worship of Apis among the ancient Egyptians and that which the 

 followers of Brahma paid to the Indian ox, as an incarnation of their 

 favourite deity Vishnu. But the whole race of Indian cattle are not 

 equally regarded as objects of religious veneration ; these attentions 

 seem to be exclusively bestowed upon a particular breed, and the 

 greatest care is taken to maintain the purity of this sacred race and 

 to preserve the pedigrees of its individual members. The common 

 Indian cattle however are not regarded with the same religious senti- 

 ment*. They are the usual beauts of draught and burden in tltc 

 country, and from their great speed are frequently used for the saddle 

 even by the Europeans settled in the upper provinces. The inter- 

 course which India always seems to have maintained with other 

 commercial nations of antiquity was the means of introducing this 

 beautiful and useful animal into more distant regions, and we now 

 Bod the Brahmin bull extending over a great part of Persia and Syria, 

 and mixed with the common flat-backed species of the west in 

 Madagascar, Abyssinia, and generally along the whole eastern coast 



The Yak, or Sarlyk (Dot grunniau, Linnoms ; Pofpkagiu yrun- 

 iau, Gray), another species of ox which has been long domes- 

 ticated in Central Asia. It has always formed the common cattle of 

 the Tartan, and is well described by .fclian under the name of Poepha- 

 gua. It is this animal which furnishes the tails of long silky white 

 hair of which the Turks make their military standards, and which are 

 employed all over the east under the name of chowries for the purpose 

 f 1 1 riving away the flies and creating a refreshing current of air about 

 the luxurious inhabitants of India and China. These favourite instru- 

 ment* of luxury are frequently set in silver or gold handles, and as 

 they are an indispensable appendage to the state of a great man they 

 form one of the regular articles of import between Tibet and India. 

 and are frequently sold for enormous prices. The use of these chowries 

 is of very great antiquity throughout all eastern countries. 



The Buffalo (Bat fruAo/nj, Brisson ; /lulxilia Buffthu. Gray) is a third 

 'pecie* of ox long domesticated in the southern and eastern parts of 

 Ada. India and China appear to be the original climate ..f thi 

 powerful animal ; it i. rtill found wild in all the great forests of both 

 "countries, and is probably the only domestic quadruped of which 

 xoologisU have clearly ascertained the original source. The wild 

 iJo, called ' arni ' by the Indians, is Mid to be only inferior to the 

 elephant in siie, and from his ferocity and malignant disposition is 

 much dreaded by those who reside in the vicinity of his haunt*. 

 Combat* between the arni and the tiger were formerly a favourite 

 port of the native prince* of India, but it is said by cye-witnesse* that 



ASIA. 



,-,., 



the tiger was in no instance a match for his powerful antagonist 

 Large herds of the domestic buffalo are kept throughout every part 

 of the pcuiuHula of India, and many anecdotes are related of 

 docility and attachment to the gullaha, or herdsmen, who attend them, 

 and of the courage with which they defend their keepers from the 

 formidable attacks of the tigers and panthers which inhabit the 

 forests where they are usually pastured. The buffalo in India is not 

 habitually used as a beast of draught or burden, but supplies the place 

 of the common ox in furnishing the inhabitants with milk and butter; 

 whilst the ox of the country, which is seldom applied to these latter 

 purposes, assumes the place of the horse, and is used for the saddle, 

 the plough, and the hackery, or carriage. Though long domesticated 

 in India and China the introduction of the buffalo into the west, or 

 even into Persia, is comparatively a recent occurrence, and dates only 

 from the conquests of the Mohammedans. Aristotle indeed seems to 

 allude to the buffalo under the name of the Wild Ox of Arachosia 

 ('History of Animals,' book ii. 1), and the followers of Alexander 

 must have become acquainted with the animal during that conqueror's 

 expedition in the Panjab. But it was only towards the latter end of 

 the 6th century that it was first seen in Western Europe, having 

 been introduced into Italy about the year 596 ; nor has the species 

 ever extended either in this continent or in Africa, in which it is 

 almost exclusively confined to Egypt. 



The fourth and last known species of domestic ox which the Asiatic 

 nations possess, is the Gayal (Bo Gayeva, Colebrooke ; Bo* frantalit, 

 Gray). This animal is common among the Birmese, and in all the 

 mountainous districts on the north-east boundaries of British India : 

 it is also found wild under the name of Gaur in many parts of 

 India, principally among the hills, and is as much dreaded by tin- 

 Shicarries, or native huntsmen, as the arni or the tiger. The gayal is a 

 very large animal with a heavy carcass and short legs, which are 

 commonly white from the knee downwards, whilst the body is of a 

 uniform dark-brown colour : the os frontis forms a singular excres- 

 cence or ridge which easily distinguishes the gayal from all other 

 species of the ox kind ; and the horns are round and twisted into 

 a kind of irregular spiral, with the points turned inwards and 

 backwards. 



Of sheep and goats many different varieties are fonnd in Aoia. 

 The broad-tailed sheep of Arabia was known to the ancients, and is 

 mentioned by Herodotus (iii. 113) and Aristotle : this variety has 

 now spread throughout all the steppes of the continent as well as 

 through Egypt and Northern Africa, where the fat of the tail 

 frequently amounts to 10 pounds' weight The tail is the best part 

 of the animal, for the flesh is dry and insipid ; and instead of 

 the body is covered with a short coarse hair, unfit for manufacturing 

 purposes. On the higher table-lands of the continent, however, 

 other species of sheep are found with a longer and finer fleece; Imt 

 in no instance does the wool of the Asiatic sheep approach in softness 

 and beauty of texture to that of the shawl-goat of Cashmere, from 

 the fleece of which the Indians manufacture those rich and valuable 

 shawls which are so highly esteemed in Europe as well as throughout 

 the East The shawl-goat' is a small variety of very ordinary form 

 and appearance ; it is found principally in Bhutan, Tibet, and gene- 

 rally along the northern face of the Himalaya, but does not thrive 

 when brought across the mountains, not even in the upper regions of 

 Xepaul, where it might have been expected that it would find a 

 congenial climate : its wool forms a valuable article of commerce 

 between Tibet and the lower plains of India. The Angora goat is an 

 inferior variety of the shawl-goat, with drooping ears and long wool 

 of tolerably fine texture, but not adapted to the same purposes as 

 the richer wool of the Tibet animal. The common variety of goat 

 in Asia which appears to extend over every part of the continent, is a 

 tall long-legged animal, with very short hair, large drooping enr 

 small spiral horns. Its flesh is in many part- 



and the animal is valued in all places for the richness and abundance 

 of its milk. 



The hog, though found wild in most parts of Asia, in a domestic 

 only among the Chinese, who appear to esteem its flesh in proportion 

 to the detestation with vhirh it is regarded by the followers of 

 Mohammed and Buddha. In India herds of semi-domestic hogs are 

 frequently found about the native villages; hut as the religion of 

 Brahma prohibits the destruction ..f .-minnl lif<>, and consequently tho 

 use of flesh as an article of food, they are turned to no account by 

 the inhabitant*, by whom however they are not regarded with the 

 horror and detestation which attache* to them among the foil 

 of the Arabian prophet The Indians abstain from the use of pork 

 for the same reason that they abstain from eating any other kind of 

 flesh; not from any peculiar antipathy which they bear to the animal 

 itself. The hog is regarded by the Chinese as the greatest luxury : 

 and it in well known that the dog and the hog were the only domestic 

 animals which their first discoverers found among the Poly: 

 islanders. It appears probable however that the animal <-< 

 hog in the voyages of early navigators, and which was found spread 

 over all the various archipelagoes of the Indian Ocean, is in reality a 

 different species from our common European hog, though closely 

 allied to it in form and appearance. 



The dog of Asia as in every other grent division of the world is 

 subject to an almost infinite number of varieties. Troops of thin 



