488 BOTID^E. 



singularly obscure. Bos frontalis was described by Lambert and 

 Colebrooke as occurring both in the tame and wild state in the hills 

 of Tip perah amongst the Kukis; and Lambert gave a detailed 

 account, furnished by Mr. McEae, of the capture of wild animals 

 and their domestication by these tribes. It has since been ascer- 

 tained that tame " inithans " or " gayals " are found in possession 



Fig. 159. Skull and horns of Bos 

 gcmrus. 



Fig. 160. Skull and horns of Bos 



frontalis. 



of particular tribes both north and south of the Assam valley, 

 around Manipur and Cachar, and in the Tipperah, Chittagong, and 

 Lushai hills as far south as the neighbourhood of Chittagong. But 

 the wild bovine of the area in general was ascertained by Blyth, 

 Sarbo, Anderson, and others to be Bos gaurus. The later evidence 

 is confusing. Peal (' Nature,' Nov. 5th, 1885, p. 7) states that both 

 wild and tame animals are called Mithan in Upper Assam, that 

 they are perfectly distinct, and no intermediate forms ever occur ; 

 whilst Sanderson ( ' Thirteen Years &c.,' p. 250) declares that in 

 Chittagong the two forms, wild and tame, are similar. Lastly, Mr. 

 E. C. Steuart Baker (< Asian,' March 6th, 1891, p. 358), in the 

 North Cachar hills confirms the old story of the wild mithans being 

 reclaimed and domesticated by the Kukis. 



Much confusion has doubtless arisen from the terms Mithan 

 and Gayal being used for both B. frontalis and B. gaurus (G-ayal 

 is a word of Sanscrit derivation applied to B. gaurus in parts of 

 India, and not used by the Indo-Chinese tribes who alone own B. 

 frontalis). But it is very probable that some of the domesticated 

 " mithans " are B. gaurus, the domestication of which by the Kukis 

 was described by Blyth on information from a missionary, M. Barbe 

 (J. A. S. B. xxix, p. 294). This would explain the old accounts 

 of Mr. McEae and the recent one by Mr. Baker, both of which 

 have every appearance of authenticity. 



