304 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



proceed two horns more or less curved, sometimes of 

 great length, always tapering to a point, and having a 

 bony core. Their neck is thick, and from it hangs a 

 dewlap, which passes between the fore-legs. The hoofs 

 are cleft. 



Of the origin of these Ruminants we know absolutely 

 nothing, for they are spoken of as domesticated animals 

 from the earliest times ; and although there are such 

 things as wild tribes now existing, we are not sure 

 whether they were placed where they are with their 

 present characters, or whether all ars modifications of 

 one pair, according to circumstances. The most con- 

 spicuous among them are the Zebu, the Buffalo, the 

 Bison, and the Bulls of various parts of the Old World. 

 Those cattle which roam about in a free state in South 

 America, New Zealand, and Australia., have not very 

 long escaped from the dominion of man. 



In India some of the heathen natives make a certain 

 ox a sacred animal ; the Brahmins worship it ; and it is 

 a distinct variety from the common working oxen, who 

 are by no means treated kindly. The cherished sorts 

 are very sleek and tame, and even voluntarily go up to 

 strangers who have grass in their hands, and eat it 

 from them. They are, however, troublesome, as all 

 pets are ; and no one will dare to check them, for they 

 must not be struck. Near Calcutta they often break 

 into gardens, put their noses into pastrycooks* and 

 fruiterers' shops, and have not the least hesitation, 

 when they are affronted, in going up to the offenders, 

 and giving them a poke with their horns. 



The Zebus are spread over India, China, the Archi- 

 pelago, Madagascar, and several parts of Africa. They 

 are distinguished by a hump of fat between their 



