562 



BOS. 



profusion, aiul they are very fat, indolent, and inof- 

 fensive. When left without these attentions they 

 are smaller and much more active, but they have 

 been so Ion? domesticated, or rather under the pro- 

 tection of the people, that there art: many varieties 



Indian Bull. 



in appearance. When they are fat, tne hump on 

 the shoulders and the dewlap are very much pro- 

 duced, and in all conditions they have the skin of 

 the neck furrowed with transverse wrinkles. Their 

 general colour is dun, passing into blackish on the 

 upper part, and whitish on the under. There are 

 many varieties of these hunch-backed ones in India, 

 but it is not easy to say which is the original race, 

 or whether those which are found wild be in a state 

 of nature, or have been left in the changes of society 

 which the country has undergone. These humped 

 oxen have the voice less deep than the others, and 

 the form of the hind quarters and the insertion of 

 the tail are different from the European varieties. 



The GAYAL (Bos gav&us') has sometimes been 

 considered as a bison : but it has few or none of the 

 characters of the true bisons. These are light and 

 agile animals for their size, and have great part of 

 their power thrown into the neck. The gayal, on the 

 other hand, is a heavy and clumsy animal ; and the 

 neck, especially the part of it next the head, is small 

 &n feeble. The only character which it has in 

 common with the bisons, other than those which 

 belong to the whole genus bos, is that of fourteen 

 pairs of ribs ; and, although our domestic oxen, and 

 the varieties of other countries which most resemble 

 them, have only thirteen pairs, yet fourteen is not a 

 constant, and therefore cannot be regarded as pro- 

 perly a typical character of the bisons. The Eastern 

 one has fourteen, but the American has fifteen. 



The lull grown male of the gayal is nine feet and 

 a half long, and exactly half as much in height The 

 body is rounded and rather clumsy in appearance ; 

 and both the middle of the back and the setting of 

 the neck are depressed, which gives a hump-like 

 appearance to the interscapular portion of the ridge ; 

 but there is no true hump ; yet, in consequence of 

 this ridgy appearance, the animal stands four or five 

 inches higher on the fore-legs than at the crupper, 

 and the hinder part of that curves downward to the 

 tail, which is slender and not very long. The front 

 is square, broad and flat, the insertions of the horns 

 being ten inches apart. The horns curve slightly 



outward and upward, while the ears, which are nearly 

 of the same length as the horns, and slender in pro- 

 portion to their length, droop down till their direction 

 is nearly the reverse of that of the horns. The eyes 

 are rather small in proportion to the size of the 

 animal. Both sexes have a small tuft of white curled 

 hair between the bases of the horns, which curls 

 down upon the forehead. The dewlap is large and 

 pendulous, and makes the portion of the neck next 

 the head appear more feeble than it really is ; it also 

 ir'mM an apparent depth to the chest, out of all pro- 

 portion to its width. The abdomen is large, but 

 contracts toward the groin, as if the body were 

 slightly compressed by a girdle there. The udder 

 ' of the female is small. The legs are thick and stout ; 

 the principal hoofs broad, and the false ones much 

 larger in proportion than those of the domestic ox. 

 The hair is very short, with the exception of that on 

 the forehead, already mentioned, and a small bunch 

 on the end of the tail. The colour is brown in 

 various shades. The characters and also the habits 

 of this animal resemble the ox more than they do 

 the buffalo ; but it breeds indiscriminately with 

 either. 



It is chiefly found upon the south-western and 

 southern slopes of the secondary hills to the Hima- 

 laya, and on those to the south of the Burrmmputra. 

 When in the wild state it is rather a woodland or 

 jungle animal ; but it is domesticated in large herds 

 by the people to the eastward of India. It does not 

 extend into the dry districts. 



THE YAK (Bos grunniens of Pallas) is not very 

 accurately named by that naturalist, as its voice is a 

 sort of subdued and broken low rather than a grunt. 

 This is the mountaineer of central Asia, being found 

 in the Himalaya and Altai ridges, and in the con* 

 necting ones, and their spurs eastward as far as 

 China. It has been classed with the bisons, and in 

 the northern extreme of its geographical range, it is 

 understood to trench closely upon the habitat of the 

 eastern one ; but it is an animal domesticated to a 

 very considerable extent ; and its characters are more 

 peculiar than those of many others of the genus. It 

 has the same number of ribs as the bisons, and the 

 forehead is a very little arched ; but the resemblance 

 between them extends little farther. 



In the more elevated portions, it is rather a small 

 animal, not above three feet and a half in height at 

 the shoulder, and seven feet in length ; but in its 

 more fertile pastures it attains a larger size. In the 

 form of its head there is a slight resemblance to the 

 buffaloes ; but the character of the horns is more that 

 of the ox. They are lateral in their insertion, and 

 do not advance toward each other on the frontal 

 ridge as in these animals. One of the most peculiar 

 parts of it is the tail, which is covered all over with 

 long hair like that of the horse, only the texture of 

 the hair is much finer. Their tails are in much 

 request both in India and the Turkish Empire. In 

 the former they are used for fanning off the flies, and 

 among the Turks they are used as insignia of rank. 

 They take a fine dye, the stumps are often richly 

 and beautifully ornamented, and they have a very 

 flowing and graceful appearance. When a bashaw 

 of so many tails is mentioned, it means the number 

 of the tails of the yak which he is allowed to have 

 carried when he rides in state. 



As has been already hinted, the varieties of the 

 genus bos are exceedingly numerous, and they rang* 



