236 



ANIMALS OF 



sidered as a great delicacy by those that hunt 

 him. There is no pursuing him with safety, 

 except in forests where there are trees large 

 enough to hide the hunters. He is generally 

 taken by pit-falls: the inhabitants of those 

 countries where heis found wild, digging holes 

 in the ground, and covering them over with 

 boughs of trees and grass; then provoking the 

 bison to pursue them, they get on the oppo- 

 site side of the pit-fall, while the furious ani- 

 mal, running head foremost, falls into the pit 

 prepared for him, and is there quickly over- 

 come and slain. 



Besides these real distinctions in the cow 

 kind, there have been many others made, that 

 appear to be in name only. Thus the bona- 

 BUS, of which naturalists have given us long 

 descriptions, is supposed by Klein and BufTon 

 to be no more than another name for the bison, 

 as the descriptions given of them by the an- 

 cients coincide. The bubalus also of the an- 

 cients, which some have supposed to belong 

 to the cow kind, Buffon places among the 

 lower class of ruminant quadrupeds, as it most 

 resembles them in size, shape, and the figure 

 of its horns. Of all the varieties, therefore, 

 of the cow kind, there are but two that are 

 really distinct ; namely, the cow and the buf- 

 falo: these two are separated by nature; they 

 seem to bear an antipathy to each other; they 

 avoid each other, and may be considered as 

 much removed as the horse is from the ass or 

 the zebra. When, therefore, we have de- 

 scribed the varieties of the cow kind, we shall 

 pass on to the buffalo, which, being a differ- 

 ent animal, requires a separate history. 



There is scarcely a part of the world, as 

 was said before, in which the cow is not found 

 in some one of its varieties ; either large, like 

 the urus, or humped, as the bison ; with 

 straighthorns, or bending,inverted backwards, 

 or turning sideways to the cheek, like those 

 of the ram; and, in many countries, they are 

 found without any horns whatsoever. But, to 

 be more particular, beginning at the north, 

 the few kine which subsist in Iceland, are with- 

 out horns, although of the same race originally 

 with ours. The size of these is rather rela- 

 tive to the gooduesa of the pasture, than the 

 warmth or coldness of the climate. The 

 Dutch frequently bring great quantities of 

 lean cattle from Denmark, which they fatten 



on their own rich grounds. These are in 

 j general of a larger size than their own natural 

 breed ; and they fatten very easily. The 

 cattle of the Ukraine, where the pasture is 

 excellent, become very fat, and are consider- 

 ed as one of the largest breeds of Europe. 

 In Switzerland, where the mountains are 

 covered with rich nourishing herbage, which 

 is entirely reserved for their kine, these ani- 

 | mals grow to a very large size. On the con- 

 trary, in France, where they get no other 

 grass but what is thought unfit for horses, they 

 dwindle and grow lean. In some parts of 

 Spain the cow grows to a good size : those 

 wild bulls, however, which they pride them- 

 selves so much in combating, are a very mean 

 despicable little animal, and somewhat shaped 

 like one of our cows, with nothing of that pe- 

 culiar sternness of aspect for which our bulls 

 are remarkable. In Barbary, and the pro- 

 vinces of Africa, where the ground is dry, and 

 the pasturage short, the cows are of a very 

 small breed, and give milk in proportion. 

 On the contrary, in Ethiopia, they are of a 

 prodigious bigness. The same holds in Per- 

 sia and Tartary ; where, in some places, they 

 are very small, and, in others, of an amazing 

 stature. It is thus, in almost every part of 

 the world, this animal is found to correspond 

 in size to the quantity of its provision. 



If we examine the form of these animals, 

 as they are found tame, in different regions, 

 we shall find, that the breed of the urus, or 

 those without a hump, chiefly occupies the 

 cold and the temperate zones, and is not so 

 much dispersed towards the south. On the 

 contrary, the breed of the bison, or the ani- 

 mal with a hump, is found in all the southern 

 parts of the world ; throughout the vast con- 

 tinent of India; throughout Africa, from mount 

 Atlas to the Cape of Good Hope. In all 

 these countries, the bison seems chiefly to pre- 

 vail ; where they are found to have a smooth 

 soft hair, are very nimble of foot, and in some 

 measure supply the want of horses. The bi- 

 son breed is also more expert and docile than 

 ours ; many of them, when they carry burdens, 

 bend their knees to take them up, or set them 

 down : they are treated, therefore, by the na- 

 tives of those countries, with a degree of ten- 

 derness and care equal to their utility; and 

 the respect for tnem in India has degenerated 



