xv THE AMERICAN BUFFALO 289 



the northern portion of Ceylon, the stench was unbearable in certain 

 places, where both wild and tame buffaloes had died in hundreds. 

 A few years since, the district of Reipore was visited with a similar 

 calamity, which destroyed the gaur in such numbers that some 

 localities were left entirely deprived of these animals. 



The gaur is supposed to be the largest of the Bos tribe, measur- 

 ing 17 to 18 hands in the height of shoulder. The head is enor- 

 mous, with a peculiar formation of the frontal bone, which projects 

 above the cranium. A bullet must therefore be placed lower than 

 it would be in an ordinary ox to reach the brain. 



This grand animal is generally to be found among hills that are 

 covered with forest, in which the bamboo is plentiful, as the latter 

 is the principal food of the gaur. In the winter months, when I 

 have generally visited India, such jungles are so dense and green 

 that they are almost impenetrable. At that season there is water 

 in every channel, and torrent-beds at the foot of hilly ranges; 

 therefore it is impossible to find the gaur, which is then upon the 

 summits, securely lodged in thick bamboo retreats. The yak is 

 another species of which I have had no personal experience. This 

 beautiful animal is a denizen of the most lofty mountains, and is 

 found at elevations that could hardly be attained by any other 

 animal of its weight. It is a most sure-footed beast, and is used 

 for riding among the Himalayahs in its domesticated state. 



There is a species of wild ox, or rather bison (Bison bonassus), 

 still remaining in the forests of Lithuania ; this was the original 

 aurochs of Central Europe, which was at one time plentiful ; but 

 the increase of population and the invention of firearms drove these 

 animals into the remotest forests, until by degrees they have been 

 nearly exterminated. 



It may be accepted as a fact that only two species of the true 

 bison are known to exist, the Bison Americanus (or so-called 

 buffalo) and the European species, Bison bonassus, both of which 

 are distinct from all others belonging to the ovidce, in possessing 

 fourteen pairs of ribs. 



