88 



SLADANG. 



THE Indian bison, known to the world at large as 

 the gaur, is called by the Malays sladang. 1 It is 

 only found in India, Burmah, and the Malay Penin- 

 sula. There is a tradition in Ceylon that it formerly 

 existed in the island but has become extinct, and 

 this would seem to be true, for Robert Knox, who 

 nearly two and a half centuries ago was a prisoner 

 amongst the Cingalese for twenty years, gives in his 

 " historical relation of the island " the following ac- 

 count of the " Creatures Rare in their kind " 



Here are also wild Buffalo s ; also a sort of beast 

 they call Oauvera, so much resembling a Bull that 

 I think it one of that kind. His back stands up 

 with a sharp ridg ; all his four feet white up half 

 his Legs. I never saw but one } which was kept among 

 the Kings Creatures. 



This description, though excellent so far as it goes, 

 will bear a little amplification. A big bull sladang, 

 the largest and noblest of all the splendid creatures 

 of which the tribe of oxen and bisons is composed, 

 stands eighteen hands, or six feet, at the shoulder. 

 But it is the animal's massive bulk rather than its 



1 Pronounce sl-dling. 



