THE GOUE."! 



CATTLE, AND THEIE VAKIETIES. 



[the gotjb. 



it did not differ essentially from our domestic 

 ox, liis impression having been received from 

 an inspection of specimens living tame in the 

 menagerie at Barrackpore. Subsequently, he 

 regarded it as distinct. 



THE GOUR. 

 According to Captain Eogers, the Bos gour 

 is found in several of the mountaiu districts of 

 Central India, but chiefly in Myu Pat, or Mine 

 Paut, a high insulated mountain, with a tabular 

 summit, in the province of Sergojah, in South 

 Bahar. " This table-laud is about thirty-sis 

 miles in length, by twenty-four or twenty-five 

 miles in breadth, and rises above the neigh- 

 bouring plains, probably, two thousand feet. 

 The sides of the mountain slope with consid- 

 erable steepness, and are furrowed by streams 

 that water narrow valleys, the verdant banks 

 of which are the favourite haunts of gours. On 

 being disturbed, they retreat into the thick 

 jungles of saul-trees, which cover the sides of 

 the whole range. The south-east side of the 

 mountain presents an extensive mural preci- 

 pice, from twenty to forty feet high. The 

 rugged slopes, at its foot, are covered by im- 

 penetrable green jungle, and abound with 

 dens formed of fallen blocks of rocks, the suit- 

 able retreat of tigers, bears, and hysenas. The 

 western slopes are less rugged, but the soil is 

 parched, and the forest seems withered by ex- 

 cess of heat. The summit of the mountaiu 

 presents a mixture of opens, lawns, and woods. 

 There were once twenty-five villages ou Myn 

 Pat, but these have been long deserted on 

 account of the number and ferocity of the 

 beasts of prey. On this mountain, however, 

 the gour maintains bis seat. The Indians 

 assert that even the tiger has no chance in 

 combat with a full-grown gour, though he may 

 occasionally succeed in carrying off an unpro- 

 tected calf. The wild buffalo abounds in the 

 plains below tlie mountains; bub ho so much 

 dreads the gour, according to the natives, that 

 he rarely attempts to invade his haunts, and 

 the hunting-party only met three or four urnas 

 (arnees) ou the mountain. The forests which 

 shield the gour, abound, however, with hog- 

 deer (Sambur-dcer), saumers, and porcupines." 

 In these wild and romantic retreats, Capt. 

 Eogers and his party hunted the gour, which, 

 when wounded, turns round upon its adversary, 

 620 



ready to do battle. A short bellow, imitated 

 by the syllables ugli-ugli, was the only cry 

 which the animal was heard to utter, and that 

 not until it had been struck by the bullet. 

 The gour is gregarious, herding together in 

 parties varying from ten to twenty ; browsing 

 on the leaves and shoots of tender trees and 

 shrubs, and also grazing on the banks of the 

 streams. In cold weather the saul-forests are 

 their places of concealment, and the heats 

 bring them out to feed on the green lawns and 

 valleys. They do not, it seems, wallow iu 

 swamp and mire like the buffalo. If the natives 

 are to be credited, this animal will not brook 

 captivity; and, even when captured at an early 

 age, the mountain-calf droops and dies. The 

 period of gestation is stated to be twelve 

 months; the females produce their young in 

 August. The native name of the bull-calf, for 

 the first year, is Pnrorah; of the cow-calf, 

 Pareeah. The full-grown CQW is termed 

 Gourin. 



The gour attains to a very large size. Dr. 

 Traill gives the dimensions of one not fully 

 grown, which measured, from the nose to the 

 end of the tail, nearly twelve feet, and stood 

 nearly six feet high at the withers. The limbs 

 are vigorous, clean-made, and more deer-like 

 than bovine. The back is strongly arched ; and, 

 when the animal stands still, the line from the 

 nose to the base of the tail, along the spine, 

 presents a nearly uniform curve. This appear- 

 ance is partly owing to the curved form of the 

 chaffron, and, still more, to a remarkable ridge 

 of no great thickness, which rises six or seven 

 inches above the general line of the back, from 

 the last of the cervical to the middle of the 

 dorsal vertebra?, where it graduUy declines and 

 becomes lost. This elevation is very con- 

 spicuous in gours of all ages, although they 

 may be loaded with fat, and has no resemblance 

 to the hunch found on the withers of the zebu 

 breed. There is not a trace of the dewlap, 

 which is well marked in the gayal. The hair 

 of the skin generally is short and sleek, having 

 somewhat the oily appearance of a fresh seal- 

 skin. The colour is deep brownish black, 

 almost approaching to bluish black. Between 

 the horns is a tuft of curling, dirty-white hair; 

 and over each hoof is a ring of the same 

 colour. The animal, altogether, has a striking 

 appearance. 



