THE BISON.] 



CATTLE, AND THEIE VARIETIES. 



lMusk ox. 



suddenly fallen in witb, it will passionately 

 assail the intruder. In such fits of passion, the 

 animal thrusts out its tongue repeatedly; lashes 

 its sides with its tail ; and its reddened and 

 sparkling eyes project from their sockets, and 

 roll furiously. Such is its innate wildness, that 

 none of the species has ever been completely 

 tamed. When taken young, it becomes, it is 

 true, accustomed to its keepers ; but the ap- 

 proach of other persons renders it furious ; 

 and even its keepers must be careful always to 

 wear the same sort of dress, when going near 

 it. Its great antipathy to the Bos Taurus, 

 which it either avoids or kills, would render 

 its domestication, if it were practicable, but 

 little desirable. The experiments made with a 

 view of obtaining a mixed breed from the 

 zubr and JBos Taiirus, have all failed, and are 

 now strictly prohibitedo" 



THE AMERICAN BISON. 



The Bison Americainis, or American Bison, 

 was formerly more extensively diflused than at 

 present; still it exists in vast numbers in 

 Louisiana, roaming over the prairies, which 

 are watered by the Arkansas, Platte, Missouri, 

 and upper branches of the Saskatchewan and 

 Peace rivers. Like its congener, the auroch, 

 the American bison is of powerful frame, and 

 exceeds, in bulk, the ordinary race of cattle ; 

 its height at the fore quarters being upwards 

 of six feet, and its weight froui twelve to fifteen 

 hundredweight, and sometimes much more. 

 The head is huge, ponderous, and carried low ; 

 the withers are massive and elevated ; the eyes 

 are small, and their expression is ferocious; 

 and the horns are small and black. The neck, 

 withers, and chest are covered with a profusion 

 of long shaggy hair, contributing to render the 

 appearance of the animal wild and terrific. 

 The hind quarters are clothed with shorter 

 wool. The general colour is umber brown, 

 acquiring a rusty tint in winter. Endowed 

 with the sense of smell in great perfection, 

 wary, and fierce, the bison associates in large 

 herds, conducted by one or two old bulls, 

 whose motions the rest appear to follow ; but 

 herds of bulls also live separately. Their food 

 consists of grass and rrnk herbage ; to obtain 

 which, in winter, they scrape away the snow 

 •with their feet. On the approach of an enemy, 

 the herd immediately takes to flight; but if 

 026 



one be wounded, the life of the hunter is placed 

 in great jeopardy ; for, turning in a moment, 

 it rushes on its assailant with headlono- im- 

 petuosity, and with determined resolution. 

 Several fatal instances might be cited in which 

 the hunter has perished from want of caution 

 in attacking this formidable beast, and many 

 hairbreadth escapes are on record. In de- 

 fending itself from a dog, the bison strikes vio- 

 lently with its fore feet, and easily keeps its 

 annoying foe at bay. Its flesh is accounted 

 excellent ; the tongue and hump, or flesh on 

 the top of the withers, being especial delica- 

 cies. The chase of the bison is, therefore, as- 

 siduously pursued, both by natives and Euro- 

 peans. It swims well ; and during the heats 

 of summer, vast herds make their way to shady 

 rivulets, streams, and pools, in which they de- 

 light to plunge and bathe. Herds of twenty 

 thousand, crossing rivers upwards of a mile in 

 breadth, have been seen, as Lewis and Clarke 

 inform us ; or darkening the plains on their 

 passage to fresh feeding-grounds. 



Salt-springs, or saline morasses, or salt-lakes, 

 are great attractions to this animal, and, at all 

 seasons, are visited by numerous herds. These, 

 however, are incessantly thinned by the hun- 

 ters ; and the time is probably not far distant, 

 when the American bison will be as rare and 

 as limited in its extent of range as the aurochs 

 of Lithuania. At certain seasons of the year, 

 the bulls engage in terrible conflicts, and rush 

 furiously upon man, or any other animal which 

 ventures near them. With the exception of 

 man, the most formidable enemy against which 

 the bison has to contend, is tlie huge grisly 

 bear; and before this dreaded monster the 

 strongest bull goes down. The bison will 

 breed with the ordinary race of domestic cattle, 

 against which the auroch displays the greatest 

 antipathy; though, in one respect, the latter 

 approaches nearer to the common ox than does 

 the bison. We allude to the number of ribs, 

 which are thirteen in the ox on each side, four- 

 teen in the aurochs, and fifteen in the bison. 



THE MUSK OX. 

 Genus Ovibus — the Ovihos Iloscliatus. The 

 characters of the genus Ovibos, as exhibited 

 by the only known species, are defined by the 

 horns being expanded at their base, forming a 

 helmet-like mass, covering the forehead, where 



