COW KIND. 



southern parts of the world ;* throughout the 

 vast continent of India ; throughout Africa, from 

 Mount Atlas to the Cape of Good Hope. In all 

 these countries the bison seems chiefly to prevail ; 

 where they are found to have a smooth soft hair, 

 are very nimble of foot, and in some measure sup- 

 ply the want of horses. The bison 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 natives of those countries, with 

 a degree of tenderness and care equal to their 

 utility, and the respect for them in India has 

 degenerated even into blind adoration. But it is 

 among the Hottentots where these animals are 

 chiefly esteemed, as being more than commonly 



[* Captain Turner, in his account of an embassy to Thibet, informs us, 

 that the Yak of Tartary is about the height of an English bull, which in the 

 general figure of the body, head, and legs, he resembles, except in having 

 a protuberance over the shoulders. The upper part of his body Is clothed 

 with a thick soft wool, but the inferior parts with hair, so long as sometimes 

 to trail on the ground, which is manufactured into tents and ropes. The 

 tail is also composed of a prodigious quantity of long glossy hair, so that not 

 a joint of it is perceptible, but it has much the appearance of being artifici- 

 ally set on. The tails are used throughout the East, under the denomina- 

 tion of Chowries, for driving away flies and mosquetoes, and they are also 

 employed as ornamental furniture upon horses and elephants. 



These cattle have a downcast heavy look ; and indeed they are sullen 

 and suspicious, discovering much impatience at the near approach of stran- 

 gers. They do not low loud, but make a grunting noise scarcely audible, and 

 that only when under some impression of uneasiness. The chain of moun- 

 tains which divides Thibet from Bootan is their favourite haunt In this 

 vicinity the southern glens afford them food and shelter during the severity 

 of winter ; and in milder seasons the northern aspect is more congenial to 

 their nature, and admits a wider range. The female gives an abundant 

 supply of rich milk, and the butter produced from it is excellent. The yak 

 varies in colour, as well as in the length and form of the horns ; those with 

 white tails are most esteemed, and the horns are sometimes as white as ivory.] 

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