NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OX. 27 



gradually changed in correspondence with the very different 

 climatic and other conditions, as of pasture, environment, and so 

 forth, to which that animal must at various times have been 

 subjected. 



When the ox is domesticated, unless he is taught to draw the 

 cart or the plough, he is apt to lose in point of instinct. In this 

 respect the ox of Lancashire and that found in Devonshire offer 

 a very striking contrast ; for while the former has very little 

 sense, the latter approaches even the horse in activity and in 

 docility, is easily broken in to his work, and displays gratitude 

 towards his feeder. In illustration of the sagacity possessed by 

 cattle, we now turn for a few moments to the first volume of 

 BurchelVs Travels into the Interior of Africa. On p^ge 128 

 this author informs us that the native oxen are usually broken 

 in, for the purpose of riding, when not more than one year old. 

 The animal having been thrown upon its back, a slit suflBciently 

 large to admit a finger is made through the cartilage or septum, 

 which separates one nostril from the other. A strong stick, 

 provided with a little forked branch at one end, so that it cannot 

 slip through on that side, is then procured, and the bark having 

 been stripped off, it is pushed through the hole in the cartilagi- 

 nous septum. A thong of hide of sufficient length to reach round 

 the neck and form the reins is then fastened to each end of this 

 stick. Across the back is then placed a sheep's skin on which 

 the wool has been left, another one being folded up and placed 

 across the back, and kept in position by means of a rein long 

 enough to pass several times round the body. This contrivance 

 forms the saddle, and to it stirrups are sometimes added by the 

 simple device of slinging across it a thong provided at each of 

 its ends with a loop, which may be stretched by means of a piece 

 of wood placed so as to form a rest for the foot. While the nose 

 is still sore, the animal is mounted and trained, and in about a 

 week and a half is usually made fairly obedient to the rider. The 

 Hottentots manage the ox with facility and skill, making the 

 animal walk, trot, or gallop, according to their wish. Their 

 walking pace is about three or four miles an hour, their trotting 

 pace about five miles an hour, and they gallop even as much as 

 about seven and a half miles an hour. 



We also find that Major Denham, in his Travels into Central 

 Africa, states (on page 321) that the beasts of burden employed 



