Ban tin. 



BANTIN—SEROW AND GORAL — THAMIN 175 



smaller animal than the gaur, with a flat forehead, regularly conical black horns, 

 and no forwardly-curving ridge between the latter. The general colour is 

 blackish, with the lower part of the legs white. As mentioned above, the saladang, 

 or Malay race of the gaur, comes, however, very close in the characters of the skull 

 and horns to the gayal, and there is little doubt that the latter is merely a domesti- 

 cated race of the former, in which case it is not entitled to a distinct scientific 

 name. Gayal are kept by the Kukis and Manipuris for the sake of their flesh, 

 and, according to some accounts, also for their milk, although the latter is doubtful, 

 because, as a rule, Buddhists never drink milk. These animals apparently are 

 not used either for tilling the ground or for carrying loads, and are allowed to 

 wander about in the woods during the day, returning in the evening to their 

 owner's village. 



Throughout Burma and the Malay Peninsula as well as in 

 Borneo and Java occurs a very distinct species of wild ox, the bantin 

 (B. scmdaicus), which also inhabits Siam and perhaps Sumatra, and is distributed 

 northward as far as Pegu, Arakan, and the mountain-ranges east of Chittagong. 

 In many respects the bantin resembles the gaur, but is of lighter build, with 

 longer limbs, and the ridge on the back much less strongly developed. The 

 dewlap is of moderate size, and the tail longer than that of the gaur, reaching to 

 the hocks ; the head is also somewhat longer. In young animals the horns are 

 cylindrical in shape, but in fully grown animals are flattened at the base. In the 

 Javan and Bornean races the cows and calves are bright rufous in colour, shading 

 to chestnut about the head and upper part of the limbs, but the old bulls are black. 

 In both sexes the lower part of the legs are white, from the hocks and knees down- 

 wards, as is also a large patch on the buttocks ; and the lips and in sides of the ears 

 are also white. The bulls of the Burmese race of the species — the tsaine of the 

 natives — are, however, tawny or pale chestnut-coloured at all ages. The bantin 

 stands about 66 inches high at the withers ; and, judging from the length of its 

 legs, is riot such a good climber as the gaur, being more restricted to the plains 

 covered with grass and jungle, and less of a mountain-animal. 



The humped cattle, or zebu, of India and Africa, are probably derived from 

 the bantin. 



Brief mention may be made of the serow (Capricornis suma- 

 Serow and Goral. . . J tpitt-i 



trensis), which ranges from the eastern end of the Himalaya, 



through Manipur and Yunnan, as far as Sumatra, and is met with in Assam, 



Burma, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula. In the typical Sumatran race the lower 



part of the legs is reddish, but in the Malay race (G. s. swettenltami) the colour is 



almost uniformly black. Another race (C. s. milne-edwardsi) inhabits Sze-chuan. 



A goral, which appears to be a local race of the ashy goral of Sze-chuan, inhabits 



the mountains of Burma, and has been named Urotragus cinereus evansi. 



In the countries east of the Bay of Bengal the sambar of India 

 Thamin. . J ° . . 



is represented by a distinct race (Cervus umcolor eqiiirms); while in 



Java and the Moluccas there exists an allied species, the rusa (C. hippelaphus), with 



much more slender antlers. One of the most characteristic deer of Burma and the 



Malay Peninsula is, however, the thamin {G. eldi), which belongs to the same group 



as the barasingha of India, from which it is distinguished, among other features, 



