92 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



or hump, of the same height as the dorsal ridge. This ridge 

 rises gradually as it goes backward, and terminates about the 

 middle of the back. The chest is broad, the shoulder deep 

 and muscular, the fore-legs short, and the joints very short 

 and strong, and the arm exceedingly large and muscular. 

 The hair on the neck and breast is longer than on the body ; 

 and the skin of the throat is somewhat loose, giving the 

 appearance of a slight dew-lap. The fore-legs have a rufous 

 tint behind, and laterally above the white, the hind-quarters 

 are lighter and lower than the fore, falling suddenly from the 

 termination of the dorsal ridge. The skin on the neck, 

 shoulders, and thighs is very thick, about 2 inches, the horns 

 pale-greenish, with black tips curling outwards, upwards, 

 and slightly backwards, and finally inwards. General colour, 

 dark chestnut-brown, or coffee-brown ; legs, from knee down- 

 wards, a dirty white. I have already noted in what respects 

 the Burmese differ from the Indian." 



I think the following notes on the gaur will be interesting. 

 They are from the pen of Mr. A. F. Martin of Travancore, 

 who wrote to " Smoothbore " : 



" When the Kaunan Desan Hills in North Travancore were 

 opened out for tea and cinchona some years ago, the felling 

 of the forest restricted the wild beasts, particularly the 

 elephants and gaur, when passing across the estate, to one or 

 two pathways. One particular track was, however, left to 

 them for about ten years, when further cultivation led at last 

 to the blocking up of even this right of way. The animals 

 were at first much puzzled, and both elephants and gaur took 

 to wandering about the cultivation. The elephants accommo- 

 dated themselves to the altered conditions, and used the estate 

 paths. The gaur, more suspicious, took a straight line for 

 their grazing grounds over the rotten felled timber and 

 through the older cinchona plantations, but were often 

 brought up by the sight of whitewashed walls surmounted 

 by a corrugated iron roof. 



" At last they settled down to a pathway between the old 

 cinchona and a natural belt left between it' and the new 

 clearing. A pit 10 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 feet deep 

 was dug on the boundary, covered with a mat made of 



