GAUR, ITS DISTRIBUTION, ETC. 339 



4 p.m. and at night. They drink, as a rule, in the afternoon. 

 These bovines inhabit the hills of the Indian Peninsula to an 

 elevation of 5000 or 6000 feet, or occasionally even higher ; 

 but they do not ascend the Himalayas to nearly the same 

 extent. They are admirable climbers, and ascend or descend 

 steep hills with wonderful facility. They are timid animals, 

 but in wild places where they are rarely subject to attack 

 and disturbance they are by no means remarkably wary. 

 Wounded animals occasionally charge, and solitary bulls have 

 been known to attack without provocation ; but the tales of 

 the gaur's ferocity recorded by some sportsmen are not 

 confirmed by any of the later writers who have had good 

 opportunities of studying the animals. A bull gaur is one of 

 the noblest animals in the world, a model of strength and 

 symmetry, and his formidable appearance has led to his 

 being unjustly credited with a savage disposition. 



" The period of gestation is not known with any certainty. 

 Breeding is said to take place in the cold season. The calves 

 are mostly born (in the peninsula of India) in August or 

 September, a few early in April, May, or June. Gaur suffer 

 from the same diseases as domestic cattle. In India all 

 attempts at domestication of this bovine have been failures. 

 The calves appear always to die in captivity, none, it is said, 

 having been known to attain their third year. But there can 

 be little doubt that the gaur has been tamed and kept tame in 

 some of the hill tracts between Assam and Burma, 1 and quite 

 recently a young male animal, now nearly four years old, has 

 been brought to England from Pahang in the Malay Peninsula, 

 and is still (1891) living in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's 

 Park (London). According to Sanderson three distinct sounds 

 are uttered by this species. The first is a sonorous bellow used 

 as a call, and unlike any of the usual bovine sounds. The 

 second is a low ' moo,' indicative of apprehension or curiosity. 

 The third is the well-known whistling snort of alarm with 

 which the animal dashes off when frightened. I have heard the 



1 This is a mistake. It is the gayal and not the gaur that has been 

 domesticated in the hill tracts between Assam and Burma. Mr. 

 Sanderson was misled by the similarity of name common to both, 

 "mithun," in supposing there were no wild gayal. F. T. P. 



