QUADRUPEDS. 56 



killed him. Both the wounded men were brought to me : 

 the biparie recovered, but the herdsman died."* 



A still more gigantic inhabitant of India is called the 

 arnee {Bos Arnee). The male is said to measure seven feet 

 hicrh at the shoulder, and three feet across the breast, and the 

 horns are each nearly six feet long. The hide itself is white, 

 but covered by a black and abundant coating of hair. This 

 species is domesticated in China, the Indian archipelago, 

 and the peninsula of the Malays. In a wild state it inha- 

 bits the woody valleys of the Birman empire, and the south- 

 ern base of the Himmaleh mountains. It is a rare animal, 

 althoutrh perhaps regarded as more common than it is in' 

 realitv, owing to the wild-buffalo being very generally named 

 amee'or arnaa in the central districts of Bengal.! A party 

 of British cavalry officers stationed in the north of Bengal, 

 who spent three months employed on a hunting expedition, 

 during which they killed 42 tigers and numerous buffaloes, 

 shot only a single arnee. " When the head of this speci- 

 men," says Major Smith, "rested perpendicular on the 

 ground, it required the outstretched arms of a man to hold 

 the points of the horns." A. good figure of this animal is 

 given by Captain Williamson. t 



Another arnee, somewhat less in size than the one just 

 mentioned, but possessed, notwithstanding, of very gigantic 

 proportions, is also an inhabitant of India. It is somewhat 

 difficult in this tribe of animals to trace the range of specific 

 character, or to draw the precise line of demarcation be- 

 tween a species and variety. However, the individuals now 

 alluded to are more abundant than the greater arnee. 

 Their habits are gregarious, — they live in wooded swamps, 

 and are sometimes seen in droves floating down the Ganges, 

 apparently asleep. " An animal of this kind drifted down 

 to near Shaugur island, in 1790, and was shot by the crew 

 of the Hawkesbury Indiaman, towed alongside, and hoisted 

 in. The meat weighed three hundred and sixty pounds per 

 quarter, exclusive of the head, legs, hide, and entrails, and 

 the whole could therefore be scarcely less than two thou- 

 sand pounds, although the ship's butcher pronounced it not 

 above two years old."<J 



* Sketches of Indian Sports. 



t According to Mr. Colebrooke, the Bos Arnee is nothing more than 

 the wild-bulpilo called Arna. 



X Oriental Field Sports. ^ Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 391. 



