238 THE OX. 



a-day. The calves have the instinctive wildness of the 

 parents, couching on the ground like fawns, when surprised. 

 It is said that, when one of the herd is wounded, or disabled 

 from age, the rest will set upon and destroy it ; a trait com- 

 mon to other ruminants, to the Deer, and even to the 

 Sheep, in its wildest and rudest state. These animals can 

 be all readily domesticated. When taken young, and treated 

 in the manner of the common oxen, they assume entirely the 

 habits of the domestic race. 



One circumstance common to both the herds of Wild Oxen 

 referred to, is the tendency of the young to deviate from the 

 " marking," as it is termed, of the parents ; that is, to be- 

 come altogether black, or altogether white, or to have black 

 ears in place of red ears, and so on : these animals are de- 

 stroyed, and, therefore, the interesting part of the experi- 

 ment is interrupted, of shewing what characters they would 

 assume, were they to be left in the natural state. Nothing 

 is better known to breeders than that, by such means, all the 

 characters of colour can be produced in any breed ; thus the 

 North Devon can be kept all red, the Pembroke all black, 

 and so on ; and this is done from generation to generation, 

 by the course pursued in the case of these wild herds. 



The other parks of England in which the remains of this 

 race have been, or are yet, preserved, are at Chartley, in 

 Staffordshire, at Wollaton in Nottinghamshire, at Gisburne 

 in Craven, at Limehall in Cheshire, at Kibbesdale in York- 

 shire, and at Burton Constable in Yorkshire. 



The wild cattle at Chartley Park, the -property of Lord 

 Ferrers, resemble those at Chillingham, but they are of larger 

 size, and have the muzzles and ears black. They frequently 

 tend to become entirely black ; and a singular superstition 

 prevails in the vicinity, that, when a black calf is born, some 

 calamity impends over the noble house of Ferrers. All the 

 black calves are destroyed ; and thus, as in other cases, we 

 are unable to know what ultimate character of colour the race 

 would assume. This park is a very ancient one : it belonged 



