APPENDIX C 325 



In its disposition it is much like the ordinary ox, which means 

 that the cows are tractable, the steers manageable, and the bulls 

 unreliable, sometimes dangerous. In general it seems to be an 

 indolent, easy-going creature, ready to go slow and get fat. 



Its temperamental contrast with the American Bison is illus- 

 trated by the arrangements at Woburn Park. There I saw the 

 thirty-three American Bison in a separate, strongly fenced pad- 

 dock, under ban as "dangerous," while we walked unarmed 

 among the Yak as though among ordinary dairy cows. 



The near affinity of this animal with the common cattle is 

 shown by the fact that it can be readily crossed with any of the 

 domestic breeds. 1 It is particularly fond of rugged hillside pas- 

 tures, where it scrambles among the rocks like a goat, or grows 

 fat on miserable wiry grass among which European stock would 

 starve. The country along the north shore of Lake Superior 

 would make a veritable Happyland for the Yak. 



With these general facts of the country and of the beast be- 

 fore me, I found no difficulty in getting a sympathetic hearing 

 on the Yak question from the very-much-alive authorities at 

 Ottawa. I was asked to solve the question of getting a small 

 herd to begin with, as well as full information on methods of 

 management. 



My opportunity for the last I recognized when on a visit to 

 Woburn Abbey, where for so many years this animal has been 

 successfully bred. The whole scheme was still further advanced 

 when, on hearing the details of the proposed introduction, his 

 Grace the Duke of Bedford, with characteristic generosity, pre- 

 sented to the Canadian Government a herd of six fine Yaks to be 

 the breeding start for the enterprise. 



These are to be handled first by the experimental farm at 

 Ottawa. Their number will be increased by fresh importations 

 as soon as experience shows that it is justified. Ultimately breed- 



1 Dr. W. T. Hornaday warns me that half-breeds are not desirable to 

 breed from, and that all breeding stock should be of pure Asiatic blood. 

 Hornless Yaks are either hybrids or degenerates. He says also that 

 $200 or $300 a head would be a fair price for first-class stock. 



