504 



VERTEBRATA. 



INDIAN' OX OR ZEBU OF THE LARGER KIND. 



A rover still unchecked will range, 

 As humor culls or seasons change, 

 His tent of mats and leathern gear 

 All packed upon the patient steer." 



The oxen of Southern Africa are chiefly used for traveling over the interior of the country 

 v arc harnessed to large covers! wagons, in which men, women, and children make journeys 

 of hundreds of miles ; and as there are often no towns or houses along the way, these vehicles arc 

 only osed to ride in, but to sleep in. While the party is encamped at night they often hear 

 the roar of the lions and howls of the hyenas around them. Many European travelers have 

 n ii- narratives of expeditions of this kind. 

 In other parts of Africa the ox is employed in like manner. Major Denham gives the follow- 

 in..' acount of its use in a portion of Central Africa which he visited : "The beasts of burden," he 

 bullock and the ;ts s. A very fine breed of the latter are found in the Mandara 

 valley.-. Strangers and chi< f's in the service of the sheikh, or sultan, alone possess camels. The 

 bullock is the bearer "fall the grain and other articles to and from the markets. A small saddle 

 <>{ plaited rushes i- laid on him, when sacks made of goat-skins, and filled with corn, are lashed 

 on his broad and able hack. A leathern thong is passed through the cartilage of his nose, and 

 ts a bridle; while on the top of the load is mounted the owner, his wife, or his slave. 

 Sometimi - tie- daughter <>r wife of a rich Shouaa will be mounted on her particular bullock, and 

 precede the loaded animals, extravagantly adorned with amber, silver rings, coral, and all sorts 

 of finery; her hair streaming with fat; a Mack rim of kohal, at least an inch wide, round each 

 of her eyi s; and, I may say, arrayed for conquest at the crowded market. Carpet or ropes BT< 

 then Bpread on her clumsy palfry; she sits astride, and with considerable grace guides her animal 

 by the dosi ." 



Tin- 01 of the ancient Egyptians, as may be seen by the figures of their god Apis, was similar 

 to tic- pp sent European breeds. 



