276 CASSKLL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



The Bcarnaise cow, which inhabits the basin of the A dour, has generally ;i clear bay coat, some- 

 times rather dark ; Imnis white as ivory, roiunl, tine, elevated in the. air, long and pointed; the fore- 

 quartera more developed proportionably than the hinder ones ; much dewlap ; tine bones; remarkable 

 ability ; small or medium height ; weight variable ; aptitude for work. 



The Gascon race is a variety of the medium sixe, very robust, bad for the production of milk ; 

 thick skin ; dewlap hanging almost to the ground ; horns short, thick, smooth, turned to the side. 



The Dutch race is spotted with black and white ; the head long and tine ; small horns ; skin tine 

 and supple ; thin neck ; fine bones; great or medium size; very good milking powers. This race is 

 found the whole length of the coast from the frontiers of France to Holstein. 



The horned cattle bred on the luxuriant pastures of Hungary are some of the finest in Europe. 

 A race peculiar to the country, of a gravisij white, with large, spreading horns, is remarkable for size 

 and beauty. 



In Spain and Portugal, where extensive wilds and forest lands afford ample pasturage, large 

 herds of oxen, born in freedom, wander uncontrolled and untroubled, excepting by man, from whom 

 tliev flee with precipitation, till, roused to fury by his assaults, they attack him with restless im- 

 petuosity. It is from these herds that the Spaniards and Portuguese select the fiercest and boldest 

 for the revolting contests of the arena ; while others are tamed and broken in for the purposes of 

 husbandry. 



In Switzerland there is an excellent breed of cattle, and in no country are these animals more 

 carefully attended to, or held in greater esteem for their utility, as far as the dairy is concerned. The 

 richer proprietors and breeders in the Alps possess tracts of pasturage, and sometimes houses at 

 different heights. In winter they live at the foot of the mountain in some sheltered valley, but this 

 they quit iu the spring, and ascend gradually, as the heat calls forth vegetation on the higher lands. 

 In autumn they descend by the same gradation into the valley. 



The cattle of the upland pasture strike the traveller as being particularly clean, neat, and 

 heal thy- looking, with much more of the slim make and breed of wild animals than our own cattle. 

 They are, however, far from wild in reality, allowing strangers to corne near, and even touch them 

 more readily than the cows in an English meadow. They are usually small, and, from their size, as 

 well as their general appearance, remind the English visitor of the " black cattle" of the north, though 

 they are certainly of a finer breed than tlu Scotch. The cows are very active, fond of gambols, and 

 full of spirit. Often do they follow strangers from rock to rock, merely to observe them ; while the 

 bulls, though their looks are fierce, "do not make any attack. It is a beautiful sight to behold the 

 herd itself, consisting often of more than a hundred cows, thickly dotted over the open green slopes 

 at the base of some high cliff above, or appearing here and there amidst the woody glades of some 

 valley, far, fur beneath. 



Almost every cow in Switzerland has a large bell suspended around her neck ; and, in passing 

 through the valleys or wooded slopes of the mountains, it is very pleasing to hear the continuous 

 tinkling* of these bells from a large Iv-rd, more especially when approaching, as they often do, 

 from a considerable distance. The finest bhiek cow is adorned with the largest bells, and the two 

 next in appearance wear smaller ones. It is surprising to see the pride and pleasure with which the 

 rows stalk forth when ornamented with their bells ; and, though it would be hardly expected that such 

 animals would be sensible of their rank, and affected by vanity and jealousy, yet such appears to be 

 the case. If the leading cow is deprived of her honour, she indicates her sense of disgrace by lowing 



nitly, abstaining from food, and losing condition. On the other hand, the happy rival on whom 

 the badge uf superiority has been placed, becomes the object of her vengeance, and is butted, wounded, 

 and persecuted by her in a furious manner, until she regains her bell, or is entirely removed 

 from the herd. The herd are frequently adorned with a harmonious set of bells, chiming in accordance 

 with the celebrated Ilanz des V aches. 



The Ranz des V aches is commonly supposed to be a single air ; it stands, in fact, for a class of 

 melodies. The literal meaning of the phrase is " cow-rows," and all the airs in use are derived from 

 the manner in which the cows walk home along the Alpine pat'.is at milking time. In allusion to 

 them, Wordsworth says : 



