538 THE COMMON OX. 



qualities may be necessary. Besides their ordinary oxen, which 

 are employed as beasts of burden or of draught, they have 

 saddle-oxen which they use for riding, and war-oxen which 

 have been taught to guard the herds and flocks, and to attack 

 invading armies. These horned warriors, called backeleys or 

 bakely-osse, are chosen from the most courageous of the herd, 

 and permit themselves to be governed with ease : when their 

 leader sets them loose on the advance of the enemy, they rush 

 impetuously upon the ranks of the latter, overthrow the men, 

 toss them, gore them, kick and trample them to death. Kolben 

 says, that when they are employed in guarding the flocks, they 

 will, at the least sign from their masters, hasten to bring back 

 the cattle that are straying, and keep them herded together 3 

 and they rush with fury upon strangers, especially Europeans. 

 La Vaillant assures us that a hyaena, however hungry, will never 

 approach a flock guarded by two of these formidable animals, 

 and that a number of them will even attack a lion. Burchell 

 and Latrobe speak of the Hottentots calling their oxen by 

 name j and in Le Voyage de la Compagnie des Indes de Holland 

 (tome i. p. 490), it is stated that in Terceira (one of the Azores), 

 the oxen are the largest and finest of all Europe, and moreover 

 so gentle and docile, that although a thousand may be together, 

 any one of them will immediately come to its owner if he calls 

 it by name, for they are all distinguished by particular names. 

 In some parts of Essex and Hampshire, it is still usual to 

 suspend tinkling bells to the necks of the kine that are per- 

 mitted to roam in the woodlands, that the straying cows may 

 be more easily found at milking time. Those lovers of nature 

 who have strolled quietly through the woods and forests, and 

 have heard the simple music of these unpretending bells, and 

 caught occasional glimpses of the cattle in their leafy seclusion, 

 will not readily forget the charm which these simple incidents 

 imparted to the scenery. In Switzerland, however, this pretty 

 custom is most common - } and there only those cows that are 

 remarkable for their superior beauty, sagacity, or good temper 

 are permitted to bear the bell, and very sensible do they seem 



