36 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



November 1909, Dr. F. D. Welch, F.Z.S., exhibited photographs of 

 a male Gayal living in the Society's Gardens, in which the lower 

 halves of both fore- and hind-legs were almost entirely black, instead 

 of pure white as in the normal adult. 



The Gayal may be regarded as a semi-domestic animal which is 

 found in the hilly parts of North-Eastern India, but of late years 

 some interesting data have come to light concerning it, and we now 

 learn that it is also a perfectly wild beast. Its life and habits as 

 such are at present imperfectly understood, and there is no doubt 

 much of interest to learn concerning it from this point of view. 



A somewhat heavy-looking creature, the broad head and flat 

 forehead are distinctly attractive, and whilst it resembles somewhat 

 the handsome Gaur, or mis-named Bison, it is smaller in stature, 

 has shorter limbs, and a lesser development of the ridge along the 

 back, but a more prominent dewlap on the throat, as shown in the 

 picture of the bull in Fig. 24. 



The Gayal is one of the three most remarkable members of the 

 genus to which it belongs, and, like the magnificent Gaur, ft pos- 

 sesses thick, massive horns which are, however,, not nearly so curved, 

 and where they do curve it is outwards and upwards rather than 

 inwards. Thus the horns have a wider stretch than in the case of 

 the Gaur. These appendages are blackish in colour throughout. 



As has been shown, some kinds of domestic Gayals (see Fig. 25) 

 are parti-coloured, or even white, and the cow is considerably 

 smaller than her mate. In a wild state it is an inhabitant of hilly 

 country, of wild forests where it can roam about at will, whilst 

 it is as well to notice that difficult rocky places are surmounted with 

 ease, an interesting trait in an animal built on such bulky lines. 



High up on the Indian hills, and also on the hillsides below, the 

 Gayal is a favourite animal among the tribes there found, whilst the 

 Gaur is an established favourite as well, so much so indeed that from 

 careful examinations that have been made there seems reason to 

 suppose that the two animals sometimes interbreed. 



Also known as the Mithan, the Gayal is most useful to the 

 Indians for the purposes of food, and this apparently is all, for, as 

 Mr. Blanford points out, the Indo-Chinese tribes who keep Gayals 

 never drink milk, and so far as has been ascertained, the animals 

 are not used as beasts of burden, nor are they employed in agricul- 

 tural labour. 



Mr. Protheroe mentions that "the Kukis of the Chittagong 



