DOMESTIC AND SEMI-DOMESTIC ANIMALS 37 



region, in capturing the animal, trade upon its liking for salt and a 

 particular kind of earth. Balls of these mixed substances are thrown 

 down in some jungle area that is known to be frequented by a wild 

 herd. The animals will not leave the district so long as there are 

 balls to be consumed, and the hunter spreads them about for a period 

 of five or six weeks. During this time he sends out his tame 

 Gayals to mix with their wild brethren, and then proceeds 

 to familiarize the Wild Oxen with himself. Presently he can go 

 among the mixed animals and stroke the tame ones without affright- 

 ing the w r ild ones, who in due course allow themselves to be caressed. 

 Thus it comes about that at the end of the fifth or sixth week the 

 Kuki villager is able to drive home the mixed herd, there to com- 

 plete the subjection of the latest additions to his stock." 



BANTING, OR JAVAN OX. We now come to the Banting or 

 Javan Ox shown in Fig. 26. As will be observed from even a 

 cursory inspection, this beast differs a good deal from the animal 

 last under consideration. It is not, for instance, such a heavily 

 built creature, the head is less massive and the horns are smaller. 

 On the hind-quarters the Banting is distinguished by the prominent 

 patch of white, the beginning of which can just be discerned in the 

 picture. 



The white buttocks and legs possessed by the bull are also well 

 shown in Fig 26, and whereas he has a black coat, the cow resembles 

 her calf in having reddish-brown or chestnut. 



This Ox, a sort of connecting link with the typical Oxen, does 

 not enjoy a wide range. It is found in the Malay Peninsula, Burma, 

 Java, Bali, Borneo, Siam and perhaps Sumatra. 



The Malays keep big herds in Java from whence it obtained one 

 of its names and in Bali the cattle are replenished by individuals 

 imported from the first-named island. 



In writing of the now extinct Aurochs, it will be remembered, 

 reference was made to the white and reddish-brown coloration of 

 the ancestral animal, and, this being so, it is deserving of notice 

 that the calves of the Gaur, Gayal and Banting are reddish-brown in 

 colour, a somewhat significant fact which should not be overlooked. 



It needs but a passing glance to observe that the Banting stands 

 upon longer legs than the Gayal, and, as a consequence, we find that 

 it is less adapted for climbing among rocky and precipitous situa- 

 tions, restricting its attention to the lowlands where the luxurious 

 plains suit it admirably. 



