204 Mr. E. Blyth on the supposititious "Bos (?) pegasus." 



XXIV. — The supposititious "Bos(?) pegasus" of the late 

 Colonel Charles Hamilton Smith. By Edward Blyth, 

 Hon. Memb. As. Soc. &c. 



In a notice of the two species of Aoudad inhabiting North 

 Africa [Ovis lervia, Pallas, sp., of the Atlas, and 0. ornataj 

 Geoffroy, of Upper Egypt) which I contributed to the ' Field ' 

 newspaper for May 13th, 1871, I identified the Ethiopian 

 Pegasus of Pliny with one or the other of those well-known 

 anii3:ials — which, indeed, had been previously suggested by 

 Col. C. H. Smith, only that he did not sufficiently discrimi- 

 nate a variety of African ruminants, respecting which his ex- 

 tensive erudition enabled him to collate a number of curious 

 but vague notices in sundry languages ; while out of the whole 

 of them he constructed a supposed animal, which he denomi- 

 nates " Bos (?) pegasus^'' and reproduces a figure (about which 

 more anon), which particular figm-e I consider to be meant to 

 represent an exceedingly curious and remarkable, but domestic, 

 Angola ram, akin to the well-known long-limbed and very 

 calf-like ram of the Guinea coast. The figure referred to ap- 

 pears in the treatise on the Ruminantia which the Colonel 

 contributed to Griffith's English edition of Cuvier's ' R^gne 

 Animal ' (vol. iv. p. 386). That very learned officer described 

 his supposed " Bos (?) pegasus " as follows : — 



" The Pagasse. — The names of Pacase of Gallini and Carli, 

 Empaguessa of Merolla, Empacasse of Lopes and Marmol, in- 

 dicate an animal presumed to be a species of buffalo, but not 

 described with sufficient precision to be admitted into the cata- 

 logues of nomenclalors. The word is evidently of great anti- 

 quity and extent, as may be gathered from Pliny, although at 

 present banished from the regions where the Arabic has usurped 

 the ancient language, and confined to the regions of Angola 

 and Congo, where it is coupled with the generic name em or 

 ew, denoting a bovine animal. Thus engamba, a cow ; em- 

 palunga^ another large ruminant, which is conjectured to be the 

 Takhaise of Daniell " (this being doubtless a misrepresentation, 

 from memory^ of Hippotragus equinus, the equine or roan 

 antelope of South Africa, with a beard on the chin, which is 

 non-existent in any known species of Hippotragus) ; " and 

 Em-pacasse. Pliny relates that Ethiopia " {i. e. Libya) " pro- 

 duces winged horses armed with horns, named Pegasi " (the 

 Aoudad!). " Fathers Galli and Carli observe that, ^ On the 

 road to Loando, they saw two Pacasses, which are animals 

 very similar to buffaloes, roaring like lions, the male and 

 female being always together. They are white, with rufous 

 and black spots, with ears half a yard in length, and the horns 



