BOS, 485 



South India. The only Mishmi skull I have seen, one in Mr. 

 Hume's collection, has the vertex arched and the forehead broad, 

 but wants the frontal concavity, and thus shows a tendency 

 towards B. frontalis. The horns in all these heads have the 

 normal curve of: the gaur (see fig. 159, p. 488). 



Colour. Brown, almost black in old males, less dark and some- 

 times more rufous in females and young males, especially during the 

 cold season, and in those inhabiting drier parts of the country, 

 where there is less shade. Lower parts rather paler, hair about 

 axil and groin golden brown. Legs from above the knees and 

 hocks to the hoot's white. Head from above the eyes to the nape 

 ashy grey, becoming in some animals whity-brown or dirty white. 

 Muzzle pale-coloured. In calves, according to Blyth, there is a 

 dark stripe down the back. Horns pale greenish or yellowish, 

 with black tips. 



Dimensions. This appears to be the largest of existing bovines. 

 Large bulls are said to exceed 6 feet in height at the shoulder, 

 but this is i^are and exceptional, 5 ft. 8 in. to 5 ft. 10 in. being the 

 usual height. Cows are much smaller, about 5 ft. high. A huge 

 bull measured by Elliot was 6 ft. 1| in. high, 9 ft. 6 in. from nose 

 to root of tail, tail 2 ft. 10 in. long, girth behind shoulders 8 ft. 

 A cow 4 ft. 10| in. high measured 7 feet from nose to rump 

 over curves, and 6 ft. 9 in. in girth. A large male skull from 

 the Western Ghats measures 18 inches in basal length and 9"9 

 in zygomatic breadth. Average male horns measure 20 to 24 

 inches round the outside curve. Horns from Travaucore have 

 been recorded 39 inches in length and 19 inches in girth at the 

 base ; whilst other Travancore horns measure 20-75 in girth, and a 

 pair from the Malay Peninsula 22, though only 32 long. Large 

 cows' horns measure 23 and 24 round the outside curve, with a 

 girth of 13'25. The girth of each horn in freshly killed specimens 

 is about an inch more than in dried skulls. 



Distribution. All the great hilly forest-tracts of the Indian 

 Peninsula, Assam, Burma, and the Malay Peninsula. The eastern 

 range of this species is not clearly known except that it is said to 

 extend to Siam and, I believe, to Cochin China. B. gaurus does 

 not exist in Ceylon nor in any of the Malay Islands ; it is said, 

 however, to have inhabited Ceylon up to the commencement of the 

 present century *. In India at present its extreme north-western 

 habitat is probably the Eajpipla hills, near Broach ; and west of 

 long. 80° East the river Nerbudda forms approximately, though 



* Knox, writing in 1681, mentioned under the name of Guavcra an animal 

 kept tame at Kandy. The descri]Dtion of this animal corresponds with B. (/aiirus. 

 Kelaart (Prod. p. 87), Forbes (' Journal of Eleven Years' Residence in Ceylon,' 

 ii, p. 1.59), and Grriiliths (Cuv. An. King, v, p. 410) also mention the Guavera 

 or Goura as formerly inhabiting Ceylon. On the other hand, Sanderson has 

 pointed out the improbability of the gaur having disappeared from an area 

 where wild elephants still exist in large numbers. Neviil ('Taprobanian,' iii, 

 p. 5) regards it as probable that the gaur formerly existed wild in Ceylon, but 

 had been introduced by man. 



