MAMMALIA-OX. 



391 



ox, both as a beast of burthen and as an article of food and domestic econo- 

 my. In some parts of India, it executes the duties of the horse also ; being 

 either saddled and ridden, or harnessed in a carriage, and performing in 

 this manner journeys of considerable length with tolerable celerity. Some 



of the older writers speak of fifty or sixty miles a day, as its usual rate 

 of travelling ; but the more moderate computation of recent authors does 

 not exceed from twenty to thirty. Its beef is considered by no means 

 despicable, although far from equalling that of the European ox. The 

 hump, which is chiefly composed of fat, is reckoned the most delicate part. 

 As might naturally be expected from its perfect domestication and wide dif- 

 fusion, the zebu is subject to as great a variety of colors as those which affect 

 the European race. Its most common hue is a light ashy gray, passing into 

 a cream color or milk white; but it is not unfrequently marked with various 

 shades of red or bro-\vn, and occasionally it becomes perfectly black. Its 

 hump is sometimes elevated in a remarkable degree, and usually retains 

 its upright position ; but sometimes it becomes half pendulous, and hangs 

 partly over towards one side. Instances are cited, in which it had attained 

 the enormous weight of fifty pounds. A distinct breed is spoken of as 

 common in Surat, which is furnished with a second hump. Among the 

 other breeds, there are some which are entirely destitute of horns ; and 

 others, which have only the semblance of them, the external covering 

 being unsupported by bony processes, and being consequently flexible and 

 pendulous. 



The whole of the breeds are treated with great veneration by the Hindoos, 

 who hold it sinful to deprive them of life under any pretext whatever. But 

 they do not, in general, scruple to make the animals labor for their benefit; 



