MAMMALIA—OX. 39) 
ox, ooth 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 
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ot 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 isa light ashy gray, passing into 
a cream color or milk white; but it is not unfrequently marked with various 
shades of red or brown, 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 ; 
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