30 WILD WHITE CATTLE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



because these countries have been for ages the battle- 

 field of Europe ; their cattle have been devastated by 

 repeated pestilences, frequently re-imported, and con- 

 tinually crossed. It is only in Great Britain and Ireland, 

 and in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, countries less 

 affected by these causes — and not always in them — that 

 the ancient breeds of Western Europe can now be found 

 in a state at all approaching to their original purity. I 

 must, however, make a single exception to this state- 

 ment. In one of the eastern departments of France — 

 the Saone-et-Loire, part of the old Duchy of Burgundy, 

 and lying at the foot of the Jura and its forests — there 

 has existed time out of mind a magnificent white race 

 of the Urus type, the Charolais ; one so different from 

 other French races that it has been supposed to be de- 

 scended from the Tuscan. For this there exists no 

 authority, either ancient or modern, and I quite agree 

 with Messrs. Moll and Gayot in believing that, like the 

 white cattle of Great Britain, the Charolais are the 

 descendants of the ancient forest breed, like them white 

 with black markings. Their excellent qualities have 

 caused the large extension of the breed in other parts 

 of France ; but for a fuller account of this most valu- 

 able sort I must refer my readers to the excellent account 

 of the Charolais race by Monsieur Chamard, given in 

 Messrs. Moll and Gayot's work, adding, however — having 

 seen some of these beautiful animals at the London 

 Exhibition in 1862 — that I fully appreciate his state- 

 ment that, " as respects rapidity of growth and disposi- 

 tion to fatten, the Charolais race yields only to the best 

 types of the Durham breed ; " and, like the latter, it 

 has been much cultivated. 



There is one animal I wish much we could see in all 



