186 WILD WHITE CATTLE OF GEE AT BRITAIN. 



cannot be descended from Caesar's Urus ; for that, he 

 asserts, was quite indomitable, and could not even be 

 tamed "when- caught very young;" while, notwith- 

 standing their natural wildness, two of the Chillingham 

 cattle, taken young, were thoroughly domesticated by old 

 Cole, the keeper. But then Caesar's account may be in 

 some degree exaggerated. In a parallel case we know 

 he was in error ; and on a point like this he could have 

 no personal knowledge : his information must have been 

 derived from others. Men have a natural tendency to 

 add to the wonderful ; and I am not sure that even 

 now at Chillingham the possibility of reclaiming any 

 of the younger of the wild cattle would be universally 

 admitted by their keepers. It seems, however, pretty 

 clear that Caesar's statement is exaggerated on this 

 point ; for Sir Charles Lyell says : — " It is, however, 

 beyond question that . . . towards the close of the Stone 

 and beginning of the Bronze Period the lake-dwellers (of 

 Switzerland) had succeeded in taming that formidable 

 brute, the Bos jprimigenius, the Urus of Caesar." This 

 is exactly what we might have expected; for I am not 

 aware that (whatever may be the case with regard to 

 the Bison) it has ever been proved on good authority 

 that any species of Bos is, or ever was, unreclaimable. 



It has been shown that when taken very young 

 these animals may be domesticated and tamed; but 

 nothing of the kind could be accomplished with those 

 partially, or wholly, grown up. They are essentially 

 " wild beasts," fearing, hating man : scenting him, 

 as related by Boethius ; and I feel quite convinced 

 that if any of them were placed in captivity, his 

 description would be verified : they would be " sa 

 impacient that, eftir thair taking, they deit for import- 



