CHAPTER X. 



The Chillingham Herd (continued) — Constitution and Government of the Herd — 

 Combats of the Bulls sometimes fatal — Calves produced at all Seasons — -Con- 

 cealment of the Calves — Sick Animals often gored — Weight and Quality of 

 Meat — Statistics of the Herd, past and present — Questions of Fecundity 

 and Inter-breeding — No proof that the Herd has never been crossed — Herds 

 of Deer crossed — No Difficulty formerly in obtaining a Cross — Probability 

 that the Herd has been crossed. 



The constitution of the Chillingham herd is an abso- 

 lute monarchy. At its head is always a male, who is 

 known as the king bull; he acquires his crown by virtue 

 of his own prowess, and must always be prepared to 

 defend it. The females are at his disposal, and the 

 less potent males obey him. The king bull generally 

 succeeds in maintaining his supremacy for two or three 

 years, while strength and vigour last ; but when age 

 comes with years, bringing weakness instead of strength, 

 the failing monarch succumbs to a. younger and more 

 energetic rival, who is again in his turn deposed, after 

 a somewhat similar interval, by the flower of the rising 

 generation. Few reign so long as the Prince of Wales's 

 bull did, and he would have been previously deposed 

 had not the bull who would naturally have succeeded 

 him been shot for the purpose of sending him to the 

 Moscow Exhibition. Though, in case of alarm or of a 

 necessity of righting for the protection of the herd, the 

 king bull takes the lead, it did not appear to me that 

 their ordinary movements were so systematised, and 

 Michie assured me they were not. The king bull — 



