16 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1906 



Among the chief objects of interest in the grounds may 

 be mentioned a curiously dwarfed Oak, whose stem measures 

 7 ft. 6 in. from the ground, and 9 ft. 3 in. in diameter at 

 its broadest, and 3 ft. at its narrowest, part. Oblong in 

 appearance and unusually squat, it may be only the remains 

 of an ancient tree whose full stem and primary branches 

 have perished ; but it has been also conjectured to be the 

 resultant of a few young trees planted in close proximity, 

 which have at last coalesced. A good idea of its unique 

 proportions may be obtained from a photograph which was 

 taken by a member in the course of the visit. (Plate I.) 

 Later in the day time was spent by members, who did not 

 venture out of the grounds on account of the threatening 

 state of the weather, in examining the Conifers and the 

 extensive gardens ; but an opportunity having been meanwliile 

 provided of viewing the famous herd of Wild 

 Chillin^ham Cattle, a ready response was given to the 

 Wild Cattle, summons of the Park Eanger, who assured the 

 party of a favourable view of these formidable 

 natives within a safe and easy distance. The Park through 

 which they cautiously wended their way, taking advantage 

 of available cover so as to avoid creating an alarm, contains 

 upwards of 1,500 acres of broken and undulating ground, 

 where pasture, thicket, and moorland combine to form a 

 most picturesque landscape, the highest point of which, about 

 two miles distant, is known by the title of Ros Castle. The 

 herd, which at the time numbered 66, of which 16 to 18 

 were bulls, was browsing in a glade immediately below 

 this rocky eminence, and could be well seen with the aid 

 of field-glasses. They are believed to be the descendants 

 of the breed that ranged through the great Caledonian 

 Forest, which extended from the Trent to the Clyde without 

 interval, and to be the modern representatives, "though much 

 degenerated in size," of Bos jyrimigeniiis. In a paper, read 

 before the British Association at Newcastle in 1838, the Earl 

 of Tankerville supplied the following interesting facts regard- 

 ing them. They are possessed of all the characteristics of 

 wild animals. They hide their young, feed in the night, 

 and bask or sleep for the most part during the day. They 

 are fierce when pressed, but, for the most part, timorous, 



