146 ANIMALS USED IN WAR, 



Chaptbe IX.— bullocks. 



Bullocks are unsatisfactory war animals. They are of no use 

 for the transport of fighting formations, and their only place is 

 for transport service on Lines of Communications. In India 

 their great drawback — and it is a very serious one, is their 

 proneness to the dire contagious diseases which are extant in 

 that country. It has been the experience of all campaigns in 

 India that within a very short time after mobilization either 

 Einderpest or Foot-and-Mouth Disease, or both together, pre- 

 sent themselves, crippling all useful service and creating untold 

 inconvenience. There is no escape from these two diseases. 

 They are, like the poor, always with us. I have fully remarked 

 on them in a previous section, " Wastage of Animals in War," 

 and further reference is unnecessary. One feels sorry for the 

 old " Bile of India," but where reliability is concerned, it must 

 be ruled out. The transport bullock of the present day, both 

 Siege Train and Army Transport, is not of the same excellent 

 standard that existed when I first made his acquaintance 30 

 years ago. In ten years I see a vast difference — and it is only 

 to be expected when the production of stock in India, and 

 particularly of good stock, is pushed into the back-ground by 

 the more profitable and increasingly valuable crops of cereals 

 and cotton. 



Were it not for his serious contagious diseases and the 

 difficulty of controlling their spread under circumstances of 

 movement, I should advance him in the scale of military utility ; 

 for a pair of good bullocks are surprisingly equal to the haulage 

 of heavy loads, considerably more than the allotted army load 

 of 10 to 12 maunds (800 to 960 lb) provided the pace is slow, the 

 stages are short, diet is sufficient (it usually is for Bullocks) and 

 rest permits the act of rumination. He is certainly a willing 

 slave, and he is not very much impressed with fine ideas about 

 harsh treatment. His resistance to disease is considerably 

 influenced by breed and locality. For instance, Southern India 

 animals, e.g. the Mysore, are more readily attacked by Einder- 

 pest, and contract the disease in more virulent form than 



