THE TRUE OXEN. 



125 



north-east of Bengal. It is specially dis- 

 tinguished by its very broad and short fore- 

 head, and by its thick, conical, and slightly 

 curved horns. The body is sturdy, thickset, 

 and clumsy; the shoulders are slightly ele- 

 vated into a hump; the legs are short; the 



colour of the coat black. At Antwerp I 

 have seen this animal represented as the 

 ideal of an ox by a celebrated artist. I 

 confess that I have conceived a totally con- 

 trary impression of it. However that may 

 be, we are assured that the gayal in its native 



i 



Fig. 196.— The Gayal {Bos frontalis). 



country is a very agile animal, and not at all 

 savage. It is said to flee from man, but 

 defends itself vigorously against other oxen. 

 It is easily tamed, and whole herds of gayals 

 are captured by gradually accustoming them 

 to associate with domesticated oxen. 



The Burmese Wild Ox, the Banteng of 

 the Javanese {Bos (Gavceus) sondaicus), fig. 

 197, is found on Java, Borneo, and Sumatra, 

 and resembles some species of our domesti- 

 cated oxen so much that it could not be 

 distinguished from them if a single individual 

 happened to be met with in a herd. It is 

 far inferior in size to the yak; a full-grown 

 bull measures only 5 feet at the shoulders. 



It might be described as a race of oxen with 

 slender legs, short broad head, moderately 

 long horns, which are turned only upwards, 

 and with a fine smooth reddish-brown coat, 

 which shows white patches on the lips, the 

 lower parts of the legs, and on the hinder 

 quarters. It is found everywhere on the 

 Sunda Islands where there is water or marshy 

 ground, both on the mountains and on the 

 plains. It always flees from man, but defends 

 itself when attacked, and it is much hunted 

 on account of its excellent flesh. It also is 

 easily tamed. The natives are accustomed 

 to drive their cows into the woods in order 

 that they may unite with the banteng bulls. 



