6480 Notice of the various 



During the heat of the day the herd reposes in the deepest cover, 

 coming forth at morn and eventides to feed in the small and open 

 pastures interspersed throughout the forest. Here the animals spread, 

 of necessity, in order to feed, but in moving to and fro from their 

 pastures they advance in single file, along the narrow beats made by 

 themselves, by elephants, samburs, and other large tenants of the soli- 

 tary and seemingly impenetrable wilderness. 



" On an elephant, and in the day-time, you may, if you show yourself 

 distinctly, approach the herd with facility, and I have seen the males 

 stand with a careless indifference within a few paces ; probably because 

 they fear not the wild elephant, and are never molested by sportsmen 

 with the aid of the tame one, the shastras having decreed that the 

 Gauri is like unto Bos. No gentleman of the country [Nipal] will 

 attempt to kill the Gauri ; and plebeians, if they have less tender 

 consciences, have ordinarily no adequate appliances for the work." A 

 mode of hunting these animals, by people of low caste, is however 

 described ; and the pertinacity of the gaour, in watching the tree into 

 which his pursuer may have mounted for shelter, is especially noticed. 

 " In cases in which the luckless climber has dropped his weapon, and 

 his companions have feared to come presently to the rescue, the Gauri 

 has been known to keep his station at the bottom of the tree for twenty- 

 four hours, and it is believed would never have stirred from the spot, 

 so long as the man was above, if the animal had not been eventually 

 destroyed." Mr. Elliot, however, remarks that " the persevering 

 ferocity of the * bison ' of the sub-Himalayan range, described by Mr. 

 Hodgson, is quite foreign to the character of the animal in the southern 

 forests. When wounded, it is true it charges its assailant with deter- 

 mined courage, and many instances have come to my knowledge of its 

 doing so with fatal effect ; but in general it will always seek its safety 

 by flight, if permitted." 



Mr. Elliot mentions different grasses and other plants upon which 

 the gaours subsist, and adds that " they will eat with avidity every 

 species of grain commonly cultivated on the hills or plains, as the ryots 

 find to their cost. They are so particularly fond of the Dolichos lablab, 

 when in blossom, that they will invade and destroy fields of it in open 

 daylight, and despite any resistance the villagers can offer. In other 

 respects it is a very inoffensive animal, very rarely attacking any one 

 it encounters, except in the case of a single bull driven from the herd. 

 Such a one has occasionally been known to take up his location in 

 some deep bowery jungle, and deliberately quarter himself on the 

 cultivation of the adjacent villages. The villagers, though ready to 



