THE BRAHMIN BULL, or INDIAN OX. 115 



THE BRAHMIN BULL, or INDIAN OX. 



IN THE GARDENS OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



This animal, although by no means rare in the country in which it is indigenous, may, nevertheless, 

 be considered as one of the greatest ornaments of the place in which it is now confined. In size it is 

 equal, if not superior, to that of our domestic oxen, and, with the exception of some particular 

 characteristics which are the distinguishing marks of its species, it bears a very great resemblance in 

 its form and habits to the ox of this country. The Indian ox may be strictly said to belong to the 

 race of the bisons, having the hump on the back peculiar to those animals, but the great difference 

 between them consists in the length of the hair, and the peculiar form of the head. The neck, the 

 shoulders, and the lower part of the throat of the bison are covered with long wiry hair, whereas 

 those parts of the Indian ox are merely covered with the same kind of short hair as the other parts of 

 the body, nor is there even on the head that curled and frizzly hair which distinguishes the head of 

 our common bull. It is stated by M. de la Nux, that the bisons, or humpbacked oxen of India 

 and of Africa, will breed with the bulls and cows of Europe, and that the hump is merely an acci- 

 dental characteristic, which diminishes after the first generation, and wholly disappears after the 

 second or third. The Indian ox differs from the European merely by accidental varieties, and, ac- 

 cording to Buffon, he traces all the domestic oxen without humps to the aurochs, and all the hump- 

 backed oxen to the bison. That eminent naturalist says, that it is the hump, the length and quality 

 of the hair, and the form of the horns, which are the only characteristics by which the bison is to be 

 distinguished from the aurochs; but in order to bring these animals to the same origin, it is necessary 

 to remark that the length and quality of the hair in all animals depend on the nature of the climate, 

 and that in oxen, goat, and sheep, the shape of the horns is by no means determinate, therefore it 

 cannot be affirmed that these differences are sufficient to establish the existence of two distinct 

 species. It is, however, worthy of remark that the two species appear to be the inhabitants of op- 

 posite climates. The oxen without humps occupy the cold and temperate zones ; on the other hand, 

 the bisons, or humpbacked oxen, inhabit all the southern provinces, the entire continent of the Indies, 

 the islands of the southern oriental seas, the entire of Africa from Mont Atlas to the Cape of Good 

 Hope ; and it appears also that those species which inhabit the hot countries are characterized by the 

 shortness of their hair, and, as beasts of burthen or of draught, the humpbacked species possess many 

 advantages over the common oxen. The oxen of Surat, which belong to the species now under our 

 consideration, are all white, of an extraordinary size, and some of them have two humps. They are 

 trained when young, and are taught not only to trot but to gallop in harness, which is, in general, of 

 the most costly kind. One of these animals, decked out for some of the religious ceremonies of 

 the Brahmins, presents a most gaudy appearance. It is covered with wreaths of flowers, and bells are 

 hung round its neck; its body is enveloped in the richest silks, and it is followed by crowds of 

 fanatics, who eagerly collect the dung which falls from it, and which is preserved by these people as 

 an invaluable treasure, and as a charm against many of the maladies to which they are liable. In 

 the travels of John Ovington, he says, speaking of the Indian oxen, " The carriages of Mogul, which 

 are a species of coach on two wheels, are all drawn by oxen, which, although naturally heavy and slow 

 SO 2 h 



