THE INDIAN BISON. 



Probably no other land animal of equal 

 size is so little known throughout the 

 world as is the gaur, or Indian bison. 

 This animal is for Hindostan, Burmah 

 and the Malay Peninsula what the Amer- 

 ican bison, or buffalo, is to North America. 

 The Indian buffalo, however, is quite a 



HEAD OF INDIAN BISON. 



different kind of an animal. The gaur lives 

 on good, solid ground, and reaches his 

 finest development on the range of moun- 

 tains that forms the Andes of Hindostan, 

 known there as the Western Ghauts. 



When the hunter measures and skins a 

 big gaur, he is convinced that in bulk it is 

 larger than our buffalo; but when an old 

 bearded patriarch of our plains taxes his 

 strength and strains his tape measure, he 



is sure that our bison is the finest living 

 ruminant. It is practically certain, how- 

 ever, that both in shoulder height and 

 weight, the gaur does surpass our bison. 

 There are authentic records of gaur stand- 

 ing 6 feet in height at the shoulders, where- 

 as the largest American bison measures 

 4 inches less. The weight of the gaur re- 

 mains to be determined, for thus far a 

 specimen of the maximum size has never 

 been brought in contact with scales large 

 enough to weigh him. 



In appearance, the gaur looks very much 

 like a thin-haired ox with a hump on his 

 shoulders. Its body color is a dark ma-, 

 hogany brown, deepening to black on the 

 old bulls. The forehead, and legs, from the 

 knees down, are dirty white; and the in- 

 side of the thigh, forearm and ear is rich 

 ochre yellow. The horns are rather short 

 and thick, and clear white throughout. If 

 this huge creature only had the wealth of 

 hair that has been bestowed upon our buf- 

 falo, he would be magnificent. As it is, 

 our buffalo is a far handsomer animal, and 

 is much more imposing in appearance. 



Ordinarily there is no more danger in 

 hunting the gaur than in hunting Texas 

 cattle; but on the few occasions when this 

 animal has become infuriated and turned 

 upon his pursuer, he 'has proven himself a 

 dangerous antagonist. In Southern India, 

 Mr. Rhodes Morgan was nearly killed by a 

 young bull he had wounded. Only last 

 July, Capt. H. C. Syers, of Selangor, in 

 the Malay Peninsula, was attacked by an 

 infuriated bull which he was pursuing, 

 tossed 30 feet straight into the air (so his 

 English comrade stated), after which he 

 was again thrown with terrific force, from 

 the effects of which, and a horn thrust in 

 the stomach, he died in a few hours. 



W. T. H. 



SOME MICHIGAN SWINE. 



Otto Supe, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., sends 

 to a Detroit paper a record of butchery 

 that any decent man would be ashamed of 

 having participated in. Not so Otto. He 

 brags of it. Nay, more. He sent with his 

 story a photo which is reproduced in the 

 paper. It shows 13 deer and 3 men, and 

 Otto says of it: 



" Here is shown a picture of the meat 

 pole of our camp of 1897, and to the credit 

 of our party it can be said that we shot 

 and killed the entire exhibit, and 6 more 

 that were hung up after this picture was 

 taken." 



To the " credit," eh? I should say the 

 disgrace. What would you say, reader? 

 Thirteen and 6 make 19 — and this is the 



number of deer Otto and his friends claim 

 to have killed. He says there were 5 men 

 in the party. That would be more than 3 

 deer to each man. 



Here are the names of the members of 

 the party as Otto gives them: 



"John A. France, court stenographer; 

 J. H. Steele, circuit judge; M. S. Hotton, 

 city treasurer; Otto Supe, " watch tinker " ; 

 and James Thorne, chef.' 



It seems that all these men live in Sault 

 Ste. Marie. The " record maker " adds 

 '* John and I each killed 5." 



The laws of Michigan allow each man to 

 kill 5 deer in a season; but no man should 

 be a hog, simply because the law allows 

 him to be one. 



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