170 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Oxen, 



Fig. 738 represents a London railking-shed, such 

 as may be seen at Islington, where between 30 and 

 40 cows are arranged on each side : nothing can ex- 

 ceed the attention to order and cleanliness displayed 

 in the conducting of such establishments for sup- 

 plying the British metropolis with milk ; nor to the 

 treatment and feeding of the animals. 



Fig. 739 represents a Cattle-layer, or place erected 

 for the repose of cattle driven from great distances 

 to the. Smithfield market ; these cattle-layers are 

 principally on the northern outskirts of London, and 

 the grazier or drover agrees with the proprietor of 

 them for a few hours' shelter, rest, and fodder for 

 his drove, for a stipulated but very moderate sum. 



Fig. 740 represents the simple but efficient mode 

 adopted in Normandy of preventing the cow, by 

 means of a sort of martingale, from nibbling and 

 breaking down the lower branches of the apple- 

 trees with which the vast cornfields of that district 

 are studded, or which form extensive but unfenced 

 orchards. The apple is there greatly cultivated for 

 the sake of cider, the " bon cidre de Normandie" 

 being greatly celebrated. 



Figs. 741, 742.— The Gayal 

 (Bos Gavceus). Gavaya, Sansc. ; GavaT or Gayal, 

 Hind. ; Gobaygoru, Beng. ; Gaujangali, Pers. : Me- 

 thana, Mountaineers (Cucis, &c.) ^east of Silhet ; 

 Shial, Mountaineers (Cucis) east of Chatgaon ; 

 J'hongnua, Mugs; Nunec, Burmas; Gauvera, Ceylon. 



India presents us with several species of wild 

 oxen, independent of such as belong to the buffalo 

 tribe, some of which are domesticated in certain dis- 

 tricts, beyond which they are not dispersed ; such is 

 the Gayal. According to Mr. Macrae, the gayal is 

 found wild in the range of mountains that form the 

 eastern boundary of the provinces of Arracan, Chit- 

 tagong (Chatgaon), Tipura, and Silhet. The Cucis, 

 or Lunetas, a people inhabiting the hills immediately 

 to the eastward of Chatgaon, have herds of them in 

 a domesticated state. The animal is called Gabay 

 in the Hindu Sastra, but, as it would appear, is little 

 known beyond the limits of its native mountains, 

 except to the inhabitants of the provinces above 

 mentioned. We learn from the same author that 

 the gayal is of a dull heavy appearance, but that 

 its form at the same time indicates great strength 

 and activity, like that of the wild buffalo. Its dispo- 

 sition is gentle, and in a wild state on its native hills 

 it is not considered dangerous, never standing the 

 approach of man, much less sustaining his attack. 

 The Cucis hunt the wild animals for the sake of 

 their flesh. The gayal is a tenant of the forest, and 

 prefers the tender shoots and leaves of shrubs to 

 grass : it never wallows in the mud like the buffalo. 

 In a state of domestication among the Cucis, it does 

 not undergo any labour, nor is the milk of the fe- 

 male, which though small in quantity is extremely 

 rich, held in any request ; the animals are bred and 

 reared solely for the sake of their flesh and hides, 

 of which latter the Cucis form strong shields. These 

 domesticated herds roam at large in their forests 

 during the day and return home to their villages in 

 the evening, being taught to do this very early by 

 being fed when young every night with salt, of 

 which these animals are very fond. Though the 

 Cucis slaughter the domestic gayal, the Hindus in 

 the province of Chatgaon will not kill this animal 

 (their gabay), which they hold in equal veneration 

 with the cow, but they hunt and kill another gayal 

 (as 1'gayal, or Seloi"), as they do the wild buffalo. 



The cry of the gayal is a kind of lowing, shriller, 

 but not so loud as that of the European ox, without 

 any resemblance to the grunt of the buffalo. 



The gayal is nearly of the size and shape of the 

 English bull ; it has short horns, which are distant 

 at their bases, and rise in a gentle curve upwards 

 and outwards, their transverse section near the 

 base ovate ; the forehead is broad, and crowned 

 with a tuft of lighter-coloured, lung-curved hair; 

 the dewlap is deep and pendent ; there is no mane 

 or hump as in the zebu, but the withers rise to a 

 considerable elevation. The tail is short, the body 

 covered with a tolerable coat of straight dark-brown 

 hair ; on the belly it is lighter coloured, and the legs 

 and face are sometimes white. The form of the ani- 

 mal and the way in which it carries its head will be 

 understood from our cut (Fig. 741), which is reduced 

 from that by a native artist, prefixed to Mr. Cole- 

 brooke's paper on this species in the i Asiatic Re- 

 searches' (vol. viii.). 



From various experiments it is proved that the do- 

 mestic gayal will breed with the ordinary zebu cattle 

 of India ; but whether the offspring will interbreed 

 with each other is yet to be ascertained. 



Fig 742 is the head of the true wild gayal, or, as 

 the natives term it, Aseel Gayal, from a drawung by 

 General Hardwicke : the specimen was a female 

 from the south-east frontier of Bengal. 



743.— The Gyall 

 (Bos frontalis, Lambert). In the seventh volume of 

 the ' Linnsean Transactions ' will be found the figure 



and description of a Gyall (which died ir London in 

 1842), by A. B. Lambert, Esq., who quotes the fol- 

 lowing letter from George Harris, Esq., this latter 

 gentleman being well acquainted with the domestic 

 gyall in its native country : referring to a commu- 

 nication from Mr. Lambert, he writes, " I have before 

 me your note, with the drawing, which appears to 

 me to be the figure of the animal I mentioned to 

 have in my possession. Some parts of the drawing 

 seem to be rather too much enlarged, as the base of 

 the horns and the rising between the fore-shoulders. 

 The animal I described to you, and which I have 

 kept and reared these last seven years, and know 

 by the name of the gyall, is a native of the hills to 

 the north-east and east of the company's province, 

 of Chittagong, in Bengal, inhabiting that range of 

 hills which separates it from the country of Arracan. 

 The male gyall is like our bull in shape and appear- 

 ance, but I conceive not quite so tall, and of a 

 blackish-brown colour ; the horns short, but thick 

 and strong towards the base, round which, and across 

 the frons (chaffron), the hair is bushy, and of a dirty 

 white colour. The chest and forehead are broad 

 and thick. He is naturally very bold, and will de- 

 fend himself against any of the beasts of prey. The 

 female differs little in appearance : her horns are 

 not quite so large, and her make is somewhat more 

 slender ; she is very quiet, and used for all the pur- 

 poses of the dairy, as also (I have been informed by 

 the natives) for tilling the ground, and is more tract- 

 able than the buffalo. The milk which these cows 

 give has a peculiar richness in it, arising, I should 

 conceive, from their mode of feeding, which is al- 

 ways on the young shoots and branches of trees, in 

 preference to grass. I constantly made it a practice 

 to allow them to range abroad amongst the hills and 

 jungles at Chittagong during the day to browse, a 

 keeper attending to prevent their straying so far as 

 to endanger losing them. They do not thrive in 

 any part of Bengal so well as in the afore-mentioned 

 province, and in the adjoining one, Tipperah, where 

 I believe the animal is also to be found. I have 

 heard of one instance of a female gyall breeding 

 with a common bull." 



Lesson, and the author of the article * Ox ' in the 

 ' Penny Cyclopaedia,' seem to regard the gayal and 

 the gyall as distinct; from the descriptions, how- 

 ever, which are given, it is quite evident that they 

 relate to one and the same species, as Fischer, in 

 his ' Synopsis Mammalium,' considers them to be. 

 The title frontalis, therefore, must be retained by 

 right of priority over Gavcsus. Among the syno- 

 nyms given by Fischer, are, " Bos Bubalus Gau- 

 vera, Pennant, ' Quadr.' : Gauvera, Knox, Ceylon : 

 Bantinger Javan, and Bos Sylhetanus, F. Cuvier." 

 The Bos Sylhetanus, the Jungly Ghau, and the Aseel 

 Gayal, are then identical. 



Fig. 744 is a representation of the male Jungly 

 Ghau, or Aseel Gayal (Bos frontalis, Lambert ; Bos 

 Gaveeus, CoJebrooke; Bos Sylhetanus, F. Cuv.) 



Duvaucel, who hunted this animal at the foot of 

 the Silhet Mountains, describes it as very wild, but 

 easily domesticated ; he states, that until he had 

 opportunities of seeing it in a state of nature, he 

 entertained the opinion that it did not differ essen- 

 tially from our domestic ox, his impression being 

 received from an inspection of specimens living tame 

 in the menagerie at Barracpore : subsequently he 

 regarded it as distinct. 



745.— The Gour 



(Bos Gour, Traill, in ' Edinb. Phil. Journ.' Oct. 

 1824). Of this noble species of wild ox we are able 

 only to give a figure of the horns from a drawing 

 by General Hardwicke. The gour to which they 

 belonged was killed, as General Hardwicke be- 

 lieved, by the same hunting-party described by 

 Capt. Rogers, and the horns were presented to the 

 General by the principal member of that party, the 

 late Major Roughsedge. These horns were fifteen 

 inches between the tips ; their colour is horn-grey, 

 with black and solid tips, which are extremely 

 sharp, A fine pair are in the museum of the Zool. 

 Soc. Lond. 



According to Capt. Rogers, the gour occurs in 

 several of the mountain- districts of Central India, 

 but is chiefly found in Myn Pat, or Mine Paut, a 

 high insulated mountain, with a tabular summit, in 

 the province of Sergojah, in South Bahar. " This 

 table-land is about thirty-six miles in length, by 

 twenty-four or twenty-five miles in breadth, and 

 rises above the neighbouring plains probably two 

 thousand feet. The sides of the mountain slope 

 with considerable steepness, and are furrowed by 

 streams that water narrow valleys, the verdant banks 

 of which are the favourite haunts of gours. On 

 being disturbed they retreat into the thick jungles 

 of saul-trees which cover the sides of the whole 

 range. The south-east side of the mountain pre- 

 sents an extensive mural precipice from twenty to 

 forty feet high. The rugged slopes at its foot are 

 covered by inpenetrable green jungle, and abound 

 with dens formed of fallen blocks of rocks, the suit- 



able retreat of tigers, bears, and hyaenas. The 

 western slopes are less rugged, but the soil is 

 parched and the forests seem withered by ex- 

 cess of heat. The summit of the mountain pre- 

 sents a mixture of opens, lawns, and woods. There 

 were once twenty-five villages on Myn Pat, but 

 these have been long deserted on account of the 

 number and ferocity of the beasts of prey. On this 

 mountain, however, the gour maintains his seat. 

 The Indians assert that even the tiger has no chance 

 in combat with a full-grown gour, though he may 

 occasionally succeed in carrying off an unprotected 

 calf. The wild buffalo abounds in the plains below 

 the mountains, but he so much dreads the gour, 

 according to the natives, that he rarely attempts to 

 invade its haunts, and the hunting-party only met, 

 with three or four urnas (arnees) on the mountain. 

 The forests which shield the gour abound, how- 

 ever, with hog-deer, saumurs, (Sambur deer), and 

 porcupines." 



It was in these wild and romantic retreats that 

 Capt. Rogers and party hunted the gour, which 

 when wounded turns round upon his adversary, 

 ready to do battle. A short bellow, imitated by the 

 syllables ugh-ugh, was the only cry which the 

 animal was heard to utter, and that not until it 

 had been struck by the bullet. The gour is gre- 

 garious, herding together in parties varying from 

 ten to twenty; they browse on the leaves and shoots 

 of tender trees and shrubs, and also graze on the 

 banks of the streams. In cold weather the saul- 

 forests are their places of concealment, and the 

 heats bring them out to feed on the green lawns 

 and valleys. They do not, it seems, wallow in swamp 

 and mire like the buffalo. If the natives are to be 

 credited, the gour will not brook captivity, and 

 even when captured at an early age the mountain- 

 calf droops and dies. The period of gestation is 

 stated to be twelve months: the females produce 

 their young in August. The native name of the 

 bull-calf for the first year is Purdrah, of the cow- 

 calf Pareeah. The full-grown cow is termed 

 Gourin. 



_ The gour attains to a very large size : Dr. Traill 

 gives the dimensions of one not fully grown, which 

 measured from the nose to the end of the tail nearly 

 twelve feet, and stood nearly six feet high at the 

 withers ; the limbs are vigorous, clean-made, and 

 more deer-like than bovine; the back is strongly 

 arched, and when the animal stands still the line 

 from the nose to the base of the tail, along the 

 spine presents a nearly uniform curve. This appear- 

 ance is partly owing to the curved form of the chaf- 

 fron, and still more to a remarkable ridge of no 

 great thickness which rises six or seven inches above 

 the general line of the back, from the last of the 

 cervical to the middle of the dorsal vertebrae, where 

 it gradually declines and becomes lost. This eleva- 

 tion is very conspicuous in gours of all ages, although 

 they were loaded with fat, and has no resemblance 

 to the hunch found on the withers of the zebu breed 

 of cattle. There is not a trace of the dewlap, which 

 is well marked in the gayal. The hair of the skin 

 generally is short and sleek, having somewhat the 

 oily appearance of a fresh seal-skin. The colour is 

 deep brownish black, almost approaching to bluish 

 black ; between the horns is a tuft of curling, dirty 

 white hair, and over each hoof is a ring of the same 

 colour. 



We may here briefly notice a species of the bo- 

 vine race, the Yak of Tartary (Bos grunniens), too 

 remarkable to be altogether omitted in our sketch 

 of the Ox tribe. Whether the Yak belongs to the 

 restricted genus Bos is very doubtful ; in some 

 points it certainly is related to the musk ox (Ovi- 

 bos), at least if we are to judge from the skins, more 

 or less imperfect, which we have had opportunities 

 of examining. The following is the description of a 

 skin wanting the horns and limbs, in the Zoological 

 Museum. 



Nostrils naiTOW, converging below, with a small 

 naked space between them, and a narrow naked 

 border round them, so that there is no true broad 

 naked muzzle, as in the common ox ; the ears 

 are small and pointed ; the forehead is covered with 

 black, curling locks, but its degree of convexity 

 cannot be accurately determined, owing to the ab- 

 sence of the skull. The back is covered with 

 smooth hair, of a deep chocolate brown, a white 

 stripe occupying the ridge of the withers, and an- 

 other the centre of the croup. From the shoulders, 

 sides, and under surface of the body, and also from 

 the inside of the thighs, hangs a pendent mane of 

 long hair, falling in huge masses so as to cover the 

 limbs and almost touch the ground. This mane is 

 grizzled black, except a central line along the belly 

 of pure white. The tail is tufted with a huge mass 

 of glossy white and rather coarse hairs, 18 or 20 

 inches in length. In size the animal could not have 

 exceeded the small Scotch breed of cattle. 



On the authority of Gmelin and Turner, the horns 

 are round, small, pointed, and bent in a semicircle 

 forwards. The withers are elevated, and the colour 



