6512 



Notice of the various 



back, where it terminates with a very sudden slope. The height of 

 this ridge makes the neck appear much depressed, and also adds 

 greatly to the clumsiness of the chest, which, although narrow, is very 

 deep. The sternum is covered by a continuation of the dewlap. 

 The belly is protuberant, but in its hinder part is greatly contracted. 

 The rump, or 'os sacrum,' has a more considerable declivity than that 

 of the European ox, but less than that of the zebu. 



" The whole body is covered with a thick coat of short hair, which 

 is lengthened out into a mane on the dewlap, and into a pencil-like 

 tuft at the end of the tail. From the summit of the head there 

 diverges, with a whorl, a bunch of rather long coarse hair, which lies 

 flat, is usually lighter coloured than that which is adjacent, and ex- 

 tends towards the horns and over the forehead. The general colour 

 of the animal is brown in various shades, which very often approaches 

 to black, but sometimes is rather light. Some parts, especially about 

 the legs and belly, are usually white ; but, in different individuals, 

 these are very differently disposed." 



We have seen a bull gayal, which must have stood at least 15j or 

 16 hands high at the spinal ridge, and whose horns were about 3 feet 

 from tip to tip ; but this is considerably above the average size, and 

 he stood like a giant among his adult companions of both sexes. 

 This was in Barrackpore Park, in the time of Lord Auckland. There 

 were five or six splendid gayals then in the park, which Lord Ellen- 

 borough (as we were informed) gave away to whoever would accept of 

 them ; and they fell into native hands, and very soon died off and 

 were lost to science. At that time, we believe, not a specimen (either 

 stuffed skin or skeleton, or so much as a frontlet or even a horn) 

 existed in any museum, and the species is still extremely rare in 

 zoological collections. In that of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, there 

 is now a complete skeleton of a moderately fine adult bull, the skull of 

 a finer bull, with the horn-cores only (not the corneous sheaths), which 

 is believed to be that of a wild individual, and was picked up in one 

 of the hill-jungles bordering on Asam ; also the stuffed skin of a 

 young bull, and another of a large calf. The height of the skeleton 

 is 4 ft. 4 in. from the summit of the spinal ridge ; and the large skull 

 measures 15 in. across between the bases of the horns anteriorly, 

 18J in. iu length from frontal ridge to tips of nasals, and 11 J in. 

 greatest width at the orbits. For figures of a fine gayal skull, with 

 those of the gaour and yak for comparison, vide ' Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society,' vol. x., p. 470. 



" The cry of the gayal," remarks Buchanan Hamilton, " has no 



