THE INDIAN OX. 
67 
rations. This intermixture and its results would alone 
furnish a sufficient proof of identity of origin ; which 
consequently scarcely requires the confirmation to be 
derived from the perfect agreement of their internal 
structure, and of all the more essential particulars of 
their external conformation. These, however, are not 
wanting : not only is their anatomical structure the 
same, but the form of their heads, which affords the 
only certain means of distinguishing the actual species 
of this genus from each other, presents no difference 
whatever. In both the forehead is fiat, or more pro- 
perly slightly depressed ; nearly square in its outline, 
its height being equal to its breadth ; and bounded 
above by a prominent line, forming an angular protu- 
berance, passing directly across the skull between the 
bases of the horns. The only circumstances in fact in 
which the two animals differ consist in the fatty hump 
on the shoulders of the Zebu, and in the somewhat 
more slender and delicate make of its legs. 
Numerous breeds of this humped variety, varying in 
size from that of a large Mastiff-dog to that of a full 
grown Buffalo, are spread, more or less extensively, 
over the whole of Southern Asia, the Islands of the 
Indian Archipelago, and the Eastern coast of Africa 
from Abyssinia to the Cape of Good Hope. In all 
these countries the Zebu supplies the place of the Ox 
both as a beast of burthen and as an article of food and 
domestic economy. In some parts of India it executes 
the duties of the horse also, being either saddled and 
ridden, or harnessed in a carriage, and performing in 
this manner journeys of considerable length with tole- 
rable celerity. Some of the older writers speak of fifty 
or sixty miles a day as its usual rate of travelling ; but 
the more moderate computation of recent authors does 
not exceed from twenty to thirty. Its beef is consi- 
f2 
