138 THE OX AND ITS KINDRED 
maintain, the ancestor of the modern Pembroke and 
West Highland cattle, it is manifest that the latter 
must also have zebu-blood in their veins, and be, 
ultimately, of foreign origin, and thus, according to 
the view that park-cattle are direct derivatives of the 
aurochs {supra^ p. 84), practically a distinct species. 
If, on the other hand, it be admitted, as Professor 
Low believes, that park-cattle are closely related to 
the Pembroke and Highland breeds, it follows, on 
the theory of the Eastern origin of the Celtic short- 
horn, that the former must likewise have zebu-blood. 
As it was admitted by Professor Rutimeyer that the 
Pembroke and Highland breeds are of the aurochs 
type, the Eastern theory lands us in confusion, unless 
it is considered that the Eastern aurochs, and not the 
zebu, was the ancestor. 
In the time of the Pharaohs the Egyptians 
employed oxen both for ploughing and for threshing 
corn, the latter operation being shown in the 
illustration on page 135, and likewise in another 
fresco reproduced on page 197 of Gosse's Monuments 
of Ancient Egypt (1847), several animals being 
employed in each instance. Although humpless, 
these oxen show the lyrate type of horn distinctive 
of the zebu, while the one in the foreground of the 
aforesaid illustration in Mr. Gosse's volume exhibits 
the blotched type of colouring — dark blotches on a 
light ground — already referred to as being common 
among modern African cattle. In the work last 
quoted it is mentioned that the keeping of horned 
cattle was an important part of husbandry among the 
ancient Egyptians. " For about four months of the 
year they were pastured in the clover-fields, but 
during the remainder of the year they were kept in 
