EXISTING KINDS OF WILD CATTLE 195 
Just, however, as the aurochs succumbed to the 
spread of population and cultivation and the advance 
of civilisation in mediaeval Europe, and the bison was 
gradually driven eastwards to the forests of Lithuania 
(Grodno) and the Caucasus, several of the species of 
wild cattle which were represented by thousands, or 
even millions, of individuals in the first half of the 
nineteenth century have suffered woefully from the 
same causes, or from diseases which pioneer civilisa- 
tion brings in its train. The most striking instance 
of this steady process of extermination in modern 
times is afforded, of course, by the American bison, 
which, with the exception of a few herds in the 
wilder districts of Canada, has practically ceased to 
exist. The African buffalo has been exterminated 
from a large portion of the southern districts of its 
native continent ; while on the eastern side of the 
continent the herds were decimated some years ago 
by the ravages of rinderpest — a disease then new to 
Africa, and therefore exceptionally virulent in its 
attacks, and fatal in its effects. Everywhere, 
with the exception of the protected Government 
reserves, its numbers are being further diminished by 
an army of sportsmen and hunters, furnished for the 
most part with the latest developments of modern 
fire-arms. 
In a minor degree the same story applies to the 
wild Indian buffalo and gaur, the range and numbers 
of which have been appreciably diminished in modern 
times, although anything in the form of precise details 
is lacking. Much more striking is the shrinkage in 
the range of the Tibetan yak, this species having 
been, according to the latest accounts, more or less 
completely killed out in Ladak and neighbouring 
