544 
THE WHITE FOREST AND 
every consideration I could give to the subject, were evidently 
of an Oriental race : the colour of the hair and skin, the oval face, 
the chiselled features, their courtesy and politeness, the whole 
character, in fact, of their mind, shewed them to be neither Saxon 
nor Celt. Now history assures us that they are of Phoenician origin. 
May it not have happened, then, that the white race of cattle 
came into Britain with them, and is now, with them, fast becom- 
ing extinct? Or may not the Phoenician, Syrian, or Oriental, 
have been the earlier inhabitants of all these countries, and the 
white cattle been a race of oxen they found when they first took 
possession, long prior to the advent of Celt or Saxon ? This is 
the more probable hypothesis. When Caesar encountered the 
Britons in Kent, they opposed to his legions armed chariots! 
These were unquestionably Oriental. When did the Celt or 
Saxon invent war chariots ? or when did the Celt build round 
towers ? But it is time that I state more fully to you Mr. Low's 
hypothesis : I quote from his very beautiful “ Illustrations of the 
Breeds of Domestic Animals,” part i, 1840. 
After alluding to the wild oxen of Cadzow, Tankerville, Burton 
Constable, &c. Mr. Low remarks, “ fortunately for the inquiries 
of the naturalist, the same animals are yet to be found in that 
part of the kingdom where we naturally should look for the ex- 
istence of an indigenous race of cattle, namely, Wales, under such 
circumstances as to set at rest the questions that have been agi- 
tated regarding the relation which exists between them and the 
domestic race. The individuals of this race yet existing in 
Wales are found chiefly in the county of Pembroke, where they 
have been kept by some individuals perfectly pure as a part of 
their regular farm stock. Until a period comparatively recent, 
they were very numerous ; and persons are yet living in the 
county of Pembroke who remember when they were driven in 
droves to the pastures of the Severn and to the neighbouring 
markets. Their whole essential characters are the same as those 
at Chillingham and Chantley Parks, and elsewhere. Individuals 
of this race are sometimes born entirely black, and then they are 
not to be distinguished from the other cattle of the mountains.” 
In the next paragraph, Mr. Low proceeds to shew that the 
same breed of cattle still exists in Europe. “ That the same race 
is to be found on the continent of Europe cannot be doubted ; 
and we should probably have had* accounts of it either in a wild 
or reclaimed state, had naturalists been aware of its distinguish- 
ing characters. In the defiles of the Pyrenees, cattle, altogether 
wild, have been observed by English sportsmen, marked in the 
same manner as the cattle of the Parks, and in no respect to be 
distinguished from them,” (page 4.) These ingenious remarks 
