HAMILTON BREED OF WILD CATTLE. 201 
then turn round in a body to smell him. In these 
gambols they invariably affect circles ; and when they 
do make an attack — which is seldom the case — 
should they miss the object of their aim, they never 
return upon it, but run straight forward, without 
ever venturing to look back. The only method of 
slaughtering these animals is by shooting at them. 
When the keepers approach them for this purpose, 
they seem perfectly aware of their danger, and al- 
ways gallop away with great speed in a dense mass, 
preserving a profound silence, and generally keeping 
by the sides of the fields and fences. The cows 
which have young, in the mean time, forsake the flock 
and repair to the places where their calves are con- 
cealed, where, with flaming eyeballs and palpitating 
hearts, they seem resolved to maintain their giound 
at all hazards. The shooters always take care to 
avoid these retreats. When the object of pursuit is 
one of the older bulls of the flock, the shooting of 
it is a very hazardous employment. Some of these 
have been known to receive as many as eleven bul- 
lets, without one of them piercing their skulls. When 
fretted in this manner, they often become furious, 
and, owing to their great swiftness and prodigious 
strength, they are then regarded as objects of no or- 
dinary dread. 
“ The White Urus, or Hamilton breed of wild 
cattle, differs in many respects from any other known 
breed. As compared wdth those kept at Chilling- 
ham Park, Northumberland, by Lord Tankerville, 
VOL. IV. ^ 
