GUIDE TO THE 
S3 
the shoulder. The females have horns nearly as large as 
those of the male. An attempt was made to introduce this 
animal into England for the sake of its flesh, which is 
said to excel the very finest ox-beef in texture and 
flavour, but the experiment was abandoned as it was 
too costly. 
After the antelopes come the Oxen, which constitute 
a very natural assemblage, the members of which may 
be grouped under one generic term, Bos. As many as 
six sub-genera have been recognised—the Yak of the 
high plains of Western Tibet constituting the sub-genus 
Pocphagus; the Bison of Western Europe and its con¬ 
gener of North America forming the sub-genus Bison; 
the wild cattle of Southern Asia, the sub-genus Bibos; 
and the domestic cattle of Europe, the descendants of the 
ancient wild cattle of that area, the sub-genus Bos. The 
buffaloes are generally considered as constituting a distinct 
genus Bubalus ; and the forest buffalo of Celebes, the genus 
A no a. 
In the paddock adjoining that occupied by the Nilgai 
is a remarkably fine example of one of the wild cattle of 
Southern Asia, the Gyal or Mithun, Bibos frontalis. 
This animal is an inhabitant of the hill tracts of Chittagong, 
and extends northwards through the mountainous region of 
Assam to the Mishmi country, where it has been 
recorded, as having been observed at considerable alti¬ 
tudes grazing with the yak. Over this area it is partially 
domesticated and is generally to be found in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of villages, associating with the ordinary cattle 
of the homesteads, which is brought about in the Kookie 
country by the following method as described by Mr. 
Macrae. “ On discovering a herd of wild Gayals in 
