1862.] 
339 
Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 
in the hills along the Kaladyne river (which flows from the north 
into Akyab harbour), and thence northward through Chittagong 
and Tippera, to the Khasya hills and ranges of mountains bordering 
the valley of Asam to the south, and along them eastward to the 
Mislimi hills at the head of that valley, where abundantly wild. 
The domestic herds are even found together with those of Yaks : 
thus Lt. K. Wilcox, in his memoir of a survey of Asam and the 
neighbouring countries {As. Pes. XVII, 387), notices that “ Mit’huns 
and chori-tailed cows were grazing in great numberswhich indi¬ 
cates that the Grayal can withstand a considerably low tempera¬ 
ture for a member of its particular group, that of the flat-horned 
taurine cattle of S. E. Asia. # 
The domestic humped cattle of Burma are remarkably handsome 
animals, though with small and commonly abnormally developed 
horns, that are mostly directed forward. Col. Yule notices this race as 
one of “ sturdy and well-conditioned red oxen.” The prevalent colour 
is, indeed, a chesnut or bay of various shades, or commonly a dun, as in 
the cows and immature bulls of B. sondaicus. White or pale grey 
cattle, retaining the black tail-tuft, # so very general in India, are rare, 
even at Akyab, where the common Bengali type prevails. Col. Yule 
continues—“ These cattle, though much smaller than the stately breeds 
an islet which is named Tambadau Island from the occurrence of these wild 
Cattle upon it. Elsewhere, he mentions a piebald individual ! “ About 2 A. M., 
our garei [boat] being well ahead, we saw before us a herd of wild Cattle, quietly 
picking at a few blades of grass on a broad pebbly flat. I landed with a couple 
of men, to get between them and the jungle. I was within twenty yards of the 
nearest, a piebald, and was crawling through the tangled bushes to get a sight of 
him, which I could hear browsing [grazing ?] near me, when there arose a snort, 
then a rush, and the Cattle were ofi‘ dashing close to me, but perfectly concealed 
by the matted brushwood. It was the crew of one of the newly-arrived boats 
that, regardless,” &c. &c. “About five, we were passing down a rapid at a great 
pace, when one of the men touched me and pointed. I looked up, and there was 
a magnificent bull, three-parts grown, standing within fifteen yards of me.” 
Ibid , II, 162-3. Such cursory notices are all that are given by Mr. St. John ! 
Since the above note was printed, I have received a living two-year-old bull of 
Bos sondaicus from Col. Phayre, for presentation to the London Zoological Soci¬ 
ety. He is move nearly akin to the Gaour, and less so to the true B. taurus, than 
I had anticipated ; and is perfectly quiet and tractable. He habitually grazes. 
Colour that permanent in the cow, a bright chesnut-dun, with the white stock¬ 
ings and oval rump-patch on each side. 
* As regards the notice by Col. Low of three presumed species of wild taurine 
cattle in the Malayan peninsula, and that by Dr. Heifer, of three presumed 
species in the Tenasserim provinces (both quoted in J. A. S. XXIX, 299), I 
have now arrived at the conviction that both writers intended B. gaurus and 
the different sexes of B. sondaicus, the latter supposed to be distinct animals. 
Of the Jnngli Gau , figured M. Fred. Cuvier, I may remark that the male un¬ 
doubtedly represents a hybrid between this and the humped species ; but his 
female would seem to be a Gayal of pure blood. 
