XV111 
THE OX. 
HISTORY. 
wide, and the hair like silk. In another place, he informs us that, in the fertile and populous province of Woggora, the oxen have 
large and beautiful horns, exceedingly wide, and that they have bosses on their backs like camels. Other writers agree in the great 
size of the horns of the humped cattle of Africa. Captain Clapperton describes the race of Bornon, likewise humped, in the very 
heart of the continent, as being of a white colour and large size, and as having horns, very light, of three feet seven inches in 
length, measured along the curve. We cannot say indeed, that the mere tendency to a large development of horn constitutes a 
specific distinction; but as this is a character which remarkably distinguishes the humped cattle of Africa from those of India, it 
furnishes a reasonable ground for believing that the humped cattle of Africa have characters proper to themselves, and are as much 
an original race as the Zebus of India. 
The accumulation of fatty matter on the shoulder of the Ox, may not unreasonably be regarded as a natural provision for 
fitting him for countries of intense heat. The cultivated Ox of England accumulates fat largely within the body, but this might 
not consist with the exercise of the animal functions in a climate of high temperature ; and, therefore, the fatty secretion may be 
placed externally on a particular part of the body. In certain races of sheep in Africa the same tendency is observed, lumps of 
fatty matter appearing beneath the skin, on the shoulders and head, and in other races, as has been shown, in another place, on 
the tail, which becomes of enormous magnitude. The hump of the Camel seems to be a similar provision for the accumulation of 
nutrient matter, and may be supposed to be connected with the extraordinary patience under abstinence from food, which distin¬ 
guishes this child of the desert. The fatty hump of the Oxen in warmer countries, may thus be regarded as an adaptation of the 
animal to the condition in which he is placed. 
Another provision for fitting the Ox of warmer countries to the circumstances of his situation, is the possession of a light, 
sinewy, and active form. The heavy Ox of the plains of Holland and England, could not subsist in the arid climate and on the 
scanty herbage of the African desert. Hence we find the Oxen of Africa of less bulk of body, and more agile in their motions, 
than those in the temperate countries of abundant herbage. All over Africa, these animals are employed in laborious journeys, 
and for the bearing of heavy loads. Their appearance and employment in these arid countries are thus described by a recent 
traveller : 
“ The bullock is the bearer of all the grain and other articles to and from the markets. A small saddle of plaited rushes is 
laid upon him, when sacks made of goat-skins, and filled with corn, are lashed on his broad and able back. A leather thong is 
passed through the cartilage of his nose, and serves as a bridle, while on the top of the load is mounted the owner, his wife, or his 
slave. Sometimes the daughter or the wife of a rich shouaa will be mounted on her particular bullock, and precede the loaded 
animals, extravagantly adorned with amber, silver, rings, coral, and all sorts of finery, her hair streaming with fat, a black ring of 
kohol, at least an inch wide, round her eyes, and, I may say, arrayed for conquest at the crowded market. Carpets or tobes are 
then spread on her clumsy palfrey; she sits jambe deca, jambe de la , and, with considerable grace, guides her animal by the nose. 
Notwithstanding the peaceableness of his nature, her vanity still enables her to torture him into something like caperings and 
curvettings.” * 
In the country of the Cape, the value of the agile form and powers of endurance of the African Ox, are shown in the services 
he performs. These oxen are used for carrying burdens, in the manner of mules and pack-horses in other countries. A traveller, 
describing this employment, observes : “We proceeded nearly the whole way at a brisk step, sometimes trotting, and at other 
times galloping, while the three bushmen, who drove the pack-oxen on before us, hurried them over the rocky ground at so extra¬ 
ordinary a rate, that, even on horseback, I found it not easy to keep up with them; and often, when the surface was so thickly 
covered with stoiies and large fragments of rock, that my horse could scarcely find where to place his foot, I was obliged to call 
out to them to slacken their pace.” f 
These oxen are likewise trained to the saddle. They are broken in, we are told, when they are about a year old. A slit 
being made in the cartilage between the nostrils, large enough to admit the finger, a strong stick, stripped of its bark, is passed 
through, and to each end of it is fixed a thong of hide, of length sufficient to reach round the neck, and serve as reins. The saddle 
consists of sheep skins with the wool on, and the stirrups of a thong across the saddle, with loops for the feet. While the animal’s 
nose is still sore, he is mounted and put in training, and, in a week or two, is generally rendered sufficiently obedient to the rider. 
“ The facility and adroitness,” says Mr Burchell, “ with which the Hottentots manage the Ox, has often excited my admiration. 
It is made to walk, trot, or gallop, at the will of its master ; and being longer legged, and rather more lightly made than the Ox 
in England, travels with greater ease and expedition, walking three or four miles in an hour, trotting five, and galloping, on an 
average, seven or eight.” These oxen are likewise used in the drawing of those covered waggons which the Dutch settlers have 
* Travels in Africa, by Major Denham and Captain Clapperton. 
t Burchell’ s Travels in Africa. 
