Part 5

He says: "The Gayal generally carries its head with the mouth projecting forward, like that of a Buffalo. The head, at the upper part, is very broad and flat, and is contracted suddenly towards the nose, which is naked, like that of the common cow. From the upper angle of the forehead proceed two thick, short, horizontal processes of bone, which are covered with hair; on these are placed the horns, which are smooth, shorter than the head, and lie nearly in the plane of the forehead. They diverge outward, and turn upward with a gentle curve. At the bases they are very thick, and are slightly compressed, the flat side being toward the front and the tail. The edge next the ear is rather the thinnest, so that a transverse section would be somewhat ovate. Toward their tips the horns are rounded, and end in a sharp point. The eyes resemble those of the common Ox; the ears are much longer, broader, and blunter than those of that animal.

"The neck is very slender near the head, at some distance from which a dewlap commences, but this is not so deep, nor so much undulated as in the Zebu or Indian Ox. The dewlap is covered with strong longish hairs, so as to form a kind of mane on the lower part of the neck; but this is not very conspicuous, especially when the animal is young.

"In place of the hump (which is situated between the shoulders of the Zebu) the Gayal has a sharp ridge, which commences on the hinder part of the neck, slopes gradually up till it comes over the shoulder-joint, then runs horizontally almost a third part of the length of the back, where it terminates with a very sudden slope. The height of this ridge makes the neck appear much depressed, and also adds greatly to the clumsiness of the chest, which, although narrow, is very deep. The sternum is covered by a continuation of the dewlap. The rump, or os sacrum, has a more considerable declivity than that of the European Ox, but less than that of the Zebu.

"The tail is covered with short hair, except near the end, where it has a tuft like that of the common Ox; but in the Gayal the tail descends no lower than the extremity of the tibia.

"The legs, especially the fore ones, are thick and clumsy. The false hoofs are much larger than those of the Zebu. The hinder parts are weaker in proportion than the fore; and, owing to the contraction of the belly, the hinder legs, although in fact the shortest, appear to be the longest.

"The whole body is covered with a thick coat of short hair, which is lengthened out into a mane on the dewlap, and into a pencil-like tuft on the end of the tail. From the summit of the head there diverges, with a whirl, a bunch of rather long coarse hair, which lies flat, is usually lighter-coloured than that which is adjacent, and extends towards the horns and over the forehead. The general colour of the animal is brown, in various shades, which very often approaches to black, but sometimes is rather light. Some parts, especially about the legs and belly, are usually white; but in different individuals these are very differently disposed."

The following is the measurement of a full-grown cow:--

Ft. In. From nose to summit of head 1 6 Between roots of horns 0 10 From horns to shoulder 3 3 From shoulder to insertion of tail 4 3 Height at shoulder 4 9 Height at loins 4 4 Depth of chest 2 9 Circumference of chest 6 7 Circumference at loins 5 10 Length of horns 1 2 Length of ears 0 10

"The different species of the Ox kind may be readily distinguished from the Gayal by the following marks; the European and Indian oxen by the length of their tails, which reach to the false hoofs; the American Ox, by the gibbosity on its back; the _Bovis moschatus_, Caffer, and _pumilus_, by having their horns approximated at their bases; the _Bos grunniens_ by it's whole tail being covered with long silky hairs; the _Bos bubalus_,(at least the Indian buffalo,) by having the whole length of its horns compressed, and by their being longer than the head, and wrinkled--also by its thin coat of hair, by its want of a dewlap, and above all by its manners; the _Bos barbatus_, by the long beard on its chin.

"The cry of the Gayal has no resemblance to the grunt of the Indian Ox, but a good deal resembles that of the Buffalo. It is a kind of lowing, but shriller, and not near so loud as that of the European Ox. To this, however, the Gayal approaches much nearer than it does to the Buffalo."

Mr. Macrae, who furnished the account in 1804, is again consulted; and from his second account, the following additional particulars have been gleaned. [Now, however, as the reader will observe, the name is Gayal, and not Gyall; although, according to Mr. Macrae's own derivation of the word, it would appear to be more correctly Gyall.]

"The Gayal is found wild in the range of mountains that form the eastern boundary of the provinces of Aracan, Chittagong (Chatgaon), Tipura, and Sylhet.

"The Cucis, or Lunclas, a race of people inhabiting the hills immediately to the eastward of Chatgaon, have herds of the Gayal in a domesticated state. By them he is called Shial, from which, most probably, his name of Gayal [Gyall] is derived; as he is never seen on the plains, except when he is brought there. It appears, however, that he is an animal very little known beyond the limits of his native mountains, except by the inhabitants of the provinces above mentioned.

"His disposition is gentle: even when wild in his native hills, he is not considered to be a dangerous animal; never standing the approach of man, much less bearing his attack.

"To avoid the noon-day heat, he retires to the deepest shade of the forest; preferring the dry acclivity of the hill to repose on, rather than the low swampy ground below; and never, like the Buffalo, wallowing in mud.

"Gayals have been domesticated among the Cucis from time immemorial; and without any variation in their appearance from the wild stock. No difference whatever is observed in the colour of the wild and tame breeds; brown of different shades being the general colour of both.

"The wild Gayal is about the size of the wild Buffalo of India. The tame Gayals among the Cucis, being bred in nearly the same habits of freedom, and on the same food, without ever undergoing any labour, grow to the same size with the wild ones.

"The Cucis makes no use whatever of the milk, but rear the Gayals entirely for the sake of their flesh and skins; they make their shields of the hides of these animals. The flesh of the Gayal is in the highest estimation among the Cucis; so much so, that no solemn festival is ever celebrated without slaughtering one or more Gayals, according to the importance of the occasion.

"The domesticated Gayals are allowed by the Cucis to roam at large during the day, through the forest, in the neighbourhood of the village; but as evening approaches, they all return home of their own accord; the young Gayal being early taught this habit, by being regularly fed every night with salt, of which he is very fond; and from the occasional continuance of this practice, as he grows up, the attachment of the Gayal to his native village becomes so strong, that when the Cucis migrate from it, they are obliged to set fire to the huts which they are about to leave, lest their Gayals should return thither from their new place of residence, before they become equally attached to it, as to the former, through the same means.

"The wild Gayal sometimes steals out from the forest in the night, and feeds in the rice fields bordering on the hills. The Cucis give no grain to their cattle. With us (at Chatgaon) the tame Gayals feed on Calai _(phaseolus max_); but as our hills abound with shrubs, it has not been remarked what particular kind of grass they prefer.

"The Hindus in this province will not kill the Gabay (or Gayal) which they hold in equal veneration with the cow. But the As'l Gayal, or Seloi, they hunt and kill, as they do the wild Buffalo. The animal here alluded to is another species of Gayal found wild in the hills of Chatgaon. He has never been domesticated, and is in appearance and disposition very different from the common Gayal which has just been described. The natives call him the As'l Gayal, in contra-distinction to the Gabay. The Cucis distinguish him by the name of Seloi; and the Mugs and Burmas by that of P'hanj, and they consider him, next to the tiger, the most dangerous and fiercest animal of their forests."

Mr. Elliot, in writing from Tipura, says,--"I have some Gayals at Munnamutty, and from their mode of feeding I presume that they keep on the skirts of the vallies, to enable them to feed on the sides of the mountain, where they can browse; they will not touch grass, if they can find shrubs.

"While kept at Camerlah, which is situated in a level country, they used to resort to the banks, and eat on the sides; frequently betaking themselves to the water, to avoid the heat of the sun. However, they became sickly and emaciated, and their eyes suffered much; but, on being sent to the hills, they soon recovered, and are now (1808) in a healthy condition. They seem fond of the shade, and are observed in the hot weather to take the turn of the hills, so as to be always sheltered from the sun. They do not wallow in mud, like Buffaloes, but delight in water, and stand in it during the greatest heat of the day, with the front of their heads above the surface.

"Each Cow yields from two and a half to about four sers [from five to eight pounds] of milk, which is rich, sweet, and almost as thick as cream; it is of a high flavour, and makes excellent butter."

We learn from Mr. Dick that the Gayal is called Gaujangali in the Persian language, Gavaya in Sanscrit, and Mat'hana by the mountaineers; but others name the animal Gobay-goru.

The tame Gayals, however long they may have been domesticated, do not at all differ from the wild ones, unless in temper, for the wild ones are fierce and untractable. The colour of both is the same, namely, that of the Antelope, but some are white and others black, none are spotted or piebald. They graze and range like other cattle, and eat rice, mustard, chiches, and any cultivated produce, as also chaff and chopped straw.

According to this gentleman the Gayal lives to the age of twenty or twenty-five years, and reaches its full growth at five years. The female is generally higher than the male. She receives the bull in her fifth year, and bears after ten months.

In reference to the case of Mr. Bird's Gayal breeding with the common Zebu, I may observe that this proves nothing beyond the bare fact stated; no inference whatever of an identity of species can be drawn from a thousand such cases. It is pretty well known that animals of perfectly distinct species will, when artificially brought together, produce hybrids, as in the familiar examples of the Horse and the Ass, the Canary and the Goldfinch; but a hybrid is neither a species nor (zoologically speaking) a variety.

In a paper on the Gour, by General Hardwicke, ('Zoological Journal,' Vol. III,) he introduces the following observations on the Gayal: "Of the Gayal (_Bos Gavaeas_ of Colebrooke) there appears to be more than one species. The provinces of Chatgong and Sylhet produce the wild, or, as the Natives term it, the Asseel Gayal, and the domesticated one. The former is considered an untameable animal, extremely fierce, and not to be taken alive. It rarely quits the mountain tract of the south-east frontier, and never mixes with the Gobbay, or village Gayal of the plains. I succeeded in obtaining the skin, with the head, of the Asseel Gayal, which is deposited in the Museum of the Hon. East-India Company, in Leadenhall Street." [A drawing was taken of this head, of which the engraving on the opposite page is a copy.]

"I may notice another species of Gayal, of which a male and female were in the Governor General's park, at Barrackpore. This species differs in some particulars from the domesticated Gayal, and also from the Asseel, or true Gayal; first, in size, being a larger animal than the domestic one; secondly, in the largeness of the dewlap, which is deeper and more undulated than in either the wild or tame species; and, thirdly, in the size and form of the horns."

Thus, according to the opinion of General Hardwicke, there are three distinct species of the Gayal; but in this matter nothing can be decided without further evidence, which we hope will soon appear in the shape of complete skeletons, and accurate drawings and descriptions.

THE TAME OR DOMESTIC GAYAL.

The representation of the Gayal here given was taken from a living specimen in the Zoological Gardens, 1846.

The scanty information I was able to glean concerning it, consists in its having been procured at Chitagong, and shipped, as a commercial speculation, from Calcutta for London, in January 1844, when about two years and a half old. It remained in the Zoological Gardens till the summer of 1846, when it died from inflammation of the bowels, brought on chiefly by eating too much green food.

I had the above particulars from Mr. Bartlett, naturalist, &c., who had been commissioned to dispose of it. He preserved the skeleton, which he kindly allowed me to examine, and from which I made the sketches of the skull and horns, which appear on the following page.

The skeleton has fourteen pairs of ribs.

Inches.

Distance from tip to tip (_a_ to _a_) 39 Length of horn (_a_ to _b_) 16 Circumference of horn at base 17 Distance of bases (_b_ to _b_) 11 Length of skull (_c_ to _c_) 19

Fig. _d_, section of the horn, at the base.

In concluding these details of the Gayal and Gyall, let it be remarked that, when we hear one animal called Gayal and another Gyall, we are not, _on that account merely_, to set them down as of the same species. It is hardly necessary to say, that similarity or even identity of name, is not the slightest criterion of identity of species. The name Elephant is popularly applied to that animal, whether brought from Africa or Asia; they are, nevertheless, anatomically distinct. The same observation may be made respecting the Lions of those countries, and various other animals.

It may further be observed, that the value of external characters in determining a species is very different when applied to ascertain the distinctions of domestic races, to what it is when applied to ascertain the distinctions of animals living in a natural state. In domestication, varieties ramify to an indefinite extent, and under such circumstances external characters are comparatively valueless. But wild animals retain their external characters with undeviating exactness; exceptional cases may indeed occur, but so very rarely, that they are not worth taking into the account; consequently, external forms, and in some cases even colours, become of importance in ascertaining specific distinction.

THE JUNGLY GAU.

_Bos Sylhetanus._ (Cuv.)

Further information is requisite to decide the specific character of this animal. According to the opinion of Col. Smith, (see 'Synopsis of the Species of Mammalia' in Griffith's Translation of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom,) it is a mere variety of the Gayal (_Bos Gavaeus_); and Mr. J. E. Gray, in his 'List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collection of the British Museum,' classes it as a domestic variety of the same animal, but Mr. Fred. Cuvier regards it as an entirely new species.

The following account of the Jungly Gau (which is the only one that has been published), is a translation from the splendid folio work of Messrs. St. Hilaire and F. Cuvier.

This species of Ox, which is entirely new, appears to be the most nearly allied to our domestic cattle. Those ruminants which are classed under the generic name of Ox, may be very naturally divided into two distinct groups. The first includes the Buffaloes, animals in some measure aquatic, living in low, swampy localities, or near rivers, in which they remain half immersed a great part of the day; having broad-based horns, partly spreading over their foreheads, flat on their internal side, and round on their external; tongue soft, &c. The second is that of the Ox, properly so called. These are distinguished from the first by their dwelling on more elevated lands, or in the vicinity of forests; having smooth round horns, without enlargement at their base; tongue covered with horny papillae, &c.

It is to this second family, consisting of the American Bison, the Aurox, the Yak, and the domestic Ox, with its varieties, that the Jungly Gau undoubtedly belongs. It however differs from the first two in being entirely destitute of the thick shaggy mane; and, instead of the long silky hair of the third, it is clothed with close, short hair, equal in uniformity of texture to the sleekest of our domestic cattle. To judge from its general appearance, we might be even tempted to take it for a mere variety of the domestic species, so close is the resemblance. But the information furnished by M. Alfred Duvaucel, in the only description which has been given, leaves no doubt as to its being a new species.

The following is M. Duvaucel's account:--"The horns of the Jungly Gau rise from the sides of the occiput, first outward, then forward, with a slight inclination backward of the upper extremity, forming a double lunation, and separated by a space which gradually diminishes as the animal grows older; standing equally apart in every individual of the same age and sex; are round, except at their base, which is slightly compressed; and they become smoother as the animal advances in age.

"The hump, which is characteristic of the generality of Indian oxen, is reduced in this to a slight prominence, extending to the middle of the back, and is covered with a grayish, woolly hair, rather longer than that on the other parts of the body, which spreads likewise over the occiput and the front. The rest of the hair is black except the legs, which are white from the knees downwards. The tail terminates in a large tuft of hair; and, in bulls of two or three years old, the under part of the neck is slightly furnished with long, black, silky hair.

"The female is smaller than the male, with horns of a still less proportionate size. The front of the head, instead of being convex, as in the male, appears to be slightly depressed, in consequence of the superior elevation of the muzzle. The colour of the female is not so deep a black; the gray on the top of the neck and the shoulders extends to the sides, and the inferior part of the muzzle is white.

"I have long entertained the opinion," continues M. Duvaucel, "that these oxen were essentially the same as the domestic--that they were both varieties of the same species; but this opinion was formed on the inspection only of such specimens as I had seen in the menagerie at Barracpour. Since that time, I have pursued them myself near the mountains of Sylhet; and I have likewise learned from various sources that they are as numerous and as generally diffused as the common Buffalo; but they appear to be wilder than the Buffalo, and not so bold, never approaching where man has established his dominion. Nevertheless, when caught, they are easily subdued, and become quite domesticated in a few months. The milk of this species is said to be more abundant and nourishing than that of any other."

From all that is at present known respecting this animal, it is regarded by M. F. Cuvier as a new species added to the genus _Bos_; and, from the circumstance of its having been first seen in a wild state near the mountains of Sylhet, he has given it the specific name of _Sylhetanus_.

The animal represented in the following vignette is the Syrian Ox, which is considered as a variety of _Bos Taurus_.

THE BUFFALO.

The animal generally known under the name of the _Common_ Buffalo is evidently a different species from the _Cape_ Buffalo. Much confusion, however, prevails in the accounts, both of travellers and naturalists, on the subject of these two animals. Descriptions of the one are mingled with descriptions of the other, and anecdotes are related of the one which, there is good reason for believing, ought to be referred to the other. It is highly probable that future and more accurate observations will show that more than one species has been confounded under the general epithets of "the common Buffalo," "the domestic Buffalo," "the tame Buffalo," or, more indeterminate still, "_the_ Buffalo."

The accounts furnished by travellers of the various animals in Asia and Africa, described by them as Buffaloes, are altogether vague and unsatisfactory, and frequently erroneous; not from any desire on the part of the authors to deceive, but merely because their observations have been made in the most careless and indifferent manner; and, in many instances, their information is obtained from the verbal communications of ignorant natives.

In those descriptions which are confined to the Buffalo, as it at present exists in Italy and the south of Europe, tolerable reliance may be placed, as their character and habits are there well known, being of every day observation; yet, even in this case, little or nothing is known of the anatomy of the animal, and its period of gestation has never been precisely stated. The following information on this latter point is given in Griffith's 'Cuvier,' (vol. iv, p. 383,) "Gestation _is said_ to last twelve months, but _it appears_ not to exceed ten."

THE ITALIAN BUFFALO.

_Bos Bubalus._

This animal is more bulky than the domestic Ox, and its limbs are stouter. The head is larger, in proportion to the size of the body, than that of the domestic Ox, and is generally carried with the muzzle projecting; the forehead is rather convex, and higher than broad; the horns are large, slightly compressed, and recline towards the neck, with the points turned up; dewlap of a moderate size.

Throughout the whole range of the Italian peninsula Buffaloes are used as beasts of burden, and their immense strength renders their services invaluable in the marshy and swampy districts, where the services of horses, or ordinary oxen, would be totally unavailing. The roads through which they are obliged to pass are frequently covered to a depth of two or three feet, through which they work their way with wonderful perseverance.

On the great plain of Apulia the Buffalo is the ordinary beast of draught; and at the annual fair held at Foggia, at the end of May, immense droves of almost wild Buffaloes are brought to the town for sale. Fearful accidents occasionally happen; enraged animals breaking from the dense mass, in spite of all the exertions of their drovers, and rushing upon some object of their vengeance, whom they strike down, and trample to death. It is dangerous to overwork or irritate the Buffalo, and instances have been known in which, when released by the brutal driver from the cart, they have instantly turned upon the man and killed him on the spot.