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1869
THE LIBRARY

WILD OXEN, SHEEP, ^ GOATS

OF ALL LANDS

THIS EDITION CONSISTS OF FIFE HUNDRED COPIES, NUMBERED AND SIGNED,
OF IIHICH THIS IS

^irv.^^^^.

.WILD

OXEN, SHEEP, & GOATS

OF ALL LANDS

^^-^^7^^

LIVING AND EXTINCT

R..LYDEKKER

LONDON

ROWLAND WARD, Limited

1898

M«- XH'ikM!''

<Vv^ '^

PREFACE

In its general treatment of the subject this volume follows the lines of The
Deer of All hands ; generic and sub-generic groups, as well as species and
sub-species, being, so far as possible, made to have the same relative rank as
in the latter. A similar prominent position is also given to the English
names of the various animals described.

Much that appears in the introductory portion of the companion
volume has a bearing on the present work. And it has accordingly been
deemed unnecessary to repeat either the distinctive characteristics ot the
group Pecora, the subdivisions of the Tertiary period, or the names and
limits of the geographical regions into which the surface of the globe may
be divided ; all these being detailed in Tlie Deer of All Lands.

One feature of the latter — the numerous photographs of living animals
— will be missed in the present volume. But this is unavoidable, as there
is no collection in this country of the animals described in the sequel
comparable with the one which afforded the illustrations in question.

While the majority of the plates have been drawn by Mr. J. Smit, a few
are from original and, with one exception, hitherto unpublished sketches
by Mr. Joseph Wolf For permission to reproduce these the author is

vi Preface

indebted to Lady Brooke and Sir Douglas Brooke, to whom the originals
respectively belong. His thanks are likewise due to the Duchess of
Bedford, Sir Edmund G. Loder, and Mr. David T. Hanbury for various
illustrations ; while acknowledgments must likewise be made for those
borrowed from the works of Prince DemidofiF and Mr. H. Z. Darrah.

Harpenden, 1st December 1898.

CONTENTS

Introductory .......

I. The Oxen — Genus Bos ....

i. Typical or Taurine Group — Sub-Genus Bos

1. The Common Ox — Bos taiirus

a. European Wild Race, or Aurochs — Bos taurus primigenius (Extinct)

b. North African Wild Race — Bos taurus mauritanicus (Extinct)
(■. Domesticated Breeds — Bos taurus t-ipicus

2. The Narbada Ox — Bos namadkus (Extinct)

3. The Zebu, or Humped Ox — Bos indicus .

4. The Siwalik Ox — Bos acutifrons (Extinct)
ii. Bibovine Group — Sub-Genus Bibos

1. The Gaur — Bos gaurus ....

2. The Gayal — Bos frontalis

3. The Banting — Bos sondaicus

a. Javan Race — Bos sondaicus typicus

b. Burmese Race — Bos sondaicus birmanicus

c. Manipur Race — Bos sondaicus, var.
iii. Leptobovine Group — Sub-Genus Leptobos (Extinct)

1. The Etruscan Ox — Bos elatus (Extinct) .

2. Falconer's Ox — Bos falconeri (Extinct)
iv. Bisontine Group — Sub-Genus Bison

1. The Yak — Bos grunniens . . . •

2. The Siwalik Bison — Bos sivalensis (Extinct)

3. The Plistocene Bison — Bos priscus (Extinct)

4. The European Bison — Bos bonasus

23
31
36
39
41
43
48
48
50
5°

Vlll

Contents

I. The Oxen — Genus Bos — continued

5. The American Bison — Bos bison .

a. Prairie Race — Bos bison typiciis .

b. Woodland Race — Bos bison athabasca

6. Harlan's Bison — Bos Litifrons (Extinct)

7. Central American Bison — Bos scapkoceros (Extinct)
v. Bubalinc Group — Sub-Genus Bubaliis

1. The African Buffalo — Bos differ .
ii. Cape, or Black Race — Bos caffer typiciis

b. Abyssinian, or Brown Race — Bos ciiffer aqiiinoctiaUs

c. Sencgambian Race — Bos caffer planiceros

d. Congo, or Red Race — Bos caffer nanus .
c. Lake Tchad Race — Bos caffer bracbyceros

2. The Algerian Buffalo — Bos antiquus (Extinct)

3. The Sivvalik Buffalo — Bos platfceros (Extinct)

4. The Indian Buffalo — Bos bubalis .

a. Typical Race — Bos bubalis typicus

b. Upper Assam Race — Bos bubalis fulvus .

c. Bornean Race — Bos bubalis hosei

d. Narbada Race — Bos bubalis paheindicus (Extinct)

e. European Race — Bos bubalis pallasi (E,\i\ncl)

5. The Tamarau, or Mindoro Buffalo — Bos mindorensis

6. The Anoa, or Celebes Buffalo — Bos depressicornis

7. The Siwalik Tamarau — Bos triquetricornis (Extinct)

8. Falconer's Tamarau — Bos acuticornis (Extinct)

Incert<e Sedis ....

II. The Musk-Oxen — Genus Ovibos

1. Greenland Musk-Ox — Oi'ibos tnoscbatus

2. Harlan's Musk-Ox — Oi'ibos bombifrons (Extinct)

111. The Sheep — Genus Ovis

i. Caprovine Group — Sub-Genus Caprovis
I. The European Muflon — Oz'is musimon
z. The Asiatic Muf^on — Ovis orientalis

a. Armenian Race — Ovis orientalis typica .

b. Cyprian Race — Ovis orientalis opkion

3. The Plistocene Muflon — Ovis savini (Extinct)

79
84
90
92
92
93
94
97

lOI

103
106

I IZ

115
116
118

I 21
126
126
127
127
128

136

137

•39

139
142

148

149
154
•54
•59
160
163

Contents

III. The Sheep — Genus Otvj — continued
\. The Sha, or Urial — OcvV f'lgnci

a. Astor Race — Ovh vignri ttpicn .

b. Punjab Race — Ovis I'ignci nc lac eras

c. Kelat Race — Orvj vignci blanfordi

5. The Argali — Ovh amnion .

It, Siberian Race — Ovis animon f^pica
b Mongolian Race — Ovis ammon jiibntit
c. Tibetan Race — Ovis ammon hodgsoni

6. Littledale's Sheep — Ovis sairensis .

7. Marco Polo's Sheep — Ovis po/i

a. Pamir Race — Ovis poli tfpica

b. Thian Shan Race — Ovis po/i karelini

8. The Bighorn — Ovis canadensis

a. Southern Race — Ovis canadensis nelsoni .

b. Rocky Mouiuain Race — Ovis canadensis typica

c. Liard River Race — Ovis canadensis liardensis

d. North-Western Race — Ovis canadensis stonei

e. Alaskan Race — Ovis canadensis dalli

f. Kamschatkan Race — Ovis canadensis nivicola
ii. Ammotragine Grotip — Sub-Genus Ammotragtis

The Arui, or African Sheep — Ovis lervia
iii. Pscudovine Group — Sub-Genus Pseudois
The Bharal — Ovis nahura

W . The Goats — Genus Capra

1. The East Caucasian Tur — Cap/;! cy/indricornis

2. The West Caucasian Tur — Capra cancasica

3. The Spanish Tur — Capra pyrenaica

a. Pyrenean Race — Capra pyrenaica typica .

b. Andalusian Race — Capra pyrenaica hispanica
\. The Common Goat — Capra hirciis

a. Persian Wild Race, or Pasang — Capra hircus ceg,

b. Sind Wild Race — Capra hircus blythi

c. Domesticated Breeds — Capra hircus typica

5. The Arabian Ibex — Capra nubiana

6. The Abyssinian Ibex — Capra vali

166
171

172
174
174

177

185
188
192

"97
204
208
209
215
217
219
221
226
226
231
231

239
242
246

253
257
258
259
260
264
264
266
270

Contents

I\'. The Goats — Genus Cupni — continued

7. The Alpine Ibex — Ciipra ibex

8. The Asiatic Ibex — Ciiprti sibiricii .

ti. Thian Shan Race — Ctipni sibirica t'^pica

b. Himalayan Race — Capra sibirica sacin .

c. Dauvergne's Race — C.npra sibirica dauvergnei

9. The Markhor — Capra falconeri

a. Astor Race — Capra falconeri tfpica

b. Pir-Panjal Race — Capra falconeri cashmiriensis

c. Cabul Race — Capra falconeri megaceros .
a. Suleman Race — Capra falconeri jercioni .

V. The Tahr — Genus Hemitragus .

1. The Himalayan Tahr — Hemitragus jemlaicus

2. The Siwalik Tahr — Hemitragus siz'alensis (Extinct)

3. The Arabian Tahr — Hemitragus jayakeri
^. The Nilgiri Tahr — Hemitragus bylocrius

APPENDIX— Bibliography of Wild Oxen, Sheep, and Goats

INDEX ......

TAGE

271

275
281
284
285
286
288
290

293
294

296

297
301
301

303

309

315

LIST OF PLATES

1. Gaur. From a male in the British Museum and photographs

2. Gayal. From a bull in the Zoological Society's Menagerie

3. Javan Banting. From a male in the British Museum and Schlcgcl's figure
^. Yak. From a male in the British Museum ....

5. European Bison. From a Caucasian male in the British Museum

6. American Bison. From specimens living at Woburn Abbev

7. Cape Buffalo. From a male in the British Museum and photographs

8. Congo Buffalo. The figure of a cow in the foreground from a sketch in the

possession ot Sir Douglas Brooke, and the one in the background from a maU

9. Indian Buffalo ........

10. Tamarau and Anoa. From male specimens in the British Museum

11. MusK-Ox ........

12. European Muflon. From a sketch by Wolf in the possession of Lady Brooke

13. Salt-Range Urial. From a male in the British Museum

14. Siberian Argali. From a ram in summer pelage in the British Museum .

15. Tibetan Argali. From a sketch by Wolf of a herd in winter pelage in the pos

session of Sir Douglas Brooke .....

16. Marco Polo's Sheep, Pamir Race. From a male in summer pelage in the

British Museum .......

17. Rocky Mountain Bighorn. From a male in the British Museum

17A. Kamschatkan Bighorn. Partly from an immature male in winter pelage ii
the British Museum ......

18. Arui, or African Sheep. From a male in the British Museum, and specimen

in the Zoological Society's Menagerie . . . . .

19. Bharal, or Blue Sheep. From specimens in the Zoological Society's Menagerie

20. East Caucasian Tur. From a sketch by Wolf of a male in the possession ot Sir

Douglas Brooke ........

To face

page 23

31
36
5'
64

79
97

106
118
128
142

154
166

•7+

221

226
231

xii List of Plates

PLATE

2 1. West Caucasian Tur. From males in the British Museum . . . To fnce piigf 2.^.6

2 2. Spanish Tur. From a sketch by Wolf" in the possession of Lady Brooke ; the ram

in the foreground was killed in the Val d'Arras . . . . „ 253

23. Persian Wild Goat. From a sketch by Wulf in the possession ot Sir Douglas

Brooke .......... 260

z\. Asiatic (Thian Shan) Ibex. From a male in the British Museum . . „ 275

25. Astor Markhor. From a sketch by Wolf in the possession of Lady Brooke ; the

large male being taken from a specimen shot by Captain H. Brooke . . „ 286

26. Himalayan Tahr. From a sketch by Wolf in the possession of Sir Douglas

Brooke .......... 297

27. Nii.ciRi Tahr. Partly from a male in the British Museum . . . „ 303

TEXT FIGURES

10.

1 1.

12.

13-

I+-

15-
i6.

■7-
i8.

22.

2 3-
24.
25.
26.

Skull of Aurochs ....

Skulls of Algerian Buffalo and Extinct Siwalik Ox

Head of Bull Gaur

Bull Gayal

Skulls of Bornean Banting

Head of male Burmese Banting

Skull of Extinct Etruscan Ox

Skull of male Yak

Head of bull Yak .

Champas with Yaks

Yak at Woburn Abbey

Head of Bull Yak .

Frontlet and horn-cores of Plistocene Bison

Skull and horns ot European Bison

Dead European Bison

American Bison at Woburn Abbey

Head of Cape Buffalo

Skull and horns of Abyssinian Buffalo

Frontlet and horns of aged bull Sencgambian Buffitlc

Frontlet and horns of male Sencgambian Buffalo

Frontlet and horns of aged bull Congo Buffalo

Skull and horns of bull Congo Buffalo

Skull and horns of bull Lake Tchad Buffalo

Skull ot Siwalik Buffalo

Head of male Indian Buffalo

Head of male Anoa

H
33
40
42

52
55
57
58
59
62

!(>
81

lOI

104
105
106
107
114

117
119

133

XIV

Text Figures

28.

29.

30-
31-
32-
33-
3+-
3 5-
36.
37-
38-
39-
+0.

+ '■
42.

+3-
++■
45-
46.

+7-
+8.
49.

50.

51-
52.

53-
54-
55-
56.

57-
58.

59-
60.
61.

Skull and horn-cores of Falconer's Tamarau

Head of male Greenland Musk-Ox

Head of male European Muflon

Female Muflon with horns

Head of male Cyprian Muflon

Head of male Ladak Sha .

Skull and horns of male Siberian Argali

Head of male Tibetan Argali

Head of young male Tibetan Argali

Littledalc's Sheep .

Head of Parair race of Marco Polo's Sheep

Another head of the same .

A dead male of Marco Polo's Sheep

Head of Rocky Mountain Bighorn

Liard River Bighorn

Skull and horns of Kamschatkau Bighorn

Head of male Arui

Head of male Bharal

Head of male East Caucasian Tur

West Caucasian Tur

Skull and horns of male West Caucasian Tur

Head of male West Caucasian Tur

Head of male Spanish Tur with long beard

Head of male Spanish Tur with short beard

Head of male Arabian Ibex

Head of male Himalayan Ibex

Another view ot same

Head of male Astor Markhor

Oblique view of same

Horns of male Pir-Panjal Markhor

Horns of male Suleman Markhor .

Head of male Himalayan Tahr

Skull and horns of male Arabian Tahr

Head of male Nilgiri Tahr

Front view of another head ot the same

PAGE

138
142

'55
.56
164
166

178
182
184

193
201
204
216

233
244
247
250
252

254
256
267
276
279
289
290
292
295
298
302
304
307

ERRATUM

Fig. 30, p. 156, represents a female bharal, and not, as stated, a muflon.

ADDENDA TO "DEER OF ALL LANDS"

The issue of the present volume afFords a convenient opportunity for recording such
amendments and additions to the Deer of all Lands as are necessary.

The hind figured on page 103 as that of the Manchurian wapiti proves to
belong to the Duke of Bedford's deer. Consequently the redness and large size
attributed to the former animal are not warranted by the tacts.

A muntjac from Borneo named Cervulus pleihariciis by Kohlbrugge ' in 1895 ^^^
overlooked ; but its claims to specific distinction from the Indian muntjac are very
doubtful.

The name Dorcelaphus, used in a sub-generic sense (p. 248) tor one group of
American deer, is antedated by Odocoileiis, Rafinesque, 1832; and the latter is
accordingly employed by Dr. Merriam.' It was given to a fossil tooth, now identified
with the common American deer ; and such an unsatisfactory type specimen may
appear to some a good reason against its adoption. The specific name is O. spehvus.

Dr. Merriam ^ also recognises two additional sub-species of the black-tailed deer,
which he proposes to call Odocoileiis columbianus sitkensis and Odocoileus coliimbianus
scaphiotus ; the former being from Alaska and the latter from California .

The same writer ^ also names a deer allied to the mule-deer from Cerros Island,
California, Odocoileus cerrosensis ; a second ° from Chiapas, Mexico, O. thomasi, stated
to differ from the common American deer by being red at all seasons ; and a third "
from the same district, 0. nelsoni.

The acquisition by the British Museum of a mounted specimen of the marsh-deer
(p. 283) shows that the hair on the withers is reversed, as in the pampas deer,
although to a smaller extent. The reversal of the hair in this region becomes there-
fore a characteristic of the sub-genus Blastoceros.

1 Niitui/rk. Tijdschr. NeJcrl. hid. scr. 2, vol. iv. p. 192 (1895).

- Proc. Soc. H'dstington, vol. xii. p. 99 (1898), published subsequently to Deer of all Lands.

'■'■ Op. cit. pp. 100 and lOI. ^ Ibid. p. loi. * liiid. p. 102. '' Ibid. p. 103.

WILD OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOATS OF ALL LANDS,
LIVING AND EXTINCT

In the Di'tr of All Lauih^ to which the present volume is intended as a
companion, it has heen stated that the family Bovidte, or Hollow-horned
Ruminants, form a group of the section Pecora^ in which are also
included the Prong-buck, or Antilocaprhlce ; the Giraffes, or Girajfidir ; and
the Deer, or Cervidcf. And as the distinctive features of the Pccora
have been mentioned in that volume, it is unnecessary that they should
be recapitulated here.

All the existing wild members of the great family Bovhla are readily
characterised by the possession of a pair of bony appendages to the skull,
clothed during life with hollow unbranched horns which are never
shed, but grow continuously at the base, while their summits become
more or less abraded and rounded by wear and tear. Although in many
members of the family these appendages are confined to the males, in
almost all of those forming the subject of the present volume they are
developed in both sexes, although frequently much smaller in the females
than in the males.

The presence of these unbranched horns thus suffices to distinguish
the members of the family not only from the Deer and Giraffes, but
likewise from the Prong-buck, in which the horns, although of the same

2 Introductory

general nature, are forked and periodically shed trom the underlying
persistent bony cores.

This being so, and as only two sections of the family are treated ot
in the present yolume, it would be superfluous to enter into the con-
sideration of all the structural peculiarities of the BovUee as a whole. The
following points may, howeyer, be noticed. In the first place, no members
of the family, either liying or extinct, possess upper canine teeth, or tusks,
which are frequently so strongly developed in the Deer tribe (especially
when antlers are wanting) ; and in this respect the Hollow-horned are
clearly more specialised than the Antlered Ruminants. Very rarely do
they show those tufts and glands on the lovyer part of the liind-legs
which form such a characteristic feature in many of the Deer.

Further evidence of the specialisation or high grade ot the tamily is
affxirded by the hict that the lower ends of the metacarpal and metatarsal
bones, which persist in so many of the Deer, have invariably disappeared.
Then, again, the lateral toes are very generally represented merely by the
lateral hoofs, although in certain cases some small nodules of bone within
them represent the skeleton of these portions of the limbs. Moreover,
in some members of the family (although in none ot those described
here) even the lateral hoofs themselves have disappeared, and the main
hoofs alone remain. In the liver the gall-bladder, which is tound
among the Deer tribe only in the Musk, is almost always present among
the Bovn/d".

The geographical distribution of the Hollow-horned Ruminants is very
different to that of the Deer tamily. In place of being abundant in South
America, and unknown in Africa south of the Sahara, they are wanting
in the former area and extremely abundant in the latter; Ethiopian Atrica
and Central Asia being in tact their areas of maximum development.
They also extend farther north than the Deer, and the only extensive land-
areas from which they are absent are the Australasian region and South

Introductory

and Central America, one extinct form having alone penetrated into the
latter area.

That the Old World is the original home of the BovicLc may be con-
sidered as beyond dispute. And their paucity in North America (where
they are now represented only by the American bison, the musk-ox, the
big-horn, and the so-called Rocky Mountain goat) may not improbably
be due to the circumstance that most of them are inhabitants of warm
regions, and would consequently have been unable to cross what is now
Bering Strait at the time when the Old and New Worlds were con-
nected in that region. The few species that did succeed in crossing by
this route are more or less exclusively cold-loving animals, which may
account tor the family never having succeeded in penetrating into the
hot southern halt ot the New World.

Geologically speaking, the Bovidte appear to be a comparatively modern
group. They are unknown in the strata where the earliest deer make their
appearance. And although a tew antelopes, which are the most general-
ised members ot the tamily, are known trom the Miocene deposits of
Europe, the oxen, sheep, and goats were not developed, so far as we know,
before the Pliocene period ; and it is even doubtful whether sheep came
into existence betore the Plistocene period, although remains attributed to
them have been reported from the Pliocene deposits of the Siwalik Hills
in the North of India.

With regard to the members of the tamily torming the subject ot the
present volume, these constitute the sections or sub-families termed Bovifue
and Ccipriihe by the scientific zoologist. As the general characteristics of
these sub-families may be gleaned from those given as distinctive ot the
various genera, it will be unnecessary to define them in this place. A
word must, however, be said with regard to the limitations ot the term
" soats," which occurs in the title of this volume, seeing that its technical
and popular significations are not exactly the same. One of the lour

4 Introductory

North American representatives of the family Bovidce is, indeed, commonly
known as the Rocky Mountain goat, and might therefore seem entitled
to a place among the animals described in this volume. Zoologically,
however, it is not a goat in the proper sense of the term. It appears
more nearly allied to the so-called goat-antelopes, of which the European
chamois and the Oriental serows are familiar examples, and cannot there-
tore be included in the sub-family Caprince.

The various members of the extensive but somewhat ill-dehned group
of Bovida commonly known as antelopes are fully described and figured
in the Book of Antelopes by Messrs. Sclater and Thomas. The present
volume treats of the oxen, sheep, and goats ; and the Ccrvuia have already
been described in the I}ccr of All La/uis. To complete the Pecora,
there accordingly remain the aforesaid goat-like antelopes among the
Boviihe^ as well as the Prong-buck {Aiitilociipriihc), and the giraffes and
their extinct allies [Glrajfiiler). The groups remaining are therefore some-
what mixed, but it is to be hoped that sonie one will undertake the task
of their description. And it is above all most important that the extinct
forms should be included, as without them no adequate idea can be
gained of the affinities and extent of the family last-named.

In the groups mentioned in the title, the present volume includes
descriptions of all the named living species and races with which the
writer is acquainted. But, as in the case of the deer, only such of the
extinct forms as are represented by remains sufficiently well preserved
to give a fair idea of their affinities are introduced into the text.

In addition to the attractiveness of the wild members of the groups
under consideration on account of the magnificent horns which many of
them carry, oxen, sheep, and goats must always claim special attention on
account of their including the most important of the animals domesticated
by man for the purpose of affording food. The domesticated species
comprise (i) the common ox, (2) the humped ox, (3) the yak, (4) the

Oxen 5

sheep, and (5) the goat, with their numerous breeds. Oi the first, the
wild ancestral stock, although well known, is now extinct. Of the second
and fourth not only is the ancestral stock extinct, but it is also totally-
unknown ; while of the third and fifth the original wild form still
survives.

I. The Oxen — Genus Bos

Bos, Linn. SysL Nut. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 98 (1766).

Characters. — Size generally large, but occasionally medium, or even
small ; build massive and stout ; neck short and deep, and the head carried
but little, if at all, above the level of the back ; frequently a large dewlap
to the throat. Extremity of muzzle large, broad, naked, and moist ; no
glands on the face or between the hoofs; four teats in the female; ears
large, pointed, and often nearly naked, except on the margins ; tail
long, cylindrical, and frequently tufted at the tip, rarely long-haired
throughout ; main hoofs more or less pointed, and lateral hoofs well
developed. Horns present in both sexes of the existing forms ; generally
not greatly larger in the males than in the females, but wanting in females
of some extinct species ; placed on or near the vertex of the skull and
more or less separated at the bases ; at first generally directed somewhat
outwardly, then curving upwards, and sometimes also inwards at the tips ;
in section varying from cylindrical to triangular ; externally either perfectly
smooth, or marked with irregular transverse ridges and valleys ; in colour
varying from olive-green to black. Pelage either short and silky, or long
and shaggy ; generally no very marked difference, at least in colour,
between summer and winter coat ; general coloration usually uniform, but
in some cases the lower portions of the legs, and rarely the buttocks,
white, and in one or two instances a few white spots on the sides of the
face. Upper molar teeth with very tall and squared crowns, on the inner
side of which there is a slender cylindrical additional column of dentine

6 Oxen

and enamel enclosed in the investing layer of cement. The bony cores
of the horns are completely honeycombed with a number ot large and
irregularly shaped cavities. Skull without any pits or lissures below the
eyes ; the sockets of the eyes generally not prominent ; the premaxillte
sometimes reaching the nasal bones. Canon-bones short and stout.

The group appears to be one ot the most specialised and advanced
of all the ruminants, as is indicated by the structure ot the cheek-teeth,
and its comparatively late appearance in time. Their nearest relatives
are not easy to determine. The absence ot horns in the temales ot some
of the extinct species points to descent trom a group in which a similar
condition obtained. On the other hand, their molar teeth are very similar
to those of the oryx and sable antelope group, and unlike those ot all
other ruminants. And as this character is not very likely to have
originated independently, a relationship to that group is suggested. Such
a connection is in harmony with the absence of face-glands in the group of
antelopes in question, and the small size of the vacuities in the skull below
the eyes. But, it may be urged, in these antelopes horns are developed
in both sexes, and the muzzle is hairy. The latter difference is but ot
little importance, as it is quite probable that a naked muzzle is a teature
of comparatively modern acquisition. With regard to the former, it there
be any relationship between the two groups, the only explanation would
seem to be that in the ancestral antelopes the females were hornless, and
that the oxen branched off before horns were acquired by that sex.

Distribution. — Nearly all the habitable parts of the globe, with the
exception of the Australasian and Neotropical regions, but represented
in the New World only by the American bison and some nearly allied
fossil torms. In time, dating in India from the Pliocene epoch, and
represented in Europe in the latter portion of that epoch. The numerical
abundance of species, both living and extinct, in the Old World, and
especially Asia, points to the conclusion that the group originated in the

Habits 7

Eastern Hemisphere, and not improbably in Asia. Its immigration into
Africa south of the Sahara was doubtless a comparatively modern event ;
this being confirmed by the fact that all its representatives found in that
continent appear to be modifications ot a single specific type. Equally
modern and equally limited was doubtless also the migration into America;
the route of this migration being clearly indicated by the fossil remains
of the bison which occur in Alaska. This emigration may not unlikely
have been contemporaneous with that ot the wapiti, which, like the bison,
has never succeeded in penetrating into the southern hall: ot the New
World.

Habits. — In the nature of their habitat oxen display a considerable
amount of variability. Many prefer forest districts, especially where the
ground is hilly and rocky, but the American bison was mainly an
inhabitant of the open prairies, and the yak is still a denizen ot the bleak
highlands of Tibet. Probably, however, all the members ot the group were
originally forest-dwelling animals, some of which have been compelled
by stress of circumstances to take to a life on open plains or plateaux ; and
the fact that the American bison has a woodland race which is probably
more primitive than its cousin of the prairies, affords a distinct confirma-
tion of this hypothesis. All, or nearly all the species associate in herds ot
larger or smaller size, which may be protected and led by the bulls, and in
some cases may be numbered in thousands ; but in many instances, at any
rate, the oldest males separate themselves from the herds to pass a more
or less completely solitary existence, and cows take the lead.

Of all ruminants, oxen are perhaps the most generally usetul to man-
kind. Not only do they provide fiesh of a highly nutritive and palatable
nature, but the females furnish milk, and the skins of both sexes afford a
most valuable supply of leather. The horns and hoofs, too, are largely
used for several purposes ; while the American bison formerly supplied
rugs or robes that afforded one of the most efficient protections against

8 Oxen

extreme cold that is known. But this is by no means all, since in many
parts of the world oxen are or were employed as beasts of burden or
draught, which in some respects are superior even to the horse ; and were it
not for the services of the yak, it would be almost an impossibility to
traverse the high plateau ot Tibet and some other districts of Central
Asia. Several members of the group have been domesticated since very
early times, two of these having no wild representatives now living.

By many writers the oxen are divided into several genera, although, as
remarked by Mr. Blanford, such divisions seem scarcely worthy of that
rank. Moreover, zoologists are by no means in accord as to the number
of groups into which they should be divided. In the present work the
groups adopted are given the rank ot sub-genera only.

i. Typical or Taurine Group — Sub-Genus Bos

Taurus, H. Smith, in Griffith's Aniwal Kingdom, vol. v. p. 375 (1827),
as a sub-genus.

Vrus, H. Smith, op. cit. vol. iv. p. 417 (1827), as a sub-genus.

Zclnis, Blyth, Jouni. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxix. p. 282 (i860).

Characters. — Typically the horns quite or nearly cylindrical, situated far
apart from one another on a ridge forming the extreme vertex ot the skull,
which overhangs the proper occipital surface of the latter ; forehead of
skull flat and elongated, and a long interval between the bases of the horn-
cores and the sockets of the eyes, which are not tubular ; nasal bones
relatively elongated. Tail very long, reaching to below the hocks. Line
of back nearly straight. Hair uniformly short, and legs apparently with-
out white " stockings."

In the vertebral column the neural spine ' of the seventh or last

' The neural spines arc the tall vertical processes arising from the summits ot the vertebra? and
forming the ridge of the back ; the dorsal vertebra- are those to which the ribs are attached, the
cervicals being those in front and the lumbars those immediately behind them.

Common Ox 9

cervical vertebra is short, the spines ot the dorsal vertebra? are of moderate
height and slope regularly and slightly away to the lumbar vertebra', thus
producing the straight line ot the back. The upward production of the
vertex of the skull so as completely to shut out the occipital surface in a
front view, and the abbreviation ot the parietal zone, indicate that the
present and following groups are the most specialised ot all the oxen ; but
as regards the vertebra- the bison group is more advanced than the present
one.

Distribution. — At the present day non-existent in a wild condition, but
formerly ranging over the greater portion ot the Eastern Holarctic and
some part of the Oriental regions.

I. The Common Ox — Bos taurus

Bos tai/nis, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 98 (1766).

This species being extinct as a wild animal can only be very im-
perfectly described. There is no hump on the withers, the horns are
perfectly cylindrical, strongly curved, and situated on the extreme summit
of the occipital crest of the skull, the hinder surtace of which is very tall,
and without any distinct lateral notches. The cry is the well-known
" low " of the domestic breeds.

The case of species named from domesticated breeds is always a difficult
one as regards nomenclature ; and many writers refuse to adopt such name
for the original wild race, whether living or extinct. After consultation
with my friend Mr. O. Thomas, of the British Museum, I have, however,
come to the conclusion that, in the cases of the extinct European ox and
the living wild goat, it is preferable to retain the names originally given
to the domesticated breeds.

Oxen

a. European Wild Race, or Aurochs — Bos taurus primigenius

( Extinct)

Bos pi-iiiiigeniiis, Bojanus, Nova Acta Acad. Ccrs. Leop.-Car. vol. xiii.
pt. 2, p. 422 (1827) ; Owen, Bnt. Foss. Mamm. p. 498 (1846) ; Wilckens,
B'lol. Centralblatt., vol. v. p. iii (1885) ; Nehring, Lanchcirtsch. ya/u-h. vol.
XXV. p. 915 (1896) ; Schiemenz, Bio/. Ccntra/h/att, vol. xvii. p. 793 (1897).

Fig. I. — Restored skull of the Aurochs. From a specimen in the British Museum from the
brick-earth of Ilford, Essex.

Bos [Taitn/s) i/nis, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. iv.
p. 414, V. p. 376 (1827).

Bos uri/s, Fleming, Brit. Animals., p. 24 (1828) ; Dawkins, Quart,
yourn. Geo/. Soc. vol. xxii. p. 391 (1866).

Bos /atifrons, Fischer, Bn//. Soc. Moscoii, vol. ii. art. 2 (1830), Mem.
Acad. Moscou, vol. iii. p. 281 (18:^4), ticc Harlan, 181 5.

Aurochs 1 1

Bos taunis priscus^ Bos /ossiZ/'s, Urns fossil is, Uri/s co/ossiis, and Bos
ccesaris, Keferstein, Natitrgeschichtc, vol. ii. p. 193 (1834).

Bos taiirus gigantcus, Owen, Brit. Foss. Ma/iini. p. 502 (1846).

Bos gigantiiis, Davies, Cut. Brady Coll. p. 47 (1874).

Bos taunts priniiginiiis, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Ma/iiiii. Brit. Miis. pt. ii.
p. 2 (1885).

History. — Although the wild ox of Europe was originally known
as the aurochs, or ur, latinised into uri/s., after its extinction these names
became transferred to the bisoi], as the only surviving European repre-
sentative of the tribe. Much uncertainty long prevailed with regard to
the date when this wild bull ceased to exist in its original condition in the
forests of the Continent. Its remains occur abundantly in the later
Plistocene deposits of Britain, those from the brick-earth ot Iltord, in
Essex, being remarkable for their fine state of preservation, and showing
well the enormous dimensions attained by this magnificent animal.
Similar remains are met with in many British caverns, and also in the lens
of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire ; these latter peat-deposits belonging
to the prehistoric period. Other remains indicate that the range of the
animal extended southwards into North Africa and eastwards into Western
and Northern Asia. The question as to the date of its survival in the
wild state in Europe has been taken up by Dr. A. Nehring ot Berlin, and
still later by Dr. P. Schiemenz. The most important evidence is afi-orded
by one Herberstain, who lived from i486 to 1566, and in 1550 published
a work under the title of Moscovia. ^ This work contains figures of
two quite distinct types of wild European cattle, one of which is clearly
the bison, and the other the aurochs, or ur ; and it is important to notice
that Herberstain had no hesitation in referring the latter names to the wild
ox as distinct from the bison. Herberstain himself appears to have

1 Herberstain (Sigism. Baro), Commcntari delta Moscovia et pdrtmente delta Russia, tradotti novamente
di latino in lingua Italiana, sm. 410, woodcut map and 6 woodcuts, Venet. G. B. Pedrczzano, I 5 50.

1 2 Oxen

travelled frequently in Poland, and the figures of the two annuals may be
regarded as having been executed under his own immediate supervision.
It has indeed been urged that the portrait of the aurochs is that ot a
domestic bullock, but Messrs. Nehring and Schiemenz have conclusively
shown that this is not the case, and that the original of the picture was a
wild Polish aurochs. In Herberstain's time, that is to say at least as late
as the middle of the sixteenth century, the aurochs was preserved in a
single Polish .forest, as is the bison at the present day in another. The
forest in question is that of Jaktorowka, situated about fifty-five kilometres
to the west-south-west of Warsaw in the districts of Bolemow and
Sochaczew. Other evidence is to the eftect that the last survivor of the
herd in this forest was slain in the year 1627. Regarding its survival in
other districts, a skull preserved for centuries in the castle of Bromberg,
Prussia, which shows three spear-wounds on the forehead, is stated to
afford decisive evidence that the aurochs lived on in that part of the
country at least as late as the twelfth or thirteenth century. It is further
evident that, like its cousin the bison, the aurochs was a forest-dwelling
animal.

Such being the case, it may be taken as practically certain that several
of the breeds of European cattle are the immediate descendants of the
aurochs. Calves of the latter were probably caught and tamed by the early
inhabitants of Europe, and tlieir progeny gave birth to some at least of the
present European breeds, for which there is accordingly no need to seek
an Eastern origin. That the domesticated breed would become smaller
than the wild ancestral race is only what might naturally be expected ; a
precisely analogous instance occurring in the yak, of which the race
domesticated in the Bhutan and Darjiling districts bear no comparison to
the wild animal, or even to the semi-domesticated breed kept by the
nomads of the Rupshu plateau.

Although otherwise white, the half-wild Chillingham cattle usually

Aurochs

huve the muzzle and tlie inside at the ears reddish, whereas in the Cadzow
breed the same parts are hhick. In other European breeds various shades
of dun, fawn, and red, as well as black, are commonly met with ; and as
red or tawn is a less specialised type of coloration than black, it might
well have been thought that one of these was the predominant tint of
the aurochs. According, however, to the authors already referred to,
Herberstain's woodcut and another ancient picture show that the ancient
wild ox of Europe was black. If this is to be depended on, the reds and
duns ot our domesticated breeds must apparently be regarded as a reversion
to tlie coloration ot some older race.

Like the bison, the aurochs is known to have been common in the
Black Forest in the time of Julius Ca'sar ; and was of course still more
widely spread in earlier years. In Britain its remains, as already mentioned,
occur in deposits as late as those of the fen districts, but none have hitherto
been identified in those dating from or subsequent to the time of the
Roman occupation, when it would accordingly appear to have become
exterminated in England.

Little more can be added with regard to the characteristics of the wild
aurochs, except that it must have been a huge animal, probably standing
at least six feet high at the shoulders, and with horns not very unlike those
of the modern Chillingham cattle, only very much larger. The horns
usually have an outward and forward curvature at first, alter which they
bend somewhat upwards and inwards. The following are the dimensions
of the horn-cores of some of the splendid specimens collected by the late
Sir A. Brady from the brick -earth of Ilford, and now in the British
Museum : —

Museum Number '^""^^^ "'""^ ^. ^"'''' Tip to Tip.

muSLum iNumoer. Outc-r Curve. Clrcumterence. ^ ^

45.424 36 17 28

45.425 .? 16.5 ?

45^426 3« 17-5 30

45>427 38 19 34

Oxen

luseum Number.

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to 7

45,428

45.429

18.5

45>430

45>43i

45>432

45>433

To obtain an idea of the full dimensions, allowance must be made for
the horny sheaths, which, of course, have perished.

Distribution. — During the Plistocene period nearly the whole of Europe,
ranging from the British Islands to the south of Russia, and from Scan-
dinavia to Spain and Italy ; probably also extending into Western Asia.
In many parts of Central and Eastern Europe the species survived as a wild
animal till a comparatively late date in the historic period.

h. North African Wild Race — Bos taurus mauritanicus [Extinct)

Bos primigcniiis mauritanicus^ P.Thomas, Bull. Soc. Zool. France^ 1881,
p. 36, pi. iii.

Bos opistliononius, Pomel, Carte Geol. Algcric, Man. Pal. — Les Bauifs,
p. 16 (1894).

Characters. — Nearly allied to the luiropean wild race, but with the
forehead shorter, the horn-cores curving less forwards and more down-
wards, and the limbs relatively longer and more slender.

The Bos opisthonomus of M. Pomel, which is practically admitted by its
describer as identical with the B. primigenius mauritanicus of Mr. P. Thomas,
is regarded by the former writer as entitled to rank as a distinct species ;
but there can be little hesitation in classing it as a variety of the
common ox.

Distribution. — ^Northern Africa in the districts of Algeria and Tunis,

Domesticated Breeds 15

probably during the Plistocene epoch, but perhaps surviving into the
early historic period.

c. Domesticated Breeds — Bos taurus tvpicus

Urus scoticits, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom^ vol. iv. p. 417
(1827).

Bos scoticus^ Swainson, Classif. Quadrupeds^ p. 285 (1835).

Bos /rmgif rolls, Ov^tn, Rep. Brit. Assoc, for 1843, P- 234 (1844).

Bos frontosus, Nilsson, Aim. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 349

(1849).

Bos taurus., var. scoticus. Bell and Alston, Brit. Quadrupeds, p. 368 (1874).

Bos taurus, var. longifroiis, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Maniiii. Brit. Mus. pt. ii.
p. 16 (1885).

The domesticated breeds ot cattle form, as already mentioned, not only
the type ot the species Bos taurus, but likewise of the genus Bos itself, and
therefore ot the family Bovidee. Although, as implied by its title, the
present volume does not profess to treat of domesticated animals, a few
words are advisable in this place on account of the widely spread idea that
the halt-wild cattle of Chillingham and some other British parks are
aboriginally wild animals. This, however, may be confidently stated to be
an erroneous idea ; and although they may have existed in their present
condition for a very long period, it is practically certain they are descended
from a domesticated or semi-domesticated breed, possibly not very distantly
removed from the wild aurochs. Consequently, they have no right to the
specific name scoticus, which has been given them. The same remark
applies to the names loiigifroiis and frontosus, which have been applied to
a small breed from the peat of the fens and other superficial deposits
commonly known as the Celtic short-horn, and which undoubtedly appears
to have been a domestic animal.

1 6 Oxen

There being no other primitive wild ox in Europe, and an Eastern
derivation in the highest degree improbable, it is evident that all the
domesticated breeds of European cattle must trace their ultimate ancestry to
the aurochs. It may, indeed, be admitted that some of the breeds — especially
those of Eastern Europe — may have crossed with African or Indian humped
cattle, but this does not affect the general proposition.

Taking the aurochs as the ultimate ancestor of all European domesti-
cated cattle, the question narrows itself as to whether any of the British
breeds can be regarded as its direct descendants. Some writers have taken
the view that the British white park-cattle were derived directly from the
aurochs. Not so Owen, who believed that the latter died out as a wild
race in Britain, and that the park-cattle are derived from the domesticated,
and, apparently, imported race. That this view is probably correct, so
far as the intervention of a domesticated breed is concerned, may be
admitted.

Now we come to a much more difficult part ot the question, and one
in regard to which much misapprehension has arisen. Professor T.
M'Kenny Hughes, in a paper published in the Archceologia for 1896,
expresses the opinion that the British park-cattle are descended from a
breed imported into the country during the Roman occupation. And he
remarks that " in England no bones which could possibly be referred to the
JJr-us have been proved to have been found with Roman or later remains,
and no evidence has been obtained of its ever having been domesticated
in this country." If this statement be correct — and if it be also admitted
that the aurochs is the ultimate ancestor of all European cattle — it is
obvious that all the British breeds must be of continental origin. But, as
Professor Hughes remarks, "Caesar mentions that there were large herds of
domesticated cattle in Britain, and we know from numerous excavations into
Roman and Roman-British rubbish-pits that these belonged, not to the
IJrus, but to Bos longifrons. This, then, is the native breed with which we

Domesticated Breeds 17

must start in all our speculations as to the origin and development of
British oxen. The Romans found that breed here, and no other."

We have next to inquire what was the origin of this so-called Bos
long'ifrons^ or Celtic short-horn, as it is often called ? On this subject
Professor Hughes writes that '^ before the Unis had disappeared the native
short-horn Bos bnichyccrus, or longifroiis, had arrived in Britain." Doubt-
less it had, but whence came it, and what was its parent form .? Professor
Rlitimeyer considered that the Celtic short-horn was a stunted form of the
aurochs, and that it existed only as a domestic race. On the other hand.
Professor Hughes observes : " It is difficult to believe that all the scattered
and associated bones of Bos longifroiis which we find in the fens along with
the remains of the beaver, the wolf, and the red deer, are those of domestic
animals. They may, of course, be those of domestic cattle run wild ; but
if Bos longifrons was not indigenous, it must have been introduced by man
into this country at a very remote period. At any rate, from its presence
in such great numbers in pre-Roman and Roman times, as proved by
excavations, we must admit a strong probability that some of our recent
domestic breeds must have been derived from it." The latter sentence may
be accepted as perfectly true ; but where, it may be asked, is the Celtic short-
horn— whether a wild or a domesticated animal — supposed to have come
from } If not separately created, it must assuredly have originated from
the aurochs, for there is no other earlier form to which its pedigree
can probably be traced. The great fallacy in all the above is, of course,
the recognition of the Celtic short-horn as a distinct species. It is, and
can be, nothing but a variety of Bos tai/riis, and Rutimeyer's idea that
it is a stunted domesticated race of the aurochs is almost certainly true.
And it thus seems impossible to accept the statement that, if the aurochs
" has left its mark in any domestic cattle in the British Isles, it can only be
through the long-horned German cattle."

In the memoir cited much stress is laid on the difference in the curva-

1 8 Oxen

ture and direction of the horns between the aurochs on the one hand,
and the Celtic short-horn and park-cattle on the other. When, however,
we admit — as we must — that both the two latter (in common with other
European cattle) are the ultimate, if not the proximate, descendants of the
former, this is really begging the whole question. Apart from this, every
breeder knows how easily the form of the horns of cattle is altered ; and
the more upward direction of the horns of the Chillingham Park cattle,
as compared with those of the aurochs, is quite what might be expected to
occur when the massive horns of the original wild race became lightened
by partial or complete domestication.

That a certain similarity in the direction of their cranial appendages
is sufficient to indicate that the Chillingham cattle are wholly derived
from an Italian breed introduced into Britain by the Roman invaders, does
not appear a warrantable supposition, although it is quite possible that
some Italian cattle may have been imported to improve the original British
breed. In Scotland and the north of England there is not the decisive
evidence that the aurochs was exterminated at such an early date as in the
south, and it has yet to be demonstrated that the park-breeds are not the
immediate descendants of a partially domesticated race of the former.
With regard to the Celtic short-horn, all the available evidence points to
the conclusion that it belongs to a thoroughly domesticated race derived
trom the wild aurochs at a very remote epoch. Indeed, the occurrence of
remains of an apparently similar breed in the prehistoric lake-dwellings of
Switzerland suggests that the breed may have been established prior to the
separation of Britain from the Continent.

2. The Narbada Ox — Bos namadicus (Ext/'m-/)

Bos namadicus. Falconer, Cat. Foss. Vert. As. Soc. Bengal, p. 232 (1859),
Pa/. Mem. vol. i. p. 280, pi. xxii. (1868) ; Lydekker, Pa/, hni. {Mem. Geo/.

Zebu 19

Surv. Lh/.), ser. 10, vol. i. p. 95, pi. >i (1878), Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Miis.
pt. ii. p. 22 (1885) ; Rlitimeyer, Abh. schweiz. pal. Gcs. vol. v. p. 176 (1878).

Bos (JJriis) namadiciis. Falconer, Quart. Joi/rn. Geo/. Soc. vol. xxi. p. 381
(1865).

Characters. — Typically very closely allied to the European wild ox, of
which Rlitimeyer suggested it was only a local race, but in some instances
the horn-cores more or less flattened at the base, and thus approximating to
the bibovine type. From this feature I was formerly led to hazard the
conjecture that the Narbada ox was the ancestor of the latter group, but it
is extremely doubtful whether such a view can be maintained, although
there is probably a near relationship between the two.

Distribution. — Southern India during the Plistocene epoch. Remains
of this species have been found in association with chipped stone imple-
ments. The dying out of this taurine ox and its replacement by the
bibovine group would appear a most extraordinary feature, were it not
tor the circumstance that the latter appears to be represented in the
Narbada deposits.

3. The Zebu, or Humped Ox — Bos indicus

Bos iiuiicus, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 99 (1766) ; Blanford,
Fauna Brit. Ind. — Ma mm. p. 48:; (1891).

Bos pusio, Swainson, C/assif. Quadrupeds., p. 28^ (i8'55).

Bos dante. Gray., Cat. Ungu/ata Brit. Mus. p. 22 (1852), Cat. Ruminants
Brit. Mus. p. 9 (1872).

Zebus gibbosus, Blyth, "Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxix. p. 282
(i860).

Bibos indicus, Rlitimeyer, Denkschr. sc/i-weiz. Ges. vol. xxii. art. ■^, p. 170
(1867), Ab/i. scbiceiz. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 189 (1878).

Bos zebu, Blanford, Zoo/. Abyssinia, p. 272 (1870).

20 Oxen

Characters. — Distinguished from the common ox by the presence of a
distinct hump on the withers, by the conformation of the skull, and the
curvature oi the horns, by the large and drooping ears, the enormous
dewlap, and the grunting cry. The presence of a white ring round each
fetlock is also very characteristic of this ox. Moreover, humped cattle
seldom seek the shelter of shade, and never stand knee-deep in water like
the domesticated European breeds.

Although in the Indian breeds the horns are in most cases of com-
paratively small size, in the Galla breed of Africa they attain enormous
proportions. Nothing is known as to the ancestry or original habitat of
humped cattle. Mr. Blyth was, indeed, of opinion that they originally
came from Africa, but there is nothing definite in favour of such a view.

Distribution. — Known only in the domesticated state from India, Burma,
China, Siam, Africa, and Madagascar. Properly speaking, therefore, the
species does not come within the scope of the present volume, but since it
is important that its right to distinction should be recognised, it has been
thought better to give the above brief notice. It may be added that the
origin of the name -zebu is quite unknown, it being foreign to all the
native languages of India.

4. The Siwalik Ox — Bos acutifrons {Extinct)

Bos acutifrons., Lydekker, Rcc. Geo/. Surv. India, vol. x. p. 30 (1877),
Pa/. Ind. {Mem. Geo/. Surv. Im/.), ser. 10, vol. i. pp. i 12 and 173, pis. xii.
and xiii. (1878).

C/iaracters. — .\. magnificent species differing from other members of the
present group by the convexity of the forehead, the shorter interval between
the bases of the horn-cores and the sockets of the eyes, the curvature and
pyriform section of the enormous horn-cores, which are set closer together
on the forehead, and the form of the occiput.

22 Oxen

In its present broken condition the span ot the horn-cores of the type

specimen (Fig. 2) is considerably over six feet, from which it may be

inferred that in life they were little, if at all, short of ten or eleven feet
from tip to tip.

Distribution. — Northern India during the Pliocene period. Not im-
probably the skull from the same deposits described by myself as Bos
planifrons may indicate the female ot this species.

ii. BiBoviNE Group — Sub-Genus Bibos

Bihos, Hodgson, yourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. vi. p. 499 (1837).

Gavcvus, Hodgson, op. cit. vol. xvi. p. 706 (1847).

Synceriis, Hodgson, loc. cit. 1847, '''"'-" Synccra, Gray, 1821.

Characters. — Allied to the typical group, but the forehead shorter, the
interval between the bases ot the horns and the sockets ot the eyes less, the
horns generally more or less elliptical in section, especially at their bases in
old bulls, the tail relatively shorter, reaching but little, if at all, below the
hocks, and a more or less distinct elevated ridge extending from the nape
and shoulders to the middle ot the back, where it suddenly terminates,
frequently forming a step of several inches in height. Colour of adult
bulls generally dark blackish-brown, with the legs from above the knees
and hocks to the hoofs white or whitish ; females and young males
either of a paler colour, or reddish-brown, with the same white legs.
Hair short, line, and glossy, without tendency to turm a mane on any
part of the head or body. Hoofs narrow and pointed. Thirteen pairs
of ribs.

The ridge on the back, which attains a much smaller development in
the banting than in the other two species, is due to the enormous elevation
of the neural spines ^ of the dorsal vertebra', the summits ot which torm a
nearly horizontal line from the third to the eleventh of the series, and then

^ Sec note on p. 8.

Wild Oxen. Sheep, &^Goats. Plate 1.

■^ . f

1 - V«j '

^H:

GAUR.

Pui bushed, 6y Rixwltind Ward 1 td- .

Gaur 23

make a sudden drop to the thirteenth and the lumbars, the twelfth dorsal
being included in the side of this drop. Although the horns, as in
the typical group, are situated on its extreme vertex, the skull exhibits
certain differences of conformation on its hinder, or occipital aspect, by
means of which it may readily be distinguished from that of the
latter.

Distrihutioti. — The Oriental region.

I. The Gaur — Bos gaurus

Bos gciiiriis, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 399
(1827) ; Evans, yourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. vi. p. 223, pi. xvi. (1837) ;
Elliot, i/^iJ. X. p. 572 (1841) ; Blyth, i/?iJ. xi. p. 444 (1842), xxi. p. 433
(1852), xxxi. p. 336 (1862) ; Mac Master, Note's on "Jcrdon, p. 128 (1870) ;
Flower and Garson, Cat. Osteol. Mus. Coll. Surgeons, pt. ii. p. 227 (1884) ;
Blanford, P>-oc. Zoo/. Soc. 1890, p. 592, Fauna Brit. India — Mamm. p. 484
(1891) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. pt. ii. p. 124 (1H91) ;
Huet, Bull. Soc. Acc/im. Paris, vol. xxxviii. p. 12 (1891) ; Ward, Records
of Big Game, p. 270 (1896) ; Pollok, Zoologist, ser. 4, vol. ii. p. 2
(1898).

Bos [B/son) gaurus, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. v.
P- Z7?> (1827).

Bos gour, Hardwicke, Zool. Journ. vol. iii. p. 233 (1828); Cantor,
yourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xv. p. 272 (1846).

Bos gaycrus, Hardwicke, loc. cit. (1828).

Bison gaurus, Jardine, Naturalist's Library — Mamm. vol. iv. p. 251
(1836).

Bibos subliemacbelus, Hodgson, yourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. vi. p. 499

Bibos cavifrons, Hodgson, yourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. vi. p. 745 (1837),

Oxen

X. p. 449 (1H41), xvi. p. 706 (1847) ; Elliot, Madras Joiirn. vol. x. p. 227,
pis. V. and vi. (1839) ; Horstield, Cat. E. Liid. Mas. p. 181 (1851).

Bos gaur, Sundevall, A'. Svenska J\'t. Ak. Handl. for 1844, P- 'S^
(1846).

Bibos gaiiras. Gray, Cat. Hodgson Coll. p. 24 (1846), Cat. Uaga/ata Brit.

Fig. 3. — Head of Bull Gaur. After Forsyth, Wighliinds of Centnil India.

Mus. p. 32 (1852), Cat. Riimuuuits Brit. Mas. p. 13 (1872) ; Riitimeyer,
Denkschr. scdnccrz. Gcs. vol. xxii. art. :;, p. 170 (1867), Ah/i. sc/ncYiz. pal.
Ges. vol. V. p. 189 (1878) ; Davison, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, p. 447.

Bilws asst'cl, Horsfield, Cat. E. lad. Mas. p. 181 (185 1).

Gav^eus gaaras, Blyth, yoara. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxix. p. 282 (i860) ;
Jerdon, Mamm. lad. p. 301 (1867) ; Sterndale, Ma/iim. hid. p. 481
(1884).

Gaur 2^

Plate I.

Characters. — Build massive (the body being deep luid the hmbs rela-
tively short) and size large, the height in old bulls occasionally reaching
as much as six teet four inches (nineteen hands) at the shoulder. Ears
large. The ridge on the back strongly developed, and ending in a sudden
descent about midway between the shoulders and the tail. Skull with
a high ridge on the vertex, forming a bold arch between the bases of
the horns, and beneath it tlie prohle oi the forehead deeply concave.
Horns markedly flattened at the base, strongly curved throughout their
length, with the tips inclining inwards and somewhat backwards ; their
colour pale greenish or yellowish, with black tips. Tail just reaching
the hocks. Generally little or no distinct dewlap. Hair short, and
becoming very sparse on the back in old bulls ; general colour of the
upper-parts in old bulls dark olive-brown tending to become almost black ;
under-parts paler, but golden-brown at the insertion of the limbs ; upper
portion of forehead to the nape of the neck ashy-gray, passing in some cases
into whitey-brown or dirty white ; legs from above the knees and hocks
downwards pure white ; muzzle pale-coloured. In cows and young bulls
the general coloration rather less dark, and in some cases, especially during
winter and in individuals inhabiting comparatively dry and open districts,
tending to rufous ; calves are stated to have a dark streak down the
back.

Although a bull from the Malay Peninsula was exhibited in the
London Zoological Gardens in 1889, I have never seen a living gaur,
and my descriptions are consequently derived from museum specimens
and the writings of others. The British Museum possesses a fine mounted
male and female from India, but additional specimens are necessary before
several disputed points in connection with this magnificent species can be
decided. With regard to size, Mr. Blanford, in 1891, wrote as follows : —

26 Oxen

" Large bulls are said to exceed 6 feet in height at the shoulder, but
this is rare and exceptional, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches being the
usual height. Cows are much smaller, about 5 feet high. A huge bull,
measured by Elliot, was 6 feet i^ inches high, 9 feet 6 inches from nose
to root ot tail, tail 2 teet 10 inches long, girth behind shoulder 8 feet.
A cow 4 teet 10^ inches high measured 7 feet from nose to rump over
curves, and 6 feet 9 inches in girth."

The greatest shoulder-height recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward is 6 feet
4 inches, in a specimen killed by Lord Powerscourt ; a bull shot by the
Maharaja of Kuch Behar coming next, with a height of 6 feet 3^ inches.
Three other bulls measuring over 6 feet are also recorded; one of these
having been measured with extreme accuracv- Colonel Pollok, who
states that the gaur from the eastern side of tlie Bav of Bengal are
larger than those from India, records an Indian bull standing 6 feet
4^ inches (19 hands I inch) at the shoulder, a Burmese bull 6 feet
7^ inches (19 hands 3.', inches), and a Burmese cow 6 feet 4 inches (19
hands). It accurate, these latter dimensions are tlic largest on record,
and bear out the statement as to the superior size of the eastern form of
the species.

With regard to the question whether the Burmese and Malayan animals
should be regarded as indicating a race apart from the typical Indian form,
the following observations mav be quoted. Mr. Blanford, inr instance,
states that skulls from the Duars of Bhutan, the Mishmi Hills, and the
Malay Peninsula are much broader in proportion acrt)ss the forehead
than those from the Indian Peninsula ; adding that he is uncertain whether
this broad-headed form is alone found to the east of the Bay of Bengal,
although inclining to the opinion that it is not. He likewise mentions
that in a skull from the Mishmi Hills in the collection of Mr. Hume the
frontal concavity is wanting, thus approximating to the gayal type. And,
it my recollection serves me right, there are one or more skulls in the

Gaur 27

Indian Museum, Calcutta, from the districts north or east of the Bay of
Bengal, exhibiting a similar conformation of the forehead.

Colonel Pollok writes as iollows on this point : — '' Not only does the
Burmese gaur stand higher, but the dorsal ridge extends further back,
to within a span of the croup, the dent in the forehead is deeper, the
cylindric crest higher, the horns larger, heavier, and more truncated, and
but seldom worn at the tips as in the Indian." He adds, however, that
even in India gaur are variable, and that those from the Western Ghats
are larger, with a profile more like a ram, than those from the Wynad
district, thereby resembling their Burmese brethren. Further, in the
young Malayan bull, formerly living in the London Zoological Gardens
and figured by Mr. Blanford in the Society's Proceedings for 1890, the
dorsal ridge is represented as terminating in the middle of the back.

Althougli a larger series of specimens may ultimately enable such
division to be made, the evidence at present available is insutiicient to
admit ot the gaur from the eastern portion of the animal's range — the
sladang ot the Malays — being separated as a race distinct from the
western form. With regard to the abnormal skulls from the Mishmi
Hills and neighbourhood, I have no suggestion to offer, unless it be
that they indicate a strain of gayal blood.

Another question relates to the absence or presence of a dewlap. Mr.
Blanford states that no distinct dewlap is developed ; and it is certainly
wanting in the British Museum specimens. On the other hand, a
Travancore planter quoted by Colonel Pollok writes that while some ot
the gaur in that district have little or no dewlap, in others that appendage
is well developed, and may form a fold of skin depending several inches
from the neck. So marked indeed is the difference that the natives divide
the gaur into two races, according to the presence or absence of the
appendage in question.

The observation recorded above that female and young gaur inhabiting

Oxen

drier and more open districts than usual tend to a reddish tint, is of
great interest in connection with the theory that bhickness in animals (as
mentioned in The Deer of All Lamls) is correlated with dampness and heat.
The following are some of the largest dimensions of gaur horns
recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward : —

Leneth on
OuU-r" Curve.

Basal Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

Widest Insi.le.

Locality.

34|

401^ (outside)

Vardi Mallay

33|

i7i

3?>h

i8|-

Mysore

2.:^h

33i

Travaucore

iik

23i

34i

Kuch Behar

i7i

20i

32i

32J

Western Ghats

3i|

174

2I§

32i

43 (outside)

3ii

32i

3ii

i6f

I2|

ilh

3oi

i9i

35 (outside)

Travancore

3oi

i8i

22I

37i

„

i9i

32i

Kuch Behar

41 (outside)

Central Provini

Distrihiitio/i. — The larger hilly forest districts of the Indian Peninsula,
Burma, the Malay Peninsula, and probably Cochin China and Siam, but
the eastern limits not yet accurately defined. Unknown in the Malay
Islands and Ceylon, although stated to have formerly occurred in the latter
island, where, however, it may have been introduced. Regarding the
distribution in India, Mr. Blanford writes as follows : — " In India at
present its extreme north-western habitat is probably the Rajpipla Hills,
near Broach ; and west of longitude 80° east the river Narbada forms
approximately, though not absolutely, the northern boundary ot its range.
It does not inhabit the grass jungles of the Gangetic plain, except close to
the Himalayas ; but it is found in the forests at the foot of those mountains,

Gaur

as far west as Nepal. South of the Ganges it exists in suitable tracts in
Chutia-Nagpur, Orissa, and the Northern Circars, the Central Provinces,
Hyderabad territories, Mysore, and throughout the Western Ghats, where-
ever it has not been exterminated or driven away."

Habits. — All who have had the opportunity of seeing gaur in their native
wilds describe them as displaying marvellous activity in getting over the
hilly ground on which they are generally found. Although they nearly
always keep to forest or high grass, they are sometimes found away from
hills. In the south of India their fivourite haunts are rocky hills, with
open grassy tablelands at the summit ; and here they are found at eleva-
tions of from 2500 to 5000, or even 6000 feet above sea-level, although
in the Terai districts of the Himalaya they never ascend nearly so high.
Usually they go about in small parties or herds numbering from five or
six to about twenty head, but occasionally more may be seen together.
The old bulls, which, as Colonel Pollok remarks, are so short-haired as
to look almost as though they had been shaved, keep much to themselves,
and in some instances are solitary ; and even young bulls may be seen alone,
or in parties of two or three. Although grass, especially that which
springs up after the periodical jungle-fires, forms their staple food in most
districts, at certain seasons of the year they browse largely on the young
and succulent shoots of the bamboo, which, after all, is only grass of a
larger kind. Feeding at morning and evening, they retire during the
heat of the day to the depths of the forests, or to thick grass-brakes, where
they escape the torments of gadHies. The early evening or afternoon
appears to be the general time for drinking. Although shy and timid,
and for the most part avoiding the neighbourhood of cultivated lands, in
undisturbed districts they are not excessively wary and difficult of approach.
Neither are they, as a rule, vicious, although a solitary bull has been
known to charge without provocation ; and in all cases when hotly
pursued they are apt to turn on their assailants. Colonel Pollok describes

Oxen

them as at times snorting and stamping when disturbed before making off,
and when in headlong flight crashing through tree and bamboo jungle with
apparent ease, owing to their enormous weight and strength. The pairing
season is stated to take place during the cold weather, and in Peninsular India
the calves are, for the most part, dropped in August or September, although
a few make their appearance in April, May, or fune. The alarm cry of the
gaur is a kind of whistling snort ; there is also a sort of mooing cry, and
likewise a loud bellow, used as a call. According to Mr. Blantord, none of
these sounds are at all like those uttered by the Indian humped cattle.

Some difference oi opinion exists as to whether the gaur has ever
been domesticated ; and as I have no personal intormation on this point,
I can only quote what has been written bv others. Mr. Blantord writes
as follows : — "' In India all attempts at domestication ot this bovine have
been failures. The calves appear alwavs to die in captivity, none, it is
said, having been known to attain their third year. But there can be
little doubt that the gaur has been tamed and kept tame in some of the
hill-tracts between Assam and Burma." A paraphrase ot this statement
was published by myself in the Royal Natural History. Commenting
thereon. Colonel Pollok makes the following statement : — " In a Natural
History lately published, it has been asserted that the gaur has been
tamed, and that they are kept in captivity by natives on our north-eastern
frontier, but this is altogether erroneous." In a footnote it is added
that the writer was evidently misled hv Sanderson, whereas in reality,
as shown above, I have merely quoted Mr. Blanford, frcMii whom some
additional remarks on this subject are referred to under the next species.

As illustrative of the extreme activity of the gaur, the following
extract trom a correspondent of Colonel Pollok living in Travancore is
worth quotation : —

" When the Kaunan Devan Hills in North Travancore were opened
out for tea and cinchona some vears ago, the felling of the tea forest

Wild Oxen Sheep ScGoats. Plate II.

BULL GAYAL.

Published hr RcwiandWartilii

Gayal 31

restricted the wild beasts, particularly the elephants and gaur, when
passing across the estate, to one or two pathways. One particular track
was, however, lett to them for about ten years, when further cultivation
led at last to the blocking up of even this right of way. The animals
were at first much puzzled, and both elephants and gaur took to wander-
ing about the cultivation. The elephants accommodated themselves to the
altered conditions and used the estate paths. The gaur, more suspicious,
took a straight line tor their grazing grounds over the rotten felled
timber and through the older cinchona plantations, but were often brought
up by the sight of white-washed walls surmounted by a corrugated iron
roof. At last they settled down to a pathway between the old cinchona and
a natural belt left between it and the new clearing. A pit lo feet long,
8 feet wide and 8 feet deep, was dug on the boundary, covered with a mat
made of reeds and bamboos, over which earth and dry leaves were scattered.
The smell of the fresh earth, however, turned them off. Once a gaur got
his fore-feet down the side ot the pit, but made a bold jump and cleared it."
The title of bison commonly given to this species by Anglo-Indian
sportsmen is a misnomer.

2. The Gayal — Bos frontalis

Bos frontalis, Lambert, Triuis. Li/i/i. Soc. vol. vii. pp. 57 and 302
(1804) ; Sundevall, A'. Svc/iska Vet. Ak. Handl. for 1844, p. 76 (1846) ;
Blyth, JoiiriK As. Soc. Bciigcil, vol. xxxi. p. 338 (1862) ; P. L. Sclater,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1866, p. I, pi. i. ; Sarbo, //;/,/. 1883, p. 143 ; Blanford, ihiJ.
1890, p. 593, Fauna Brit. India — Manini. p. 487 (1891); W. L. Sclater,
Cat. Manim. lud. Miis. pt. ii. p. 126 (1891) ; Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclini.
Paris., vol. xxxviii. p. 9 (1891) ; Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 274 (1896).

Bos gavceus, Colebrooke, As. Researches, vol. viii. p. 488 (1805);
Hodgson, Joiirn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. x. pp. 453 and 470 (1841).

32 Oxen

Bos sylhetaniis, F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Mamni. pis. 418, 419 (1824).

Bos {Bison) gavcvus, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom^ vol. iv.
p. 406, V. p. 375 (1827).

Vrus gaviViis., Swainson, Classif. QuaJriipcds, p. 280 (1835).

Bison sy/hctaniis, Jardine, Naturalist's Library — Mainm. vol. iv. p. 257
(1836).

Bihos frontalis. Gray, List Mannn. Brit. Mus. p. 151 (1843), Cat.
Ungnlata Brit. Mus. p. 31 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 1:5 (1872).

Gavceiis frontalis., Hodgson, ""fourn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. p. 706
(1847); Horsfield, Cat. E. hid. Mus. p. 179 (1851); Blyth, Journ. As.
Soc. Bengal, vol. xxix. p. 294 (i860) ; Sterndale, Manim. India, p. 486
(1884).

Bibos gavceus, Rlitimeyer, £)t'/';/('jY7/;-. scliicriz. Gcs. vol. xxii. art. 3, p. 170
(1867), Abb. sclrweiz. pal. Gcs. vol. v. p. 189 (1878).

Plate IL

Characters. — Generally very similar to those of the preceding species,
but the size smaller, the limbs relatively shorter, the dorsal ridge somewhat
less prominent, the dewlap always well developed, and the skull and horns
of a markedly diffisrent type. The head is decidedly shorter, having almost
a triangular form, with the region of the forehead perfectly flat, and the
ridge on the summit between the bases of the horns forming a horizontal
straight line ; the horns themselves are blackish in colour from base to tip,
and are but very slightly curved, inclining outwards and more or less
upwards, but with no inward bending ; in the skull the nasal bones are
decidedly shorter than those of the gaur. Hair somewhat longer than in
the latter, and the colour distinctly darker, the head and body being dark
blackish-brown in both sexes, and the legs from above the knees and hocks
to the hoofs pure white or yellowish. Although the domesticated race —
apparently the only one of which entire specimens are known — is usually

Gayal

uniformly coloured, individuals are not unfrequently observed more or less
spotted with white, while a tew are wholly white.

Although very massively built, the gayal, at least in the semi-domesti-
cated state, stands very considerably lower at the shoulder than the gaur.
The horns of a wild hull measured by Mr. Blanford had a length of 14
inches, and the same basal girth. In a domesticated specimen measured by
Mr. Rowland Ward the length along the outer curve of the horn is given
as 15 inches, the basal girth 1 1|^ inches, and the interval between the tips

Fig. 4. — Bull Gayal. From a photograph of a specimen in the Calcutta Zoological Gardens.

of the two horns 26| inches. In a second example, oi which the horn-
length is only 12^7 inches, the basal circumference is 27! inches.

Distributioji. — For a long period there was great doubt whether the gayal,
or mithan, as it is called in Assam and Chittagong, existed at all in the
wild state ; and the opinion has indeed been expressed that the animal is
nothing more than a domesticated breed of the gaur. Mr. Blanford,
however, records a typical skull in the private collection ot Mr. A. O.
Hume, obtained by the late Mr. W. Davison in Tenasserim, and
identified by the latter as belonging to a wild animal killed by himself in
Tenasserim, between Lemyne, 66 miles south by east ot Moulmein, and
Tenasserim town. This accordingly appears to fix Tenasserim as lying

34 Oxen

within the distributional area of the species, the limits of which have yet
to be defined. But it is distinctly remarkable that since the publication
of Mr. Blanford's note in 1891 not a single word in confirmation of the
existence of wild gayal has been recorded either by a sportsman or a
naturalist ; while Burmese sportsmen with whom I have conversed deny
the existence of the animal in a wild state in the Tenasserim district.

As mentioned under the head of the preceding species, great confusion
has arisen in the descriptions of travellers between gaur and gayal ; and the
question as to which form some of the animals kept in domestication by
the tribes living in the districts to the northward ot the Bay ot Bengal
belong, is still iiwolved in great obscurity. Mr. Blanford's remarks on the
question are as follows : — " Bos frontalis was described by Lambert and
Colebrooke as occurring both in the tame and wild state in the hills of
Tipperah among the Kukis ; and Lambert gave a detailed account,
furnished by Mr. M'Rae, of the capture of wild animals and their domesti-
cation by these tribes. It has since been ascertained that tame ' mithans '
or ' gayals ' are found in possession of particular tribes both north and south
of the Assam valley, around Manipur and Cachar, and in the Tipperah,
Chittagong, and Lushai hills as far south as the neighbourhood of Chitta-
gong. But the wild bovine of the area in general was ascertained by Blyth,
Sarbo, Anderson, and others to be Bos gaums. The later evidence is
confusing. Peal [Nature, 5th November 1H85, p. 7) states that both wild
and tame animals are called mithan in Upper Assam, that they are perfectly
distinct, and no intermediate forms ever occur ; whilst Sanderson {T/iirteen
Tears among the Wild Beasts of India, p. 2i;o) declares that in Chittagong the
two forms, wild and tame, are similar. Lastly, Mr. E. C. Steuart Baker
[Asian, 6th March i89i,p. 35H) in the north Cachar hills confirms the
old story of the wild mithans being reclaimed by the Kukis. ... It is
very probable that some ot the domesticated mithans are B. gat/ri/s, the
domestication of which by the Kukis was described by Blyth on information

Gayal 35

from a missionary, M. Barbe {"Joiirn. As. Soc. Bciiga/^ vol. xxix. p. 294).
This would explain the old accounts of Mr. M'Rae and the recent one
by Mr. Baker, both of which have every appearance of authenticity."

The domesticated herds ot gayal enjoy a large amount of liberty,
roaming and feeding at will during the daytime through the torest, and
returning at nightfall of their own accord to the villages of their owners.
They never appear to be used either as beasts of burden or tor draught ;
and their main use seems to be for food. It has indeed been stated that
they are also milked, but as the majority at least of the Indo-Chinese tribes
by whom these animals are kept are not milk-drinkers, this seems more
than doubtful.

Gayal breed freely with the Indian humped cattle, and in the London
Zoological Gardens a hybrid between a bull of the latter and a cow gayal
proved fertile. The pedigree of the product of the pair, crossed with a
male American bison, is as follows : —

Bull Zebu — Cow Gayal.

y/. Hybrid Cow — Bull Bison.

B. Hybrid Cow— Bull Bison.

C. Hybrid Cow.

The hybrid cow B. was thus the product of three perfectly distinct
species ; so distinct, indeed, that they are regarded by many writers as
representing as many genera. And yet the animal was perfectly fertile.
As might have been anticipated from the preponderance ot bison blood,
the hybrid C. had lost almost all traces of the characters of the original
parents, and become practically indistinguishable from its sire.

36 Oxen

3. The Banting — Bos sondaicus

Bos leucoprynnnis^ Qi-'oy ^"cl Gaimard, Voyage dc F Astrolabe — Zool. vol. i.
p. 140 (1830).

Bos sondaicus, Miiller and Schlegel, J'crhandl. Ncderland Ges. vol. i.
p. 195, pis. xxxv.-xxxix. (1840); Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal^ vol. xi. p. 445
(1842), xxxi. p. 336 (1862); Blanford, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1890, p. 593, Fauna
Brit. India — Ma mm. p. 489 (1891); W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Imi. A/«j-. pt.
ii. p. 127 (1891); Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. Paris., vol. xxxviii. p. 13 (1891);
Hose, Mammals of Borneo, p. 64 (1893); Kvans, Journ. Bombay Soc. vol. x.
p. 78 (1895); ^^'^I'd, Records of Big Game, p. 278 (1896); Wood, Zoologist,
ser. 4, vol. i. p. 489 (1897); Lydekker, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898, p. 277; Pollok,
Zoologist, ser. 4, vol. ii. p. i (1898).

Bos banteng, Wagner, Schreber's Sdugetbiere, vol. iv. p. 517 (1844).

Bos banting, Sundevall, A'. Sve/ishi Vet. Ak. Handl. for i 844, p. 152 ( i 846).

Bibos banting. Gray, Knows ley Menagerie, p. 48 (1850), Cat. Ungulata
Brit. Mus. p. 35 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 13 (1872);
Horsfield, Cat. E. Ind. Mus. p. 183 (1851) ; Jentink, Notes Leyden Mus.
vol. XX. p. 125, pi. ii. (1898).

Gavc^us sondaicus, Blyth, "Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxix. p. 296
(i860); MacMaster, Notes on Jerdon, p. 131 (1870); Sterndale, Mamm.
Ind. p. 488 (1884).

Bibos sondaicus, Riitimeyer, Denkschr. sclnceiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3,
p. 170 (1867), Abh. sclnvei-z. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 189 (1878); P. L. Sclater,
List Anim. Zool. Gardens, p. 134 (1883).

Plate III.

Characters. — Height ranging from 5 feet to at least 5 feet 9 inches at
the withers ; build lighter than in the two preceding species, with the legs

Wild Oxen, Sheep, (3^ Goats Plate 111.

^4.' _**"''.

^a}^*^-';

JAVAN BANTING.

PidHshed. hy Bffwla^fid/ YfarcL f-iH .

Banting 37

relatively longer, the head much more elongate and antelope-like, the ridge
on the withers less developed, and not forming a distinct hump, the dewlap
smaller, the forehead flat, and in old males bearing a rugose horny shield
between the bases of the horns. The tail well tutted, and reaching below
the hocks. Horns comparatively small and slender, in adults flattened at
the base, from which they at first curve outwards and upwards, but towards
the tip somewhat backwards and inwards ; in young animals cylindrical
throughout. General colour of young males and females at all ages red-
brown, approaching chestnut, and becoming much lighter on the under
parts, which may be white, or whitish, as are the inner sides of the legs,
the inner surfaces of the ears, and the lips ; legs of adults from above the
knees and hocks to the hoofs white or whitish ; females, and generally
the males, with a large white patch on the buttocks, surrounding, but not
including, the base of the tail ; adult males with the upper-parts varying
from blackish-brown, with the aforesaid white rump-patch, to a uniform
dark reddish-brown. Young with the outer side of the leg chestnut
throu-ghout its length, and a dark streak down the middle of the back.

There are few members of the present group of animals about which
our information is more incomplete than it is in the present case ; and our
museums are sadly deficient in specimen. In addition to a skeleton and
numerous skulls, the species is represented in the National Collection by
a mounted bull from Java, from which much of the hair has been rubbed
off by handling, a mounted head from Burma, and an immature mounted
bull, also Burmese. In spite of this deficiency of information, at least two
very distinct races are recognisable.

The banting (the tsaing of the Burmese, and the sapi-utan of the
Malays) will breed freely with domestic cattle, and is itself kept in a
more or less domesticated condition by various native tribes of the Malay
countries. It was to a half-bred race that the name Bos kucoprymmis was
applied by Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard, and it is for this reason that the

Oxen

name is not employed as the designation of the species. The late acquisi-
tion of the blackish colour by the adult males of the typical race, and the
permanent retention of the red by both sexes of the second race and by
the cows of both, as well as the slighter and smaller horns, point to this
species being a less specialised type than either the gayal or the gaur ;
and it is not improbably a near relation ot the extinct Etruscan ox
described below: —

The following horn-measurements of this species are recorded by Mr.
Rowland Ward : —

gin along
er Curve.

Bas.nl Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

Gre.itest Width Inside.

Locality.

Java

2 8|

26i

36f

„

25f

i6|

2C|

26|

Malay Peninsula

24f

^^i

i5f

24i

Java

2l|

I2i

13*

i9i

Borneo

20|

•2i

1 81

22I

III

2lf

Java

i7|

I of

I4i

Borneo

io|

i7i

20f

Siam

16J

10^

i3f

Borneo

Distrihi/tion. — ^_Java, Borneo, probably Sumatra, Bali, the Malay Pen-
insula, Burma as hir as Northern Pegu and Arakan, thence apparently
through the hills to the east of Chittagong to Manipur, Siam, and
probably other parts of the adjacent districts.

Very little has been recorded of the habits of the Javan race ot the
banting, but some notes are given below relating to those of the Burmese
and Manipur races. Mr. Blanford remarks that, from the greater pro-
portionate length of its limbs, the banting is probably less addicted to
climbing rocky hills than the gaur, and is more restricted to the plains
of high grass ; and this is confirmed by the observations recorded below.

Javan Banting 39

a. Javan Race — Bos sondaicus typicus

Characters. — Size large, the height at the shoulder reaching to 5 feet
9^ inches, or perhaps more. Old bulls deep blackish -brown or black
on the upper-parts, with a large white rump-patch, and the face coloured
like the back ; somewhat younger bulls very dark chocolate-brown ;
young bulls and cows bright red-brown, also with the rump-patch and
lower part of the legs white ; tip of inner surface ot ear and a line on the
lips white.

This race is represented in the British Museum by the bull from Java
already mentioned, which is one of the specimens obtained at the same
time as the type. Where the hair still remains, it is very dark chocolate-
brown, becoming nearly black a little above the knees, but as the colour
has doubtless faded considerably, it is probable that it was originally almost
black. As mounted, the specimen stands about 5 teet 3 inches at the
shoulder. I had an opportunity ot seeing the heads ol two bulls from
Borneo in 1898 which were almost completely black, with the exception
of the above-mentioned white markings, but showed a tendency to rufous
just below the eyes.

The late Mr. W. Davison, in a note in the Proceedings ot the Zoological
Society for 1889 (p. 448) on the wild cattle of the Malay Peninsula, refers
to one species under its native name of sapio, his description being as
follows : — " It is black, but has the belly, the inner sides of both fore and
hind legs, and stockings chestnut ; the gray patch [ot the gaur] on the
forehead is rusty, and the insides ot the ears are strongly tinged with
chestnut. I have seen an old bull, standing over 18 hands, with massive
horns, coloured thus ; and the other day Dr. E. A. Travers shot in Jelebu
a young bull almost exactly the size of the sladang (gaur) now sent, and it
was coloured exactly like the large bull. The quite young of this form

Oxen

are said to be entirely chestnut, and the cows to have the chestnut of the
stockings, belly, and inner sides of the legs darker and richer coloured
than in the bulls."

From this description it would appear probable that the sapio is really the
banting, although it seems somewhat remarkable that no mention is made
either ot the light patch on the buttocks, or of the horny boss on the
vertex of the head between the bases of the horns. Mr. Blanford [Proc.

Fig. 5. — Frontlets and horns ot three male specimens ot" the Bornean Banting, ot different ages.
From the collection of Sir E. G. Loder.

Zoo/. Soc. 1890, p. 599), who inclines to the same view, remarks that he
has seen a bull gayal with yellow stockings, which, from a periodical
exudation, may occasionally assume a ferruginous tinge.

From the black coloration of the upper-parts the Malay so-called
sapio seems to be akin to the present race of the banting, but it remains
to be determined whether or no its chestnut stockings entitle it to be
ranked as a separate local form.

In the typical Javan race the horns spread outwards to a considerable
extent, much as in the Burmese head shown in Fig. 6. In many skulls

Burmese Banting 41

from Borneo the horns are, however, less spread out, and are directed
more upwardly, somewhat after the manner of those of the Galla ox, as
in the three examples shown in the accompanying figure. If this differ-
ence should prove to be constant, and it is confirmed by skulls in the
British Museum, it might indicate that the Bornean banting formed a
distinct race, although it has the same dark brown coloration as the
[avan form.

Distribution. — Typically Java, but likewise occurring in the islands of
Bali, Borneo, probably Sumatra, and perhaps also in the Malay Peninsula.

b. Burmese Race — Bos sondaicus birmanicus

Bos sondaicus biniuiiiicus, Lydekker, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898, p. 277,
plate XXV.

Characters. — Stature apparently less than in the preceding race, the maxi-
mum recorded height at the shoulder being 5 feet 4^ inches. General colour
of adult bulls dark chestnut on the upper-parts, appearing darker in some
lights than in others, and shading off into light brown on the under-parts ;
face dirty gray, typically with a light chestnut patch on the middle of the
nose some distance above the muzzle ; margin of lips and inner surface ot
ears whitish ; muzzle black ; the white rump-patch well developed ; upper
part of fore-legs darkish gray ; fore-legs from a little above the knees, and
hind-legs from above the hocks dirty white or yellowish. Young bulls
lighter and brighter-coloured, with the markings less distinct. Cows
bright reddish-chestnut at all ages ; the face being slightly paler, especially
round the eyes, on the forehead, and in the neighbourhood ot the muzzle,
where it is dirty white, as are the under-parts and lower portion of the
legs. A full-grown bull measured by Vet. -Capt. Evans stood 5 feet \\
inches at the withers, and a cow 5 feet i inch.

This race is typified by the mounted head of an adult bull, with the

42-

Oxen

horny plate between the horns fully developed, in the British Museum ;
the rest of the description being taken from the memoir by Vet.-Capt.
Evans quoted on p. :^6. The British Museum possesses a younger bull,
in which the horny plate on the crown of the head has only Just com-
menced to be apparent on the line of the back of the base ot the horns.

Fig. 6. — Head ot male Burmese Banting. From the Proc. Zool. Soc. 1898.

Col. Pollok ' writes that bulls of this race are deep red, with a white
rump-patch, although verv old ones mav be coffee-coloured.

Distribution. — Burma, Pegu, and Arakan ; possibly extending southwards
to the Malay Peninsula, and perhaps northwards to the ranges eastward ot
Chittagong.

Habits. — The Burmese tsai ng, according to \''et.-Capt. Evans, is to be
met in most parts ot the country where suitable grazing and covert occur.
They generally go about in small parties numbering from eight to a dozen

' Zoologist, scr. 4, vol. ii. p. 2 (1898).

Manipur Banting 43

head, although in some instances as many as twenty, or even more, may be
seen in company. Each herd is led by an old bull, but the band may
include two or three younger animals of the same sex. When the
bulls advance in age, they are frequently expelled from the herd by their
younger and more powerful rivals, and are then compelled to live in
solitude. As a rule, they avoid the neighbourhood of villages and exposed
cultivated land, although in secluded jungle clearings they may inflict con-
siderable damage on crops. Their food includes grass, leaves, and fallen
fruit, young bamboo-shoots being a very favourite nutriment. Although
in cloudy weather they continue till a later hour, their usual feeding-time
is from early morning till nine or ten o'clock, after which they retire to
the shade for repose. Pasturage and other kinds of food appear to be the
inducements for considerable local migrations on the part of these animals,
the young shoots of the bamboo attracting them to the jungle during the
early part of the rainy season. But at this time they are also often driven
into the open by the persecution of flies and mosquitoes. During the hot
season they seek the deep shade of the dense jungle, but at other seasons of
the year prefer thinner and more open covert. Occasionally they visit the
lower hills, but never seem to ascend to any great elevation, being thus
very unlike the gaur. Except when wounded, tsaing seem indisposed to
charge the hunter ; the herds dashing off at a rapid pace when first dis-
turbed, but soon settling down again. Solitary bulls do not appear more
vicious in disposition than those with the herds.

c. Manipur Race — Bos sondaicus, var.

Characters. — Smaller than the preceding race, the height of the adult
male being 5 feet at the shoulder, and distinguished by the red colour of
this sex at all ages and the absence of a white patch on the buttocks, which
is, however, developed in the female. Male with the ears relatively

Oxen

short ; general colour dark red, passing into grayish-white on the face,
under-parts, and inside of limbs ; no dark line down middle of back ; no
white patch on the buttocks ; front of fore-legs above the knees reddish-
black ; tip and front margin of ears jet black ; a grayish-white ring round
the eyes ; front and sides of upper part ot head tawny white ; muzzle
grayish-black. Female with the ears larger ; the general colour light red,
with a dark line down the back, and the under-parts and a large patch on
the buttocks white ; no black on front of fore-leg or on ear. Height at
shoulder 4 feet 10 inches.^

The above is an abbreviation of the description given by Surgeon-
Captain H. S. Wood of an adult bull and cow shot by himseli: in the
Kubbu Valley, between Manipur and Northern Burma. From the condi-
tion of its front teeth, the bull was regarded as a very old animal, its age
being estimated at about twenty years. Presuming it to be a truly wild
animal, there can be no question as to its distinctness from the typical
Javan race ; and it would likewise seem distinct trom the Burmese form,
but until specimens are available for comparison, it had best be left
unnamed. The forehead ot the bull showed the usual callous mass ot
horny structure between the bases of the horns ; a distinct dorsal ridge,
ending abruptly at the middle of the back without forming a hump, and
the dewlap slightly developed.

The following are the dimensions of the bull shot by Surg. -Capt.
Wood, viz. : —

ft. In.

Height at shoulder . . . . . < o

Length (nose to tip of tail over back) .

Length (nose to tip of tail across body)

Length of head and neck (above)

Length of head and neck (below)

Length of tail

Length of ears

' In the description quoted, the height is given as 3 feet 10 inches, but tiiis seems an error.

1 1

Manipur Bantina

Girth (middle of body)

Girth (chest)

Girth of fore-leg above knee

Girth of hind-leg above hock

Girth of neck (middle)

Girth of haunch

Length of skull anteriorly

Distance between orbits

Breadth of forehead (between horns)

Length of left horn (base to tip round curve)

Length of right horn (base to tip round curve)

Girth of right horn (base)

Girth of left horn (base)

Distance between tips of horns .

Distance between convexities of horns

ft.

in.

Distribution. — -The Kubbu Valley, between Manipur and Northern
Burma ; perhaps extending to the ranges eastward of Chittagong, where
this form may intergrade with the Burmese race.

Habits. — The following notes on the habits ot the Manipur banting,
or tsaing (tsaine) are given by Surg. -Capt. Wood: — ''These animals,"
he writes, " are found in herds varying from ten to thirty in number ;
and in the large herds there are generally found two or three small
bulls whose heads are not worth obtaining. The largest horns, as is the
case in other bovine animals, are found in solitary bulls who keep to
themselves, and only occasionally mix with the cows during the breeding-
season. When the green grass sprouts up after the yearly fires, the old
bulls wander over large areas, and seldom remain in the same locality
for two successive days ; while, like the gaur, they are almost always
on the move, feeding as they go along and only lying down during the
day when the sun is hottest. The tsaing can go for days without water,
and the Burmese say that they only drink once in seven days. I have
come across herds in absolutely dry districts, miles away from water.

46 Oxen

Another peculiarity of the tsaing is that it does not seem to mind the
bites of the gad- or horse-Hy, with which the teak-forests abound at the
beginning of the monsoon. The wild buffalo, which has apparently a
much tougher skin, is almost driven mad by these pests, and is compelled
to take to the rivers and swamps to avoid them, whereas the tsaing will
never resort to the water, hut prefers to lie down in the forest surrounded
by these buzzing tormentors, when no doubt its long and bushy tail assists
in driving off the bloodsuckers. During the rains these animals betake
themselves to the low hills, where they feed on the bamboo, with which
the hills are covered ; and alter the yearly fires they all descend into the
valley, and wander through the vast teak-torests. Unlike the gaur, they
never come down to the rice-fields ot the villagers, and this is probably
owing to their extreme shyness. The cow calves during the rains, and
the young is of a light red colour, only one being produced at a birth.
At the beginning of the rains tsaing are always to be found at the foot
of the low hills, where they browse on the tender new bamboo-shoots.
These animals also travel great distances to visit the so-called salt-licks,
one or two of which are generally found in places where the species is
obtained, though many of these salt-licks are nothing more than a mixture
of mud and water which has a slightly saline taste. These salt-licks are
also visited by hundreds ot parrots, green and imperial pigeons, and also
by elephants, gaur, pigs, and sambar. The tsaing is often shot at these
places by the hunter, who squats up in a tree close by. Gaur and tsaing
are never met with together in a herd, although I have found both beasts
within the radius of a mile of each other. The spoor ot the tsaing is
heart-shaped, and very pointed anteriorly, quite unlike the track of a
gaur ; this is owing to the hoofs of the former being much more pointed
and deer-like. These animals, both when feeding and lying down, always
have a sentry, generally a cow. When lying down, they generally rest
in a circle ; and when the sentry suspects danger she either stamps her

Manipur Banting 47

foot or gets up, and with a ' psheu ' and a snort the whole herd stampede,
with their tails in the air. Thus alarmed, they go miles before stopping,
and it is useless pursuing them under such circumstances. They are
always in good condition, although at times subject to cattle disease. All
specimens which I have shot had splendid coats, smooth and shining, like
that of a well-groomed horse. The skin is much prized by the Burmans
for making shoes. The under-parts of the body in one cow were covered
with small warts, varying in size from that of a pea to a hazel-nut. The
neck of the bull is generally covered with scars, the result of wounds
received in combat."

In a private letter the following additional particulars are communi-
cated by the same gentleman : — " There is no doubt of the animal being
wild ; its shyness, keenness of scent, and habit of charging when wounded
being sufficient to show this. But whether originally wild, or whether
formerly domesticated, it is impossible to say. My idea is that it is the
original wild ox from which the present domestic Burmese cattle have
sprung ; in tact, it is impossible to help remarking the similarity in
colouring and general appearance of the cow in both breeds ; the differ-
ence lies in the absence of the dorsal ridge in the domesticated cow and
the general gameness and antelope-like form ot the wild one. In the
domestic Burmese bull, on the other hand, I have seen nothing approaching
the size and magnificence of a solitary bull tsaing. Such an old bull is
one of the finest animals I have ever set eyes on, and I regret that I had
not a camera with me to take the specimens shot. An old bull gets almost
an iron-gray colour, while the younger ones are dark brown. I have never
noticed the white patch on the rump of the male, although this is a
marked feature in the temale,"

48 Oxen

iii. The Leptobovine Group — Sub-Genus Leptobos {Ext/'/ict)

Leptobos, Rutimeyer, Ahh. sclnvevz. pal. Gcs. vol. i. p. 167 (1878) ;
Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mits. pt. ii. p. 36 (1885).

Characters. — Apparently allied, especially in the shortness of the skull
and its nasal bones and the curvature of the cylindrical horns, to the
banting, but with the horn-cores ot the bulls situated tar below the vertex
of the skull, midway between the occiput and the orbits, and the cows
hornless.

The sub-genus, or genus, was originally described on the evidence of
hornless bovine skulls from the Tertiary deposits of the Val d'Arno, which
were regarded as specifically distinct from the horned Bos c/atus o't the same
deposits. But there can be little or no hesitation in accepting the view
of Dr. Forsyth-Major that the one is merely the female of the other.

In the position of the horn-cores of the male and their absence in the
female, the members of this group must be regarded as the most primitive
representatives of the oxen at present known. Their apparent affinity to
the banting is in harmony with the well-ascertained tact that several of
the mammalian genera now living in the Malayan countries are related to
extinct European Tertiary forms.

Distribution. — The southern part of the Western Holarctic, and a
portion of the Oriental region during the Pliocene and Plistocene epochs.

I. The Etruscan Ox — Bos elatus [Extinct)

Bos elatus, Pomel, Catalogue Me'thoJiqui\ p. 114 (1853) ; Lydekker, Cat.
Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mas. pt. ii. p. 19 (1885).

Bos etruscus. Falconer, Palaontological Memoirs., vol. ii. p. 481 (1868) ;
Dawkins, Quart. 'Jourti. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxvi. p. 394 (1880) ; Forsyth-
Major, ibid. vol. xli. p. 6 (1885).

Etruscan Ox

Bos {Bihos) t'tri/sc//s, Riitimeyer, Ahh. sc/iicciz. pal. Gcs. vol. v. p. 154
;i878).

Leptobos strozzii, Riitiiiieyer, op. cit. p. 167 (187S).

Lcptobos clatiis, Forsyth-Major, P. V. Soc. 'roscana, 1S90, p. 71^.

Fig. 7. — Skull and horn-cores of the Extinct Etruscan 0\'. From a specimen in the Museum
at Florence. After Rtitimeyer.

Characters. — Probably of the approximate side of the banting, with
the horn-cores of the male diverging at first almost directly outwards, and
then curving gradually upwards, with a decided inward inclination at the
tips. The limb-bones indicate a comparatively slightly built animal ; and
the lower molar teeth have a small additional column on the inner side.

Distribution. — France and Italy during the late Pliocene epoch.

c o Oxen

2. Falconer's Ox — Bos falconer: [Extinct)

Leptobos fa/coneri, Riitimeyer, Ab/i. schweiz. pal. Gcs. vol. v. p. 157
(1878) ; Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Ma/urn. Brit. Mas. pt. ii. p. 36 (1885).

Characters. — Imperfectly known, but apparently distinguished from the
last species by the more slender form of the skull of the male and the
more upright direction of the horn-cores, of which the bases alone are
preserved.

Distri/)iitioii. — India during the earlv Pliocene period, the remains
occurring in the freshwater deposits of the Siwalik Hills. An allied
species, Bos fraseri., said to be still more nearly allied to the banting, occurs
in the Plistocene deposits of the Narbada \'allev, India.

iv. The Bisontine Group — Srn-GENrs Bison

Bison, H. Smith, in Cirithth's Aninuil Kingdom., vol. v. p. "i^j-i, (1827),
as a sub-genus; Gray, Cat. Un^nlata Brit. Mas. p. 35 (1852).

Urus., Bojanus, Nova Acta Acaii. Ccvs. Leop.-Car. vol. xiii. pp. 413
and 428 (1827) ; Swainson, Classif. QiiaJriipeds, p. 279 (1835) ; ncc H.
Smith, 1827.

Poep/iagiis., Gray, List Manini. Brit. Miis. p. 153 (1843), Cat. Vngulata
Brit. Mils. p. 39 (1852).

Bonasus., Wagner, in Sclireber's Sai/gi't/iicrc, vo\. iv. p. 515 (1844), as
a sub-genus.

Har/anas, Owen, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1846, p. 94.

Characters. — Tvpicallv the horns cylindrical, widelv separated trom one
another, and situated on a ridge below the extreme vertex of the skull, so
that in a front view the summit of the crest of the true occiput is visible ;
the forehead of the skull relatively short, wide, and more or less convex,
the interval between the bases of the horn-cores and the sockets of the eyes

Wild Oxen. Sheep,&Goats PxateIV.

YAK.

Ftiiks/ied hyXailand, Ward lid

Yak

relatively small, the sockets of the eyes tubular, and the nasal bones
comparatively short and widely separated from the premaxilhc. Withers
high ; ribs varying from fourteen to fifteen pairs. Tail reaching about to
the hocks. Long hair developed either on the fore-quarters or Hanks ;
general colour either uniform black or brown.

In the typical members of the group the neural spine ^ of the seventh
cervical vertebra is elevated, so as to form a continuation of those of the
dorsal series, which are very tall and descend rapidly and suddenly to the
lumbars. Whether the same feature exists in the yak, I have been unable
to ascertain. It is the most specialised development of this part of the
skeleton met with among all the oxen.

Distnhiitio?!. — The Holarctic and Sonoran regions, extending during the
Pliocene period into the Oriental, and in the Plistocene into the Neo-
tropical region.

I. The Yak — Bos grunniens

Bos grill! nil' us, Linn. Syst. Niit. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 99 (1766) ; Sundevall,
A'. Sveiiska Vet. Ak. Hamil. for 1844, p. 153 (1846) ; Radde, Rciscn Ost-
Sihirien, p. 272 (1861) ; Severtzoff, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xviii.
p. 336 (1876) ; Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, \'o\. ii. p. 5 (1876) ; Flower
and Garson, Cat. OsteoL Mas. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 227 (1884) ; W. L.
Sclater, Cat. Manini. Jnd. Mas. pt. ii. p. 128 (1891) ; Blanford, Fauna Brit.
India — Manini. p. 490 (1891) ; Ward, Records of Big Game., p. 277
(1896).

Bos poephagus., H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom., vol. iv. p. 404
(1827) ; Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 248, pi. xxii. (181 i) ;
Hodgson and Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xv. p. 143 (1846).

Bos [Bison) poephagus, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. v.
p. 374 (1827).

1 See note on p. 8.

Oxen

B/so// poep/iagi/s, Jardine, Nati/ni/isfs Library — Mamm. vol. iv. p. 259
(1836) ; Hodgson, J own. As. Soc. Boiga/, vol. x. pp. 449 and 912 (1H41),
xvi. p. 708 (1847).

Prjephagiis griinnit'iis. Gray, List Mamm. Brit. Mi/s. p. 153 (1843), Cat.
Ungiilata Brit. Mas. p. 40 (1852), Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853, p. 191, pi. xxxv.,

Fic. 8. — Skull ol male Yak.

Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 14 (1872) ; Ilorsheld, Cat. E. Ind. Miis.
p. 184 (1851) ; Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. 18 58, p. 529; Stenidale, Mamm.
Im/. p. 489 (1884); Prezewalzki, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 13 (1887).

Poepluigiis mntiis^ Prezcwalzki, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 13 (1887).

Bos [Poi'pliagiis) griinnicns^ Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. Paris., vol. xxxviii.

P- 334 (i^gO-

Yak 53

Plate IV.

Characters. — Skull relatively long, with the forehead nearly Hat, and
only a small boss ot bone above the true occiput showing in a front view.
General build massive and size large ; the withers being relatively high,
and the back nearly level, without any marked tailing away of the hind-
quarters ; height at shoulder reaching at least 5 feet 6 inches. Limbs
short and thick ; hoofs large and rounded ; muzzle and ears small ; dewlap
wanting. Horns very large and massive, black in colour, smooth and
generally cylindrical, although slightly compressed at the base in very old
animals ; their curvature at hrst upwards and outwards, then forwards, and
finally inwards and upwards, with a slightly backward inclination at the
tips in some examples. Fourteen pairs of ribs. Hair of upper-parts and
sides comparatively short and smooth, but on the lower portion of each
tiank produced into a long fringe extending across the shoulders and thighs ;
a tutt ot similar elongated hair on the chest ; and the terminal half of the
tail enveloped in a huge tuft of still longer hair, which seldom descends
much below the hocks. General colour dark blackish-brown, with a little
white in the neighbourhood of the muzzle, a sprinkling ot gray on the
head and neck in aged individuals, and a rusty tinge on the back ot old
bulls.

Although 5 feet 6 inches at the shoulder seems to be the maximum
height ot which there is any delinite record, it is stated on good authority
that old bulls will reach nearly, if not quite 6 feet. z\ bull ot 5 feet 6
inches at the shoulder measured 7 feet 3 inches from the horns to the root
of the tail ; the length of the tail being 3 feet 4 inches, and the girth of
the body round the chest 'j], feet. Mr. H. M. Biddulph has, however,
recorded a specimen measuring 8 feet and \ inch from the horns to the
tail ; and a girth at the chest of 9 feet i^- inches has been measured. The

54 Oxen

weight of a wild bull yak has been estimated at between iiooand 1200
pounds.

The following measurements of horns are gi\xn in Mr. Rowland
Ward's Records of Big Giimc : —

■r- , T-- Wi.lest

19 34

17 25I

2o|- :

27i 26^

i8i }

? ?

loi .?

12 25!

Length on
Outer Curve,

35i

Basal
Circumference.

34
32I

12
i6i

i3|

3if

3of

i3i

29I

29i

i3i

1 1

1 71 26f

The name Bos grKiiiiicns was doubtless given by Linna'us to the
domesticated breed ot vak, and Prezewalzki has proposetl to designate
the wiUl race as B. miitiis. If the latter term were used at all, it should
be employed in a subspecific sense, but since many ot the semi-domesticated
yak of Rupshu and some of the other high plateau.x in Tibet are practically
indistinguishable, except in size, from the wild race, it appears unnecessary.
Whether the l.itter never gives vent to the grunting cry characteristic of
the domesticated breeds, I have no information.

Domesticated yak, which are always much smaller than their wild
cousins, with very inferior horns, vary much according to locality. In
Rupshu they are very large, and generally, if not always, of the uniform
colour of the wild race. They run halt-wild tor much ot their time, and
are unable to live except at xery high elevations. At lower lexels in
various parts ot Ladak and the Himalaya pied tiomestic breeds are
common ; and it is from the tails of these that the Hy-whisks, or chowris,

Yak

used in India are made. Near Darjiling there exists a very small breed of
yak, some individuals of which are black, and oth^ers black and white. Of
this and other breeds living at comparatively low elevations there is a polled
form, which probably keeps true. Domestic yak are freely crossed with
the ordinary Indian cattle. It is only the comparatively lowland breeds of

Fig. 9. — Head of Bull Yak. From Darraii's Sport in tie Highlands of Kashmir.

yak which will stand the climate ot India even tor a short time, and
it is such alone that are exhibited alive in Europe.

In the characters of the skull, yak are to a considerable extent inter-
mediate between the taurine oxen and the true bisons. The comparative
length and narrowness of the forehead, as well as its flatness, are taurine
characters, as is also the want of prominence of the sockets of the eyes.
On the other hand, the occipital region shows a distinct approximation to
the bisons. In place, however, of the summit of the true occipital surface
being seen in a front view of the skull, as in the latter, only a small boss

56 Oxen

ot bone surmounting the crest ot that surface is, as already said, visible.
The whole occipital aspect of" the skull takes the form of an inverted V.
the summit of which is formed by the aforesaid boss. The presence of
fourteen pairs ot ribs is an essentially bisontine character ; and it seems
highly probable that the mass of long hair on the tianks, as well as the
uniform coloration, are also indicative of atiinitv with that group. The
premaxillary bones of the skull differ from those of the taurine group and
resemble the bibovine group and the bisons in not extending upwards to
join the nasals ; but the interval between these two bones is, as in the gaur,
considerably shorter than in the bisons.

On the whole, it seems preferable to regard the yak as an aberrant
member ot the bisontine group, rather than the representative of a group
by itself. This view is supported by the occurrence of the under-
mentioned extinct species, which on distributional grounds appears to
connect the yak with tiie livinir bisons.

Distrihiitir/n. — The plateau of Tibet, extending eastwards as far as the
province of Kansu in Cliina, and nurthwards probably as far as the Kuen
Lun. The south-western range embraces the north-eastern portions ot Ladak
in the neighbourhood of the Changchenmo valley and the Pangkong lake.
In summer yak are found at elevations from about 14,000 or 15,000 to
20,000 feet above the sea-level.

Habits. — In Ladak the regions inhabited by the wilii yak are of the
most dreary and desolate description, where the pasturage even in summer
consists only ot patches ot a coarse, wiry grass apparently ill-fitted tor tlie
nutriment ot herds ot such large animals. Nevertheless, both yak and
argali thrive upon it ; and although in Ladak itself yak are now com-
paratively tew, in Chinese territory they exist in great munbers, and are
tound in herds numbering from ten to a hundred liead or more. The old
bulls are, however, for the most part solitary, or go about in small hands of
three or four.

Yak

As a compensation for its arid and desolate nature, the rock-scenery of
parts of the yak-country in Ladak is probably uns,urpassed in the world for
brilliancy of coloration. When to this is added the presence of a large sheet
of water like the Pangkong lake, the whole effect is magnificent. Taking
his stand at the north-western extremity of the lake at Lukung, the
traveller has for foreground a smooth beach ot dazzling white sand, beyond
which lies the broad expanse of the clear blue water of the mighty lake ;

c^- : _r_

Fi(i. lo. — un.mira^ wiui 'Vak-. Ituiu Da)

op, I I l/l tit. Ill^llcl/uil ',J kiUl.lliu

while, on either side, there rise rugged cliffs of brilliantly coloured slaty
rocks. The contrast of the v/hite beach, blue water, and many-coloured
bare rocks, shimmering in the dazzling light of the midday sun, has lelt
on my memory an impression never to be forgotten.

Yak are in the habit of wandering for considerable distances ; and during
the daytime are accustomed to repose on some steep and barren hillside,
whence they can obtain a good view of the country. Their feeding-times,
in Ladak at any rate, are chietiy the early mornings and evenings. Water

Oxen

is essential to their well-being, and in winter they eat snow. In avoiding
their enemies yak. seem to rely chiefly on their sense of smell, which is
very acute ; their hearing and sight being apparently less keen.

Beyond Ladak, where they are more or less secure from persecu-
tion, yak are tar less wary. The large herds of cows and young bulls
wander over vast tracts of country, and in summer make their appearance
on grassy plains which are deserted in winter. The solitary hulls, on the

Fig. II. — Group of domesticated Yak in the park at Woburn .Abbey. From a photograpli by tlie
Dtichcss of Bedford.

Other hand, are saiil to remain in the same districts throughout the year. In
all parts ot their habitat their favourite teeding-grounds are the patches
ot grass bordering the streams. When alarmed, tlie older cows and bulls
take up their position on the front ami flanks of the hertl, but on the near
approach ot intruders the whole herd gallops ofl^". .\lthough naturally
timid and wary, an old l)ull when wounded will charge viciously, and there
are several accounts ot narrow escapes by sportsmen h^om their onset.
Little or nothing has been recorded regarding the breeding liabits of yak in

Yak

,^^m

the wild state, but in the domesticated condition the calves are said to be
born in the autumn.

Within the territories of the Maharaja of Kashmir yak are of more
importance to the nomad inhabitants of the Rupshu plateau than to any
other tribes. At this elevation neither ordinary cattle nor half-bred yak
can exist, and the animals kept by the Rupshu people are all of laro-e size
and black in colour, being distinguishable from the wild race merely by
their interior dimensions. They are but little
tamed, and alter a longer period of rest than
usual are often difficult to load, sometimes in- /
deed throwing their burdens as soon as loaded.
The number ot yak kept in Rupshu some years
ago was between 400 and 500, and on the earn-
ings of these animals, which carry merchandise
of larger bulk, and on those of their sheep and
goats, which bear smaller burdens, the Rupshu
people depend largely tor their means of sub-
sistence. Between Central Ladak on the one
hand, and Gartok in Chinese Tibet, or Lahul
in British territory, on the other, they are kept
well employed in torvvarding traders' goods ; and for this service they
receive good payment, either in coin or in kind. The one great draw-
back to the pure-bred yak as a beast of burden in a desolate country
is that it will not eat corn, but depends for its subsistence on grass.
All the yak that I have seen in Rupshu were pure black, but it is stated that
wild cows are occasionally observed with patches of white or gray here
and there.

Fi<;. 12. -Head of Bull Yak.
(Rowland Ward, Records of
Big Gil me.)

6o Oxen

2. The Siwalik Bison — Bos sivalensis [Extinct)

Bos sha/t'//s/s. Falconer, Pti/^ronto/ogicd/ Memoirs, vol. i. p. 555 (1868) ;
Lvciekker, Horns and Hoofs, p. ;^o (1893).

Bison sivalensis, Lydekker, Pal. Ind. {Mem. Geo/. Siirv. Ind.), ser. 10,
vol. i. p. 122, pis. xv. and xvii. (1878); Riitimeyer, yl/>/i. sc/iiceiz. pal.
Ges. vol. V. p. 185 (1878); Martin, Samnil. Geol. Mas. Leiden, vol. iv.
p. 6. (1887).

Characters. — This extinct bison was originally named bv Falconer on
the evidence of a skull from the Siwaliks now lost, ami the tvpe must
consequently be the upper portion of a skull with parts of the horn-cores
described by myself in 1878. That specimen was obtained from the
upper Siwalik deposits, which should probably be referred to the newer
Pliocene period. Although at first regarded as intermediate between the
yak antl the bisons, it undoubtedly belongs to a true bison, exhibiting all
the characters mentioned under the head ot the sub-genus as diNtinctive ot
the bisons proper from the yak. In the flatness ot the torehead and
tubular form of the orbits this skull resembles the European as distinct
from the American species ; and the Siwalik bison, as the oldest known
in the Old World, may be regarded as the ancestral form of the group.

At the time when the Siwalik bison tlouri>hed, the outer ranges of the
Himalaya (in which its remaiuN are found) were non-existent, while the
central ranges ami the plateau of Tibet were almost certainly much lower
than at present. Consequently it is quite possible that animals like bison
may have been able to range tVom the Punjab into Central Asia.

Whether the yak is also a more specialised otf-shoot from the same
primitive stock may well be left an open question. But seeing that it is
well-nigh certain that this animal lias been derived trcMii a bovine living
at lower elevations, and that it could scarcely have been a descendant of

Plistocene Bison 6i

the typical oxen, there is no species more Hkely to have been its ancestor
than the present one. If this suggestion should be substantiated, there
would be evidence of the close relationship of the yak to the bisons.

Distribution. — ^Northern India, Java [vide Martin, op. cit.), and probably
the intermediate countries, during the Pliocene period.

3. The Plistocene Bison — Bos priscus {Extinct)

Urt/s priscus, Bojanus, Nova Acta Acad. Cos. Lcop.-Car. vol. xiii.
p. 427 (1827) ; Owen, Rep. Brit. Assoc, for 1843, P- 232 (1844).

Bison prisc/fs, Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamni. p. 491 (1846) ; Dawkins,
Quart. Journ. Geo/. Soc. vol. xxxi. p. 246 (1875) ; Wilckens, Biol. Central-
blatt, vol. v. p. 117 (1885); Allen, Mem. Mus. Harvard, vol. iv. p. 5
(1876) ; Tscherski, Mem. Acad. St. Petershourg, vol. xl. art. i, j ^ (1892).

Bison antiquus, Leidy, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, vol. vi. p. 117 (181^2) ;
Allen, Mem. Mus. Harvard, vol. iv. p. 21 (1876) ; Wilckens, Biol. Central-
blatt, vol. V. p. 117 (1885) ; Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1895, p. 247,
1897, p. 501 ; Stewart, Kansas Quarterly, vol. vi. p. 127 (1897).

Bison crassicornis, Richardson, Zool. J'^oy. Herald, pp. 40 and 1:^9 (1859).

Bison bonasus priscus, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. ii.
p. 24 (1885).

Biso/i alaskensis, Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1897, p. 490.

Characters. — Skull and horn-cores considerably larger than in the living
European and American bisons, with the forehead relatively broad and
flat, and the horn-cores not inclined backwardly at the base, which is thus
situated nearly in the plane ot the front border of the socket of the eye.
The horn-cores themselves long, and generally more or less curving for-
wards, although in some cases they are straighter and inclined upwards.

This species occurs typically in the Plistocene deposits of Europe,

Oxen

ranging from the date of the Norfolk forest-bed to the Ilford brick-earth.
A series of skulls in the British iVluseum shows considerable variation in
individual size, and also in the curvature of the horn-cores, but none of the
specimens display differences apparently worthy ot specific distinction.'
Among these specimens are a skull and a detached horn-core obtained by
Captain Beechey from Kschscholtz Bay, Alaska, which were figured by
Dean Buckland, and subsequently made the types of B. crdssicornis by Sir
]. Richardson. One of these has been identified by American writers with

Fk;. 13.— Frontlet and horn-cores ot the Plistocenc Bison. From a specimen in the I'.ritish Museum
discovered in the Plistocenc brick-earth of Essex.

Leidy's B. antiquiis^ while the second has been referred to yet another
species under the name of B. alaskois'is. The British Museum has other
specimens trom the Plistocenc deposits ot the Porcupine ri\er, Canada ;
and, taking Huropean and American specimens together, the whole series,
in my own opinion, should unquestionably be referred to a single species.
Moreover, so far as I can see, the American specimens present no closer
approximation tt) the living New World bison than do those from Iturope
to its relative of the Old World. It may also be pointed out that during
the Plistocenc period Asia and North America were almost certainly

1 The two skulls of the European species represented in Fig. 14 show a considerable sexual
difference in the width ot the forehead and the size and curvature of the horns.

Plistocene Bison 63

connected by way of Bering Strait, so tliat it would be natural to expect
to find identical animals on both sides of the line of these straits. And,
as a matter of fact, no one has disputed that the remains of the horse,
mammoth, and musk-ox found in the northern parts of the two hemi-
spheres are specifically identical.

Possibly there may be sub-specific differences, but it appears to me
necessary to accept the conclusion that the Plistocene bison was a circum-
polar species, whose somewhat degenerate descendants developed on the
two sides of the Pacific respectively into the living European and American
bisons. The earliest known bison in the Old World is the species of
which the remains occur in the upper Pliocene deposits of Northern
India ; and as the group may certainly be regarded as of Old World origin,
it seems very doubttul it it entered America before the Plistocene epoch.
Hence I teel considerable doubt in admitting that certain remains from

America are, as is stated to be the case, really of older Pliocene age.
The names ot these are purposely omitted here, but allusion is made later
on to certain other remains from various parts of America which may
indicate distinct species, and are in any case of considerable interest from
a distributional point of view. In the eastern hemisphere this bison
doubtless eventually passed into the living European form, and in the
western into the woodland race of the existing American representative
of the group.

The following are tlie dimensions of the horn-cores of five specimens
in the British Museum. Several of these in their present condition show
some or all tlieir dimensions exceeding those recorded in either of the
existing forms. And it must be remembered that to make a true com-
parison, the horn-cores of the latter should alone be measured ; in other
words, the horny external sheaths should be added to the measurements
of the fossils, which would give a considerable increase : —

Oxen

Number.

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basnl
Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

From

tal Wi.ith.

Locality.

45.392

39^

13^

Ilford

44.063

i3i

Eschscholtz Bay

M. 5,440

1 1

26i

I I

Twickt;nham

M. 5,064

1 1

I2i

Crayford

24.589

lof

32^

Porcupine river

Distribution. — The northern portion ot both hemispheres, ranging in
America trom Alaska and the Porcupine river at least as far south as
Texas and Georgia. In the Old World it ranged as far west as Yorkshire,
and as far south as Spain and Italy, while it was also widely spread over
Eastern Europe, whence it extended into Northern Siberia and the New
Siberian Islands. Rather than divide the Plistocene bison of the circum-
polar countries into one eastern and several western species, it would, in
my opinion, be preterable to regard both the living forms as sub-specific
nmdihcations ot the primitive stock. This has, indeed, been suggested
by Prof. Dawkins,' who remarks "That in h)rmer times the herds
[of bison], now rapidly being destroyed by the hunter^ in the tract of
country extending trom New Mexico into the British Dominions, were
conterminous with those ot .Asia." In Britain remains of the bison occur
in the river-gravels, brick-earths, and cavern-deposits, but are unknown
from the peat ot the tens, at the time ot deposition of which tlie animal
would consequently appear to have been exterminated.

4. The Ei'RoPEAN Bison — Bos bonasus

Bos honasiis, Linn. Syst. Niit. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 99 (1766) ; Radde, Proc.
Zoo/. Soc. 1893, p. 175 ; Satunin, Zoo/. 'Jd/ir/). Syst. vol. ix. p. 104 (1896).

Bos iinis, Boddaert, E/cnc/ius Anim. p. 150 (1788) ; Fischer, Synop.
Mcviiin. p. 497 (1839) ; Huet, Bii//. Soc. Acc/im. Paris, vol. xxxviii. p. 344
(1891) ; Ward, Records of Big Gii»u\ p. 279 (1896).

' Eiirlf M,in in Brititiii, p. 97 (1S80).

Wild Oxen, Sheep, &^ Goats, Plate V.

.« it

EUROPEAN BISON.

PtiiUshed. hyRowland'WardLtd

European Bison

Bos blson^ H. Smith, in Griffith's Aninuil Kingdom^ vol. iv. p. 398 (1827),
?!ec Linn. 1766; Sundevall, A'. Sveiiska Vet. Ak.Handl. for 1844, p. 154
(1846) ; Bhisius, Siu/gi't/iicre Dciitschlands^ p. 492 (1857).

Bos {Bison) bison., H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. v.
p. 373 (1827).

Uri/s nostras, Bqjanus, Nova Acta Acad. drs. Lcop.-Car. vol. xiii. p. 413
(1827).

Fig. 14. — Skull and huriis ot Bull and Cow of European Bison. From specimens shot by Mr. St.
George Littledale in the Caucasus. (Rowland Ward, Recordi of Big Gtuii,\)

Bos i^Bonasus) bison, Wagner, in Schreber's Siiiiget/iiere, vol. iv. p. i;i5
(1844).

Bison ciiropcrus, Owen, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1848, p. 126, /h'c Bos ein-opaiis,
Gmelin,' 1788 ; Rlitimeyer, Verb. Gcs. Basc/,sev. 2, vol. iv. p. 339 (1865),
Abb. sc/ncci-z. pa/. Gcs. vol. v. p. 1^9 (1878) ; Davvkins, Ea/dy Alan in
Britain, p. 98 (1880) ; Schiemenz, Bio/. Centra/b/att, vol. xvii. p. 479
(1897).

Bison bonassits. Gray, Knoivs/cy Menagerie, p. 48 (1850), Cat. Unga/ata
Brit. Mas. p. 36 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 14 (1872).

1 The specific name europata is generally credited to Gmelin, but his Bos europceus {Syst. Niit. vol. i.
p. 204, 1788) is founded on a domestic cow described some years previously by White in the Triiin.
Ma?ic/?fiter Lift, and Pl^il. Soc. vol. i. p. 442.

66 Oxen

Bison honcistis^ Flower and Garson, Cat. OstcoJ. Miis. Coll. Surg. pt. ii.
p. 232 (1884) ' Buchner, Me///. Acad. St. Pctcrshoui-g, ser. S, vol. iii. No. 2
(1896) ; Westberg, Festsch/'ift Fez: Riga, 1896, p. 267.

Cliai-acte/'s. — Height at shoulder 6 feet i inch to 6 feet 2 inches.
Horns relatively long and slender, curving upwards, forwards, and inwards,
set well forward on the h)rehead, which is coniparativelv dat and broad.
Hind-quarters relatively high ; pasterns long ; tail reaching to the hocks,
or below. Mane of bull in summer pelage curly and of moderate length
and not extending very far back on the bodv, leaving the heavily fringed
ears quite distinct, and forming a longer and thicker mass on the head,
neck, throat, and the middle line of the chest. In the cow contined to
the nape ot the neck, f-oreheatl, and middle of lower part of face, throat,
and median line of the chest. General colour uniform chestnut-brown
throughout, without perceptibly darkening on the mane. In the skeleton
the neural spine of the seventh cervical vertebra moderately elevated, and
that of the sixth inclinetl forwards.

The above description is taken from four mounted specimens in the
British Museum — namelv, an atlult bull from Lithuania presented bv the
Emperor of Russia about the vear i 848, a younger Lithuanian bull, and
a bull and cow from the Caucasus presented by Mr. St. George Littlcdale.
Between the Lithuanian and Caucasian examples there appear to be no
difJ^erences even of sub-specific \alue. It is true that the large Lithuanian
bull is consitlerablv taller than the Caucasian specimen ami has a shorter
tail, l)ut the former difference mav be partly exaggerated in the mounting,
and the latter seems due to imperfection ; the smaller Lithuanian hull,
which is mounted in a lying-down posture, having the tail of apparently
the same approximate length as in the Caucasian examples. In both the
latter the otherwise black hoofs have yellowish-brown margins, which are
not apparent in the Lithuanian specimens, but this may be due to the
hoofs being less worn in the former than in the latter.

European Bison (^'j

Compared with the American bison, the skull is characterised by the
marked flatness of the forehead and the very tubular orbits ; the horns
extending at first outwards in the plane of the forehead, and then curving
forwards, with no backward flexure, and very little incurving towards the
tips. The nasal bones are likewise shorter and wider. In all the above
respects the European bison is much nearer to the Plistocene bison than
is the American species.

The male and female Caucasian skulls in the British Museum show
that in the bull the horns at their origin are directed more outwardly
and then bend inwardly more suddenly than is the case in the cow, in
which they are much more slender and form a more regular curve.
The male skull, moreover, is of a shorter and wider type, especially
across the forehead, than that of the cow. In the case of fossil skulls
very similar differences appear to have been reckoned as of specific
importance.

The following dimensions of horns are recorded by Mr. Rowland
Ward :—

Sex. Locality.

Male Lithuania

,, . Caucasus

,, Lithuania
Female .''

,, Caucasus

In a Caucasian bull killed by Mr. St. George Littledale the length
from the nose to the root of the tail measured lo feet i inch, the height at
the shoulder 5 feet 11 inches, and the girth of the body approximately
8 feet 4 inches.

Distrihiitioii. — As already stated, the Plistocene bison ranged over the
greater part oi Europe and Northern Asia, and it is now impossible to say
at what date its descendants became dwarted into the modern form. It is,

Length on
Outside Curve

Cir

Bas.il
cumference.

Tip to Tip.

Wiliest
Insi.le.

■H

i9i

1^4

i7i

18^

i5i

68 Oxen

however, certain that hison were abundant in the Black Forest at the time
of Juhus C;rsar ; and tliey doubtless sur\'ivcd in many parts of Germany
and other districts of the Continent to a much later period. Owing, how-
ever, to the confusion which has arisen in regard to the application ot the
names aurochs and bison, it is frequently impossible to determine which
animal is the one referred to bv many of the older writers. At the present
day bison appear to be restricted to the Caucasus and the forest of Bielo-
witza, in the government of Grodno, the old Lithuania. Whereas, how-
ever, in the latter locality thev are strictly preserved anti almost in the
condition of park-animals, in the Caucasus, according to Mr. St. CJeorge
Littletlale and Prince Demidotf", thev are truly wikl, although also under
Government protection.

In the Caucasus, Dr. G. Radde states that the bison is at present
confined to the districts around the sources of the Laba and Bjellaia, on the
north siile of the range, extending eastwards to the springs of the Zellent-
chuk. " It is s.arce everywhere, and generallv seen in twos and threes ;
only once have the tracks of seven together been noticed, although
occasionally as many as five have been observed. Evidently the bison has
discontinued its settled habits, and has taken to wander about in this, its
last refuge. Through the ever- increasing encroachments of the settlers,
ami the consequent dispersal of the wild animals, and also, in many places,
owing to the new supervision ot the forests, the bison is driven more and
more towartls the higher ridges of the mountains, and wanders about
in the thick forests which border the lower portion ot the Alpine
pasturages.

"The most likely places to hnd this animal are at present near the
sources of the Little Laba, and especially on its western confiuent, the
Urushten. This river is joined by a small stream, the Alaus, in the valley
of which the bison is often met with. It is trom 7000 to Sooo teet above
the sea-level. Formerly, ;;o or 40 years ago, it was met with much lower

European Bison 69

down, about 5000 feet, and it was also more common. That the bison
has now passed over the mountain range, and is wandering southwards is
pretty certain. There was an instance of this in 1874, in which year an
example was killed not tlu" from Romanonskoje, about a day's journey from
Sotschi on the coast."

Till recently even the natives of the Caucasus seem to have been

scarcely aware of the existence of the bison, or zubr, as it is called in

Russian, in their midst. Prince Demidoff, in Hunting Trips to the Caucasus,

writes as follows of its range and habits in that district : i— " Not so long ago

the bison used to haunt most of the valleys of the Kouban territories, such

as the Zellentchuk, where there are said to be some at the present time,

both the Great and Little Laba, Urushten, and elsewhere. But so shy an

animal could not long continue to live within easy reach of men, and had

constantly to retire before advancing civilisation. It is now concentrated

in the dense forests overlooking the valleys of the Kiska, and fifty years

hence it is to be feared will have entirely disappeared. There is no doubt

of the existence of the bison on the southern part of the Caucasian range,

between the hills and the Black Sea ; but I have never visited that side,

and was told it was much harder work to approach them there, for the

slopes are far steeper, and covered with virgin and almost impenetrable

forests. When frightened, they wander great distances without taking

rest, and are not stopped even by the highest ridges, over which they

climb, notwithstanding their weight, which attains 1700 lbs. or more.

There is no proof that they do not travel to and fro over the main rano-e in

the Kouban district, and I do not see why they should not. I have myself

seen their tracks on the snow in September at an altitude of 8000 feet.

Some thirty years ago, as I was told by native hunters, the bison used to be

seen m herds of fifty or sixty head, but at the present time one rarely sees

more than five or six together. Two years ago the Grand Duke's head

' In the extract 1 have ventured to substitute the word bison for aurochs.

yo Oxen

keeper, who went to inspect their haunts, counted nine together. He told
me they stood before him for some time, gazing at liim without seeming
at all frightened, and after a good three minutes' standing they turned
round and walked slowly away."

In 1887 a male and female bison, now mounted in the British Museum,
were killed bv Mr. St. George Littledale in the Western Caucasus. In 1895
a third was shot by the Grand Duke Sergius iMikhailovitch, and a fourth by
General Scliilder ; while Prince Demidoff's personal experiences during
the same year are detailed in his work. In Biclowitza a pair were shot
by Major A. Heber Percy in 1879.

For the latest information with regard to the bison in the forest of
Bielowitza, naturalists are indebted to a valuable memoir by Dr. E.
Biichner, publi^hell in the Memoirs of the St. Pctcrshoiirg Academy of Sciences,
of which the following is a summary: — With regard to the early history of
the herd, there is unfortunately a dearth of information, although since the
year 1832 an almost continuous coimt has been kept oi their numbers. It
is, however, certain that during the Polish War of 18 12 the bison had a
bad time of it, although accounts differ as to the number of head that sur-
vived. Thus, it is stated bv Brinckcn that, at the close of the war, the
number of bison was diminished to 300. This, however, may perhaps refer
only to full-grown animals, since Baumersrod states that during his journey
through Lithuania in 18 13 there were 500 head of all ages. On the other
hand, Sachnicki repeats the statement that between 18 15 and 18 17 the herd
numbered scarcely 300. Again, in 1820, EichwaUl speaks of 350 as the
number t)f bison then li\ing in the forest ; and Dolmatoff at the same time
gives the total as :;oo. There must, however, certainly be some error in
their accounts, for, in the oflicial count made early in 1821, the number
is given as fully 500.

Whatever may be the truth as to the exact number to which the herd
was reduced during the war, there is no doubt tliat after 1813 it once

European Bison

again enjoyed more prosperous times, and began rapidly to increase. As
early as the winter of 1821 it is stated, for instance, that the number of
head of all ages totalled over 700 ; while in December 1828 Eichwald
estimated the number in Bielowitza at 696. In addition to this, from
thirty to forty head were at the same time living in the forests of Count
Tyschkiewictz. In 1829 the number was set down at 711, of which 663
were adult and 48 young animals ; and in the following year the herd was
variously estimated at from 700 to 772 head. Eichwald, who is the
authority for the latter number, further states that during the first Polish
revolution of 1831, the herd lost 115 head, thus reducing its number
to 657.

Some error seems, however, undoubtedly to exist with regard to this
number, since the first of the regular ot^cial counts, which took place in
1832, gives the total number of bison at that time as no less than 770, of
which 712 were adult, and the remainder young. Since that date till 1872,
with the omission of certain years, the numbers are tabulated as follows,
viz. : —

^^33
1834

1835
1836

1837
1838

1839
1840
1841

1843
1844
1845
1 846
1848
1849
1850

Adult.

Young.

Total

715

768

757

810

777

845

780

858

802

860

852

906

886

932

782

817

875

946

875

109

984

993

945

1025

[018

1095

156

108

1264

254

100

1354

[390

170

1560

Oxen

1851

1852

1853
1854
1855
1856
1857
1858
i860
1861
1862
1863
1865
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872

It will be seen from the foregoing figures that the herd attained its
maximum during the years 1851 to i860, and that after the latter date a
steady but irregular decline took place. The absolute maximum was in
1857. Some of the causes of the decline are noticed later on.

From 1873 to 1892 the author furnishes us with another series of
tables. From this we learn that while the greater portion of the herd is
now contained in the Bielowitza forest, a small number are preserved in the
adjacent forest of Swisslotsch, and a third division in the Zoological Gardens
of Bielowitza. This table is as follows, viz. : —

Aiiult.

Vnung.

Total.

1552

1642

1600

148

1748

1642

160

1802

1655

169

1824
1824

I77I

1898

1434

1575

1447

I 124

127

I25I

795

874

639

724

451

108

559

492

541

498

542

477

528

Biclou-itz.n.

Gardens.

Swisslotsch.

Tot.il

1873

429

527

1874 (Jan.)

450

536

„ (Dec.)

481

558

1876

486

5'-

561

1877 (Jan.)

480

559

„ (Dec.)

482

565

European Bison 73

Biclowitza.

Gardens.

Swisslotsch.

Total.

485

571

493

579

486

574

509

600

501

592

324

384

349

433

331

427

335

1 1

438

274

380

279

100

391

294

403

363

•5

lOI

479

375

lOI

491

1879

1880
I88I
1882
1883

1885 (Jan.)

„ (Dec.)
1886
1887
1889
1890 (Feb.)

„ (Dec.)
i89i(Dec.)
1892 (Jan.)

This table shows that from i^y], till 1882 the herd was gradually
recuperating itself, but that between 1883 '^''"^ ^^^5 ^^ suffered a very
heavy loss, irom which date it went on rapidly diminishing till the end
of 1890, when a considerable rise was established ; this increase being also
marked in the two following years, when the counting ceased.

Regarding the gradual diminution in the number of the Lithuanian
bison, the following are some of the data furnished by the same author.
It appears that bison-shooting — unless by special permission — was pro-
hibited in the Bielowitza forest by an imperial ukase in the autumn of
1802. How many animals have actually been shot since that date it is
difficult to estimate, as the official records do not seem altogether reliable.
It is stated, for instance, that between 1832 and i860 only eighteen bison
were shot ; but Dr. BUchner says that this does not include an example
killed in 1848 for the museum at Kiew. In i860 an imperial hunt was
organised in the forest, when twenty-eight bison (eighteen bulls and
ten cows) were slaughtered. In 1865 a pair were shot for the museums
of Strasburg and Gottingen, and in 1871 one was killed for Helsingfors.
Between 1873 and 1892 a total of fifteen head were hunted and slain.

Oxen

Of these, eight bulls were shot during a hunt organised by the Grand
Duke Sergius Mikhailovitch in December 1895.

With the exception that perhaps more cows were killed than is justi-
fiable, the damage done to the herd during these sixty years by actual
hunting was certainly not excessive. But the after-effects ot these hunts —
due to the frightening of the animals by the beaters— appear to have been
far more serious. This seems to be most marked after the great hunt ot
i860, when, as already said, upwards of twenty-eight tell to the rifles of
the sportsmen. In i860, as shown in the first table, the total number of
bison in the forest was believed to be 1575, but as only 1447 were counted
in the following season, the herd had suffered a total diminution ot 128
head ; and it is greatly to be feared that the mortality was mainly due
to the ultimate results of the great hunt.

The official records are silent as to the number of bison killed by
poachers from 1832 to 1872, although sporting journals and popular
literature show that tlie total must have been by no means inconsiderable.
Between 1873 and 1892 the number thus lost is officially given as
thirty-six. This is by no means heavy ; and since ot late years still greater
precautions have been taken in guarding the forest, it may be safely
concluded that very little harm is now done by poaching.

A certain number of bison have been from time to time captured alive
in the forest and presented to various zoological gardens. Foremost among
these was a pair captured in 1H47 and sent to London in 1848 ; the
British Museum also receiving; a skin, which is still exhibited in the
mammal gallery. About that date a second pair was presented to a Russian
park, a third to the Zoological Gardens ot Schonbruner, near Vienna, and
a fourth to the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. In 1864 a bull, cow, and calt
were sent to Moscow ; and the same year the Zoological Gardens ot
that city received a bull and cow, together with two calves, the two
former ot which had been captured with the London specimens in 1847.

European Bison 7^

In the spring of 1865 four bison were presented to the Prince of Pless, in
Silesia, and in 1S67 the Zoological Gardens o-f Gatschina received seven
examples, and others two years later. In 1873 a pair was presented to
Constantinople, and a second pair to Berlin. A total of thirty-one head
are thus known to have been presented up to 187:;, since which date
there is no definite record that any live bison have been exported, althou"-h
there is a statement that in 1893 ^^'^ ^^^'^^ were sent to the Prince of Pless
for the repleni^hment of his small Silesian herd.

Mention has already been made of the diminution of the herd during
the first Polish uprising, when it lost 115 head. A similar loss occurred
at the second revolution. And whereas in 1862 the herd comprised 11 24
adult and 127 young animals, in the following year the number of the
former fell to 795 and that of the latter to 79 ; the total loss thus
being 277- Although it is commonly stated that the loss was due to
the revolutionists shooting down the bison in mass, this is incorrect. The
true cause was that Bielowitza lay right in the line of confiict between the
revolutionists and the Russian troops, so that the animals perished in a
miscellaneous manner.

Human toes are not, however, the only ones against whom the bison
have to contend, bears and wolves being their deadly enemies, while it is
probable that many calves are killed by lynxes. As far back as 1855 we
read that in the summer a great war of extermination was waged against
the four-footed toes ot the bison. Another great hunt took place in 1861,
when the bears were well-nigh extirpated. In 1870 forty wolves, one
bear, and five lynxes were accounted for ; while in the following year the
number killed comprised sixty-three wolves, one bear, and five lynxes. A
commission which visited the forest in 1871 took especial pains in the
formation ot plans for the destruction of the carnivora, with the result that
wolves became so scarce that in 1889 only one, in 1890 five, and 1891 six,
were all that could be killed. In the official tables the number of bison

Oxen

killed by wolves and bears is approximately given ; and it appears that in
the earlier years from six to eight bison not uncommonly fell annually to
wolves, while in one year bears accounted for five. From the years 1873
to 1893 only ten head are known to have been destroyed by the former
marauders. Indeed, for the last twenty years the devastation to the herd
caused by wild animals may be regarded as of no practical importance.
With regard to epidemics, there is no doubt that the herd has suffered

Fig. 15. — Dead European Bison. From Prince Demidoff's Hunting Trips in the Ctiiicisiis.

much trom diseases ot this nature. It appears, however, that bison enjoy
an immunity both from rinderpest and the so-called Siberian pest ; domestic
cattle afflicted with these diseases having on several occasions come into
contact with their wild cousins in the forest. Another disease, formerly
attributed to the ill-effects of a certain grass growing in the Bielowitza
swamps, is now ascertained to be due to liver-fiuke. Generally this
disease does not do much harm, but in 1884, and again in 1892, it
assumed a virulent and almost epidemic form ; in the former year

European Bison 77

nine, and in the latter upwards of twenty head tailing victims to this
scourge.

Passing over certain losses attributed to the bad condition of the fodder
in some years, we may conclude with a brief reference to the author's
views as to the gradual waning of the Lithuanian bison. This he attributes
to continuous in-and-in breeding, the slowness of breeding of the cows, and
the large percentage of bulls to the latter. So long ago as i8:?o Jarocki
recorded that the cows seldom, if ever, calved more than once in three
years ; while it has been subsequently ascertained that frequently for many
years they remain perfectly sterile, although afterwards they may again
breed. So slow is the increase, that among some forty adults, it is by no
means uncommon to see not more than four calves, while six is an
abiu)rmally large number. Although it is now, unfortunately, impossible
to determine what was the original rate of increase of the bison, judging
from its American cousin, and other considerations, it was almost certainly
higher than this. Moreover, the production of a high percentage of
males seems an evident sign of degeneration on the part of the females.

Habits. — In its general habits, to which some allusion has been made
in the preceding paragraphs, the European bison appears to be very similar
to the woodland variety of the American species ; both being essentially
forest animals. Major Heber Percy states that many of the trees in the
Bielowitza forest are magnificent limes ; and he also mentions that the
bison are fond of grazing on a coarse aromatic kind of grass known as zubr
grass, which communicates its aroma to the animals themselves. Other
writers state, however, that they are equally fond oi browsing on the leaves,
young shoots, bark, and twigs of trees, those of the ash being their especial
favourites. In pursuit of this food they will strip whole trees as high up
as they can reach, while saplings are trampled completely down. In winter
they are driven to subsist entirely on buds, twigs, bark, and such patches
of dry grass and fern as remain. During spring and summer the herds

78 Oxen

frequent the moister districts of the forest, but with the advent of winter
seek drier spots where the cov^ert is less dense. The old hulls are solitary,
but younger animals consort in summer in parties ot from fifteen to twenty
head, although in winter thev collect in herds ot troni thirty to fifty.
Each herd has its own particular grazing ground, trom which it seldom
wanders far. Till the commencement ot the pairing season, which takes
place in August and the early part ot September, peace reigns among these
herds ; but when two strange herds meet quarrels not unh-equently arise,
and during the pairing season the old hulls engage in desperate encounters
among themselves for the possession ot the cows. Bison are active both
during the daytime and the night, but their chiet feeding times are during
the early mornings and evenings.

Although their large size and stout build might suggest the itlea that
their movements are slow, yet such is bv no means the case ; their first
pace when disturbed is a quick trot, which subsequently quickens into a
gallop, during which the head is lowered nearly to the ground, and the
tail elevated and carried nearly horizontallv. Major Heher Percy thus
describes a bison-tirive in Bielowitza : " We waited in perfect silence for
about half an hour, and then I heard the breaking ot sticks and crashing of
branches as the herd approached at a gallop. There were about fifteen
of them, all thoroughly alarmed, and presenting exactly the appearance
of a herd of American bison, the same carriage of the heat! and the tail
carried in the same manner. Though 1 had but one short view of them,
one bull immediately caught my eve as being much larger than the others.
... At that moment they disappeared in the lirushwood, but I could hear
them coming straight on towards me, so cocking my rifie, I waited for
them to cross the glade to my left. Louder came the noise or the crashing
of branches ; and out burst the leading animal across the clearing about
eighty yards from me, closely followed by the second and remaimler of the
herd. Directly the second appeareti, I fired at it and rolled it over."

Wild Oxen.Sheep,^ Goats Plate VI.

AMERICAN BISON.

Fiiilished, W HawtanJ Wai-d LtJ.

American Bison 79

Like their American cousins European bison dearly love a mud-bath,
and at times when the flies are troublesome they may frequently be seen
plastered over with a coat of dry mud, which forms an efficient protection
against their tormentors. During the time they are changing from the
winter to the summer coat, the old pelage hangs loosely to parts of the
body, and comes away in large blanket-like masses. The cows give birth
to their offspring in the thickest and most secluded portions of the forest
during the month of May or early part of June, and display great boldness
in defending them from the attacks of prowling wolves or bears. It is
seldom that more than a single calf is produced at a birth, and, as already
stated, in Bielowitza the cows now breed but once in three years, although it
is by no means certain that the rate of increase may not formerly have been
less slow. At the conclusion of the pairing season, the old bulls once
more forsake the herds with which they have temporarily consorted, to
resume a solitary and unsociable existence. Although a full-grown bull
bison in his prime might appear a match for all foes, it is stated that
during winter, when struggling through snow-drifts, even such splendid
animals may occasionally be pulled down by packs of wolves ; and, according
to Prince Demidoff, they are also attacked by leopards.

5. The American Bison — Bos bison

Bos hison, Linn. Syst. Nut. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 99 (1766).

Bos aincr'icanus., Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 204 (178S) ; Richardson,
Faiiihi Bor.-Anicr. p. 279 (1829) > fardine, Natiirii/isfs Lihrary — Mamiii.
vol. iv. p. 252 (1836); Sundevall, A.'. Svenska Vet. Ak. Haiidl. for 1844,
p. 154 (1846) ; Baird, Mainm. N. America, p. 682 (1859) ; W. L. Sclater,
Cat. Ma/iii/i. liid. Mils. pt. ii. p. 131 (1891) ; Huet, Bull. Soc. Acdim.
Pans, vol. xxxviii. p. ^44 (1891); Ward, Records of' Big Game, p. 269
(1896).

8o Oxen

Bos {Biso/i) ciiiicrictiiii/s, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom^ vol. iv.
p. 401, V. p. 374 (1827).

Urns americanus^ Swainson, Classif. Quadrupeds^ p. 280 (1835).

Bos [Boiiasus) amcricauus^ Wagner in Schreber's Saugethiere, vol. iv.
p. 516 (1844) ; Turner, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, p. 174.

Bison aniericanus, Gray, KnoivsLy Menagerie^ p. 49 (i8i;o). Cat. Vugulata
Brit. Mus. p. 38 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 14 (1872) ; Riiti-
meyer, Denkschr. sc/mriz. Ges. vol. xxii. art. 3, p. 91 (1867), Ahh. sc/iicriz.
pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 189 (1878) ; Allen, Mem. Mus. Harvard, vol. iv. p. 36
(1876) ; Flower and Garson, Cat. Osteol. Mus. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 231
(1884) ; Hornaday, Rep. U. S. Mus. 1886-87, p. 378 (1889) ; Herrick,
Mamm. Minnesota, p. 260 (1892).

BisoH bison, Rhoads, Amer. Naturalist, vol. xxviii. p. 526 (1894), Proc.
Acad. Philadelphia, 1895, P- 244, 1897, p. 501.

Characters. — Height at shoulder typically about 6 teet. Horns in
the typical race, usually, shorter, thicker, blunter, and more sharply curved
than in the European bison ; also set further back on the forehead, which
is very markedly convex, so that their bases are considerably behind the
plane of the front margin of the sockets of the eyes. Hind -quarters
relatively very low and weak in comparison to the withers ; pasterns
shorter, and the tail less elongated than in the European species. Mane
of bull in summer pelage much longer and more shaggy than in the latter,
extending further back on the body, and attaining much greater develop-
ment on the head and neck, where it completely conceals the ears and
buries a considerable portion of the horns. In the cow likewise much
more copious on the forehead and neck, and leaving but little of the ears
exposed. In very old bulls the greater part of the body almost bare when
the summer coat is first developed. During winter the whole pelage very
coarse and shaggy ; the mane of the bulls forming a huge mass of long
hair completely concealing the outline of the head, neck, fore-quarters, and

American Bison

legs. The mane on the head, neck, chest, etc., dark bhickish-brown, that
on the withers a paler brown, and the pelage of the hind-quarters a kind
ot cinnamon-colour.

In the skeleton the neural spine of the sixth cervical vertebra^ is up-
right, and that of the seventh relatively taller than in the European species,
while the spines of all the dorsals are absolutely higher. These features

^^m:<^m^M^'^-:i^H^ i,H^ ^^£^

Fig. 1 6. — American Bisnn and Wapiti in the Park at Woburn Abbcv. From a photograph by the

Duchess of Bedford.

seem undoubtedly indicative ot the greater specialisation of the American
as compared with the European animal, as is also the marked convexity ot
the forehead. And assuming the New World form to have been derived
from the European species, such greater specialisation is exactly what
might have been expected.

In addition to a calf, the British Museum possesses a mounted adult
bull from the Yellowstone river, and the head of a second from Colorado,
the latter presented by Lord Walsingham. Both appear to be in summer

■* See note on p. 8.
M

Oxen

pelage, and are therefore well adapted for comparison with the specimens
of the European species in the collection, all of which were likewise
killed at the same season. For comparison of the cows of the two species,
reference may be made to the excellent figures in the memoirs of Messrs.
Allen and Hornaday. No one who has seen the British Museum examples
can fail to be struck with the very marked diiference between the males
of the European and American forms. In stating that the latter, so tar
as the typical race is concerned, has generally shorter horns than the
former, I am aware that Mr. Rowland Ward has recorded dimensions
reached by American specimens exceeding any of those he mentions from
Europe. But it must be remembered that in the case of the tormer
animal a vastly larger series of specimens is available for selection ; and
average specimens are decidedly interior in size to the tew available male
skulls of the European bison.

An adult bull bison v^'eighed by Mr. Hornaday turned the scale at
1727 lbs.; and Mr. Rowland Ward states that the general weight may
be estimated from about 15 to 20 cwts.

The following are some of the largest horn-measurements mentioned
in Mr. Rowland Ward's book; probably No. 10 and certainly No. 11
belonp; to the woodland race : —

Leiigtli .)n
Outi-r Curve.

Bns.il
CircumtVrt-nce.

Tip to Tip.

Wiliest Inside.

Locality.

20?

30J

Wyoming

I2i

W. Montana

i8|

I4f

i6|

i8i

261

Sioux Country

Montana

17I

I 9.1

1 -B

i5i

17^

12^

S.-W. Montana

i7i

25i

Wyoming

17^

I oil

17*

16A

Bighorn Mts. V

16J-

12^

19-^

American Bison 83

Distribution. — Starting from Pennsylvania, which formed its eastern
Hmits, the American bison, according to Mr. Hornaday, originally " ex-
tended westward, through a vast tract ot dense forest across the Alleghany
Mountain system to the prairies along the Mississippi, and southward to
the delta of that great system. Although the great plain country of
the west was the natural home of the species, where it flourished most
abundantly, it also wandered south across Texas to the burning plains of
north-eastern Mexico, westward across the Rocky Mountains into New
Mexico, Utah, and Idaho, and northward across a vast treeless waste to
the bleak and inhospitable shores of the Great Slave Lake itself" To the
northward of the United States the western limits of its range appear to
have been formed by the main chain of the Rocky Mountains, along the
flanks of which it extended to the Mackenzie river ; and the northern
shore of the Great Slave Lake seems to have been its most northerly limit.
In British territory its easterly range did not extend beyond the plains
lying to the west of the highlands bordering Hudson Bay, so that it was
entirely absent from the region north of the great lakes.

It will be noticed that in the passage quoted above the bison ot the
plains is regarded as the original form. This, however, as will be subse-
quently mentioned, is an error, the woodland form being doubtless nearer
the primitive type. Regarding the eastern extension ot the animal in
Pennsylvania, it is known to have ranged as far as Lewisburg within a
comparatively late period, the last individual having been killed in Buffalo
Valley, near that town, sometime between 1790 and 1800. Farther east,
the bison, according to Mr. S. N. Rhoads, had probably been driven
from the Delaware Valley considerably before the advent of the white
man in the New World. The same writer adds that, " from the scarcity
of its remains and the absence of reliable tradition of its presence in this
locality, it is unlikely that this species was ever more than a straggler in
the regions east of the Susquehanna river drainage."

84 Oxen

a. Prairie Race — Bos bison tvpicus

C/uiractcrs. — Generally those given above, the distinctive points of the
woodland race being mentioned below.

Distribution. — That portion ot the range of the species lying to the
south of the distributional area ot the woodland race.

Habits. — So much has been written on the habits and extermination
ot the American bison of the prairies, that it is dithcult to know what to
select, while it is obvious that nothing new can now be written. The
best account ot the extermination ot the bison trom the prairies is one by
Mr. W. T. Hornaday ; while tor a graphic description of the enormous
herds which formerly covered these pastures the writings of Colonel
Dodge may be consulted. Mr. C. L. Herrick, in his Mammals of
Minnesota., gives an excellent resume of the general habits of the animal,
and Dr. J. A. Allen's memoir will always remain as the most copious
history previous to the extermination we yet possess.

In the time ot its abundance the bison was an essentially gregarious
animal, congregating in herds of such \ast magnitude as actually to
darken the prairies as tar as the eye could reach. Possibly its numbers
may have been rivalled by the herds of spring-buck which formerly
wandered over the Transvaal ; but with this exception, it was probably
unique in regard to numerical abundance among Ungulates, and no other
animal ot equal bodily dimensions ever approached it in this respect.
Gregariousness, as has been well observed, necessarily implies periodical
migration when the herds are large ; and the bison of the prairies was
a thorough wanderer. Seasonal changes compelled them at one time to
travel in the direction ot the mountains, and at another in the opposite
direction ; while variations in the supply of food and water entailed minor
movements in addition to their regular wanderings. Such thousands of

American Bison 8^

animals would soon consume and destroy vast areas of herbage ; and it has
even been suggested that at the time of the maximum development of
the race the vast prairies ot the north-west were none too large for the
sustenance of the herds of bison with which they were covered. The
course of streams and rivers marked out to a considerable extent the main
direction ot migration ; but such lines ot march were often altered owino;
to the occurrence ot prairie fires or the presence of devastating hordes of
locusts. Previous to the days of railroads, which aided so materially in
putting a term to the existence of the race, the periodical migrations
of the bison to and tro were so constant and regular that the time tor
the arrival and departure ot the herd in any one locality could be predicted
with a close approximation to correctness.

When the herd was alarmed or in danger, its members, as is so
generally the case with animals associating in large bodies, seemed to
lose all sense ot individual responsibility, and rushed madly forwards,
heedless of objects which would have effectually stayed the progress of
solitary animals. No danger in tront would indeed stop the advance of
the herd, although unwonted interruptions in its rear would give rise to
hopeless confusion.

As an example of this state of affairs the following account from the
pen of Colonel Dodge may be quoted: — "The winter of 1871-72 was
unusually severe in Kansas. The ponds and smaller streams to the north
were all trozen solid, and the bison were forced to the rivers for water.
The x'\tchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad was then in course of
construction. It a herd was on the north side of the track it would stand
stupidly grazing and without symptom of alarm, though the locomotive
passed within a hundred yards. If on the south side ot the track, even
though at a distance of one or two miles, the passage of a train set the
whole herd in the wildest commotion. At its full speed, and utterly
regardless ot consequences, it would make for the track on its line ot

86 Oxen

retreat. If the train happened not to be in its path, it crossed the track
and stopped, satisfied. If the train was in the way, each individual bison
went at it with the desperation of despair, plunging against or between
locomotives and cars just as the blind madness happened to take them.
Numbers were killed, but numbers still pressed on, only to stop and stare
as soon as the obstacle was passed."

Although when direct and level lines of transit were practicable these
were preferred, bison displayed remarkable activity and agility for animals
ot their size in descending and ascending the steep bluffs bordering many
of the prairie rivers ; and even now the gorges made by the herds in
breaking down the banks are still visible as mementoes of a vanished race.
Neither would broad and rapid rivers whose currents were encumbered
by masses of ice check the course of the host ; such transits were, how-
ever, frequently accompanied by heavy losses of life, more especially when
numbers of animals crowded upon the ice. Arrant stupidity, as in the
instance above cited, seems indeed to have been one of the most marked
traits in the life-history of the bison.

In reality, however, timidity may account for much of this apparent
stupidity, although in defence of their young both sexes displayed un-
daunted courage. And many anecdotes have been told of the devotion of the
cows to their offspring when threatened by imminent peril. "The bulls,"
writes Mr. Herrick, "invariably range themselves about the circumference
of the herd, while the cows and calves remain in the centre. The larger
herds when feeding break up into smaller groups, which preserve the
same arrangement in obedience to instinct. It appears that the notion,
long prevalent, that certain old bulls stand as sentries upon the outskirts
of the herds is fallacious, most observers claiming that it is the females,
with anxiety quickened by the maternal instinct, which are usually the
first to perceive danger. ... In some cases it is the males upon whom
the office of protection devolves, especially in case of attack by wolves.

American Bison 87

Wolves were the only animals molesting the bison until the advent of
man, and before their numbers were so reduced by hunters these marauders
constantly harassed the herds. . . . When separated from the herd the
mother was often obliged to pass the night in sleepless vigil, pacing
about her sleeping calf"

In reference to the last statement, there have been observed in many
places on the prairie circles of five or six feet in diameter of taller and
greener grass than the ordinary sward, which appear to have sprung up on
the tracks of a cow thus protecting her calf. Much more rarely similar
half-circles have been noticed, which are attributed to a cow walking
between her recumbent calf on one side and a watchful wolf on the other.
An instance has also been recorded where a party of bulls combined to
rescue a newly-born calf from the jaws of one of these devourers. Although
calves doubtless formed the chief prey of the wolves prowling round the
confines of the herd, it was not by any means to these alone that the
attacks of the latter were confined. Old, sickly, and wounded individuals
of both sexes from time to time fell victims ; and Catlin has given a sad
picture of a feeble old bull standing on the defensive against a pack of
hungry wolves and gradually succumbing.

In many of their habits bison were more like buffalo than domestic
cattle. In their fondness for rubbing they resembled both ; and traces of
this habit are to be found in the polished surfaces of the few masses of
rock which project above the level prairies, as well as in the smoothed
bark of the small number of trees dotted over the same. In their par-
tiality for wallowing in mud they were much more like buffalo. And so
ingrained was this habit that old bulls were accustomed to make " wallows "
for themselves when ready-made ones were not to be found. " Finding in
the low parts of the prairies," says Catlin, "a little stagnant water amongst
the grass, and the ground underneath soft and saturated with moisture, an
old bull lowers himself upon one knee, plunges his horns into the ground.

88 Oxen

throwins^ up the earth and soon making an excavation into which the
water trickles, forming tor him in a short time a cool and comtortahle
bath, in which he wallows 'like a hog in the mire.' In this 'delectable
lava ' he throws himself flat on his side, and then forcing himselt violentlv
around with his horns, his feet, and huge hump, ploughs up the ground
still more, thus enlarging the pool till at length he becomes nearly im-
mersed. Besmeared with a coating of the pasty mixture, he at length
rises, changed into a ' monster ot mud and ugliness,' with the black mud
dripping from his shaggy mane and thick woolly coat. The mud soon
drying upon his body ensures him hours of immunity from the attack
of insects. Others follow in succession, having waited in their turns to
enjov the luxury ; each rolls and wallows in a similar wav, adding a little
to the dimensions of the hole, and carrying awav a share ot the adhesive
mud. Bv this means an excavation is eventuallv made having a diameter
of 15 or 20 feet, and 2 feet in depth." Such wallowing holes remain as
another sad memento ot one ot the noblest ot American quadrupeds.

The pairing season on the prairies took place in Julv and August,
varying perhaps a little in time according to latitude ; and tlie young,
which never exceeded two at a birth, were born from the following
March to June. The calves always went about with the main herd. In
the breeding season constant conflicts took place between rival bulls ; but
owing to the shortness and form of their horns and the large mass of hair
on the fore-quarters, little damage was in most cases inflicted, although the
bellowing of the enraged combatants has been described as terrific.

The saddest point in the history of the animal was its rapid and practi-
cally complete extermination, which was a surprise even to the hunters
themselves. And additional sadness is added to the story from the fact
that thousands were slaughtered for so-called sport, and other thousands for
no adequate return at all, perhaps merely for the sake of the tongue or
some other dainty morsel. The story is too long to be told here; hut it

American Bison 89

may be mentioned that between the years 1870 and 1H75 the annual rate
of destruction has been estimated at fully two and a half million head.
The final act in the drama was the completion of the Union Pacific
Railway, which cut the main herd in two. The southern halt ot the
divided herd was rapidly exterminated, and it was not long before the
northern halt followed suit.

The American bison breeds freely in captivity with its own kind, and
less readily with other species of cattle. Mention has been made above
of the hybrids produced by a union between the bull bison and the cow
gayal ; and in America a breed has been raised by crossing a bull bison
with a domesticated cow. Such hybrids are fertile either hiier se, or when
again crossed with domesticated cattle. A herd ot partially hybrid bison
was formerly kept at Garden City, Kansas. Bison have been kept in at
least two English parks. Mr. C J. Leyland, of Haggerston Castle,
Northumberland, has a small herd, of which the first members were
imported from Lincoln Park, Chicago, in the summer of 1890. Others
were imported in 1891, and a bull bred in the Regent's Park was also
added. About 1893 ^*^'^^'' halt-breeds were raised in this park — three females
and one bull. A small herd ot bison is also kept in the park at Woburn
Abbey, the members ot which share a large paddock with wapiti and
other deer (fig. 16).

In America, among other localities, a herd has been established at
Stony Mountains, Manitoba. Starting with five calves in 1878, the
owner had raised the number at the commencement of 1887 to sixty-
one head, the greater number of which were pure-bred, and the remainder
halt-breeds. Although living in the open prairie, and feeding on the
snow-covered grass, even in January they were fat and sleek, when the
thermometer was much below zero.

po Oxen

h. Woodland Race — Bos bison Athabasca

Bison hison athahascce^ Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philcuii'lpliia^ •i^97i P- 49'^-

Characters. — Distinguished h'oni the prairie race by its superior size,
thicker and more silky pehige, of which the colour is darker, and bv the
much longer, more slender, and more incurved horns, which are also more
widely separated from one another at the bases.

The description of the type specimen, which is mounted in the
Geological Museum, Ottawa, Canada, and appears to have been killed near
the Great Slave Lake, is as follows. Pelage uniformly dense and silky ;
short and fine over much of the hinder half of the body, but becoming-
very dense, long, and curly anteriorly, especially on the shoulders and neck,
as well as the front of the head. Colour along the crest of the hump and
the middle line ot the back light brown, shading in every direction into
darker brown, and becoming almost black on the head, under-parts, and
limbs ; the ears, muzzle, and lower half of the tail, as well as the horns
and hoots being completely black. The horns long and strongly curved
inwards so as to come within a couple of inches of the line of tlie base
of the eyes.

Distribution. — The wooded uplands of the western territories, formerly
extending from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the 95th
meridian of longitude, ami from latitude 6:; to 55' N., but probably
ranging as far south along the line of the Rocky Mountains as the United
States.

Habits. — Hunters and trappers have long been convinced of the
distinctness of the bison of the wooded northern districts from the one
inhabiting the plains, but it is only recently that naturalists have ventured
to separate the two. From the accounts of several observers familiar with
it in former days quoted by Mr. Rhoads, it appears that the woodland

American Woodland Bison 91

bison never left the wooded districts, and that when it met the prairie
variety on the borderland of their respective habitats, the two kept completely
apart. In this respect they resembled the woodland and barren-ground races
of the reindeer ; the two races being stated by the aforesaid observer to be
as well entitled to rank as sub-species as are the two former. Although
they graze occasionally, the woodland bison are stated to subsist chiefly on
the leaves and twigs of the birch and willow, whereas the prairie animal is
solely a grass-eater.

Never, apparently, very numerous, the woodland race is now approaching
extermination. Mr. H. I. Moberly informed Mr. Rhoads that in 1897
he estimated the total number remaining at between 250 and 300 head,
which were divided into two herds. One of these bands frequents the
districts lying to the north of the lower part of the Peace river, extending
from close to the Great Slave Lake at Peace Point, which is about 90
miles below Fort Vermilion. The second band is on the upper part of
the Hay river, ranging between the Peace and the Liard rivers and
along the foot of the Rocky Mountains for a distance of about 250 miles.

From the tact that the luiropean bison is a forest-dwelling animal,
and that the Old World may be regarded as the original home of the
group, it seems most probable that the woodland bison is the older type
ot the two, the prairie race being a somewhat degenerate later development
which has taken to a life in the open country at a comparatively recent date.
And it is noteworthy that in the width of the skull this race makes an
approach to the fossil form described as B. /atifrons, which occurs typically
in Kentucky. It may be well to mention that in his account of the
extermination of the bison Mr. Hornaday believed that the woodland
race was the smaller ot the two, and that it represented a species in course
of evolution from the prairie form.

92 Oxen

6. Harlan's Bison — Bos latifrons {Extinct)

Bos lat'ifrons^ Harlan, Fauna Americana^ p. 273 (1825) ; H. Smith, in
Griffith's Animal Kingdom^ vol. iv. p. 410 (1H27) ; Lvdekker, Horns and
Hoofs, p. 27 (^893).

Bison latifrons, Leidy, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, vol. vi. p. 117 (1852),
Extinct Vertebra ta Western Territories [U. S. Geo/. Survey), pp. 253 and 318
(1873) ; Allen, Mem. Mus. Harvard, vol. iv. p. 7 (1876) ; Wilckens, Biol.
Centra Iblatt, vol. v. p. 117 (1885) ; Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit.
Mus. pt. ii. p. 27 (1885) ; Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1895, p. 245,
1897, P- 5°° 5 Stewart, Kansas Quarterly, vol. v. p. 127 (1897).

Characters. — The enormous size, wide, tiat forehead, and long, nearly
straight horn-cores seem to indicate the specific distinctness of this southern
form from Bos priscus. In a skull in the British Museum from the Brazos
river, Texas, the horn-cores, although very imperfect, measure 45 inches
along the curve, with a basal girth of \b], inches ; the frontal width being
14 inches. When complete, the length along the curve must have been at
least 60 inches.

Distribution. — The southern United States, especially eastern Kentucky
and Texas, during the Plistocene period.

7. The Central American Bison — Bos scaphoceros [Extinct)

Bison scaphoceros. Cope, "Journ. Acad. Philadelphia, 1895, p. 457;
Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1897, p. 500.

Characters. — The extreme southern range oi this form is in favour of
its right to specific distinctness ; and, in any case, renders it of special
interest as marking the extreme southern limit reached by any member of
the hollow-horned ruminants in America. The horn-cores are remarkable
for their abrupt curvature, and are also relatively stout.

Bubaline Group 93

Distribution. — The mountainous districts of Southern Mexico and
Northern Nicaragua, it is said, during the Phocene period.

V. Bubaline Group — Sub-Gen(is Bubalus

Bithahis, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom^ vol. v. p. 371 (1827),
as a sub-genus; Gray, Cat. Ungiilata Brit. Mas. p. 23 (1852).

Aiioa, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom., vol. v. p. t^SS {^^-7)->
as a sub-genus; Gray, Cat. Ungulata Brit. Mi/s. p. 29 (1852).

Bi/ffAi/s, Riitimeyer, Ferli. Ges. Basel, ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 334 (1865),
Dcnksclir. sclrweiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 52 (1867), Ahli. scliweiz.
pal. Ges. vol. V. p. 189 (1878) ; Matschie, Sdi/getli. deiitsch. Ost.-Afrika,
p. 107 (1896).

Prolnthi/las, Riitimeyer,^ Verli. Ges. Basel, ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 334 (1865),
Denkselir. sclnceiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 52 (1867), A6I1.
sclnceiz. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 122 (1878).

Hemihos, Riitimeyer, Denkselir. scliweiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. ::;,
p. 22 (1867) ; Falconer and Cautley, in Falconer's Pal. Mem. vol. i. p. 456
(1868).

Amphibos, Riitimeyer, Denkselir. selnceiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3,
p. 29 (1867), Abb. scliweiz. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 147 (1878) ; Falconer
and Cautley, in Falconer's Pal. Mem. p. 547 (1868).

Peribos, Lydekker, Pal. bid. [Mem. Geol. Surv. Ind.), ser. 10, vol. i.
p. 141 (1878).

Cliaracters. — Build generally massive ; neck short ; muzzle broad ; hair
more or less sparse, leaving the skin in old age nearly bare; feet and hoofs
large and broad ; and the tail of moderate length, with a terminal tuft of
variable size. Horns usually large and massive, angulated, and more or

1 This name was suggested for the aiioa, together with Hemibus sivalemis { = triquetrhornis) and
Ampl:ibos ticuticornii, but as neither of these two latter were then described, it must be typified by the
Celebes buffalo, and is thus a synonym of" the earlier Auoa.

94 Oxen

less distinctly triangular in section at the base ; marked by irregular
transverse rugosities for about two-thirds of their length, but becoming
more or less smooth and polished towards the tip ; situated low down on
the forehead of the skull, considerably below the plane of the occiput, and
frequently receding from the forehead, which is more or less distinctly
convex in the larger living torms, but Hat, or nearly so, in the smaller ones,
as well as in many ot the extinct species ; their upper border generally
concave, and the tips more or less inclined inwards. The premaxilhr of
the skull reach upwards to join the nasal bones ; and there are thirteen
pairs of ribs. Size large to small.

In the skeleton the neural spines of the dorsal vertebra-, although
narrower, have much the same form and relations as in the typical group,
but that ot the seventh cervical is rather taller.

The buffaloes are the most aberrant of the wild cattle, none ot them,
so tar as known, breeding either with domestic cattle or with the members
of the bison group. The African buffalo (with its local races) differs so
remarkably from the Indian representative of the group, that they might
almost be assigned to distinct sub-genera. But the anoa, which is very
generally referred to a genus, or sub-genus, by itself, is so intimately con-
nected with the Indian buffalo through the Philippine species, that there
seems no justification for its sub-generic separation.

Distribution. — At the present day restricted in the wild state to the
Ethiopian and Oriental regions, but occurring in the Plistocene deposits
ot Europe and Algeria.

I. The African Buffalo — Bos caffer

Bos differ, Sparrman, A.'. Svctiska J\'t. Ak. Haiidl. vol. xl. p. 79 (1779) ;
Sundevall, //;/(/. for 1844, p. 15:5 (1846); Huet, Bull. Soc. Acclim. Paris.,
vol. xxxviii. p. 338 (1891) ; Flower and Lydekker, Study of Maiiiuials.,

African Buffalo

p. 361 (1H91) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Ma mm. Iml. Mas. pt. ii. p. 130 (1S91) ;
Nicolls and Eglington, Sportsman in South Afr'wa, p. 72 (1892) ; Ward,
Records of Big Ganh\ p. 261 (1896).

Bos {Biihali(s) cajfh\ H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. iv.
p. 384, V. p. 371 (1827).

Biibahis cajf'cr, Jardine, Natnra/isfs Library — Manim. vol. iv. p. 2^7
(1836); Grixj, List Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 1:^3 (1843); ^''"^- Vngulata Brit.
Mils. p. 28 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 12 (1872), Brooke,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 4H0, 1875, p. 457; Flower and Garson, Cat.

Fig. 17. — Head of Cape Buffalo. (Rowland Ward, Retards of Big Ga/nc.)

Osteol. Mus. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 230 (1884) ; Pechuel-Loesche, Zool.
Jalirb. Syst. vol. iii. p. 707 (1888) ; Bocage, jfourn. Soc. Lisbon, ser. 2, vol. ii.
p. 24 (1890); Pousargues, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. ser. 7, vol. iv. p. 86 (1897).

Buffclus caff'er, Matschie, Saugeth. dcutsch. Ost-Afrika, p. 107 (1895).

Characters. — Height varying from about 4 feet 10 inches to 3 feet 6
inches at the withers. Head relatively short, with the muzzle very broad,
and the nasal bones of the skull short and wide ; typically the profile of the
forehead deeply concave below the horns, and the forehead itself very
convex. Horns very variable, but always black, more or less markedly
expanded and Rattened at the base, so as to obliterate the distinctly

96 Oxen

triangular form ; frequently receding far behind the plane of the eyes, and
generally with a distinct demarcation between the rough bases and the
smooth tips. Ears very large, heavily fringed with long hairs, especially
on the lower margin, and the upper margin sharply truncated before
descending to the pointed extremity. Tail tutted, and reaching a little
below the hocks. Hair of back directed uniformly backwards, from the
neck to the rump ; that of head and body coarse, and in adults more
or less sparse, in colour varying from black, through brown, to orange-red
or yellow.

Few of the larger mammals have given rise to more confusion than
the various forms of African buffalo ; and many more specimens are
required before the various points in dispute can be regarded as finally
settled. If we had only the enormous black buffalo of the Cape and the
little red buffalo of the Congo to deal with, there would be no hesitation
in regarding them as perfectly distinct species. But these extreme forms
are so intimately connected by intermediate modifications, that it seems
impossible to look upon them in any other light than geographical races
of a single extremely variable and widely spread species. The brown
buffalo of Nubia and Abyssinia, for example, is so close to the Cape
animal, that it must almost certainly be regarded merely as a sub-species.
And the alliance between the Abyssinian and the Senegambian race seems
even closer still. But in colour the Senegambian form approximates to
the red Congo buffalo, constituting the other extreme of the series. All
the different forms agree in the normal direction of the hair of the back.

As an instance of the diversity of views entertained by naturalists on
this question, it may be mentioned that in his first paper on the subject
Sir V. Brooke regarded all the West African buffaloes as specifically in-
separable from the Abyssinian form, but kept the Cape bufi-alo distinct.
In his second memoir (1H75) all three forms were regarded as distinct,
but closely allied species. On the other hand, Dr. Pechuel-Loesche makes

WildOxen,SheepAGoa.ts. Plate VII

'' ^/m)

CAPE BUFFALO.

Pxlilish^hySdwlatuiWarcllai

Cape Buffalo 97

the Abyssinian buftalo a race of the Cape species, hut keeps the western
forms apart as a second species. Any one who compares a skull of the
Abyssinian buffalo with the West African specimen described by Dr. Gray
as B. centralis will scarcely fail to be convinced of the impossibility of
maintaining; such a distinction.

Distribution.- — -Africa south of the Sahara.

a. Cape, or Black Race — Bos caffer typicus

Characters. — Size large and build very heavy and clumsy, the height
at the shoulder reaching to from 4 feet 10 inches to 5 feet ; skull massive,
with the profile immediately below the horns deeply concave. Hair,
except on the margins of the ears and at the tip of the tail, where it is
long, comparatively scanty in the adult, but thicker in the young ; general
colour black, frequently with a reddish tinge, most marked on the legs
and in young animals. Horns large and massive, exceeding twice the
long diameter of the skull in length ; at first directed mainly outwards,
but also dipping boldly downwards and backwards so as to be depressed
much behind the plane of the eyes, then curving upwards, forwards, and
inwards, but their tips widely separated, and not coming within the lines
of the lateral borders of the skull ; their basal anterior surfaces in old bulls
raised into huge convex bosses, nearly meeting in the middle line of the
forehead ; in cows these basal bosses much less developed, and separated
by a broad, hairy space. Although the profile of the head immediately
below the horns is markedly concave, that of the lower part of the face is
as distinctly convex.

The following are the dimensions of the twelve largest pairs of horns
recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward in the 1896 edition of his Records of Big
Game : —

98 Oxen

Greatest
Outside.

; Wlilth.

Inside.

Tip to Tip.

Width of
Exp.insion.

Locality.

49i

43&

3o|

Sabi River

28i

Limpopo

4oi

.2i

E. Africa

4oi

464

44i

37i

Puiigwi River

453

4ii

37r

S. Africa

45i

Nyasaland

45i

E. Africa

45i

I I.I

Kilima-Njaro

39^

36i

E. Africa

Nyasaland

44f

39§

27i

iii

E. Africa

Distrihiftiou. — Southern Atrica, extending from the Cape to the south
bank ot the Congo on the west side, and about to the equator (\^ictoria
Nyanza) on the east side of the Continent. In Angoht, according to
Professor Barboza du Bocage, the Cape buftalo is abundant right up to
the Congo, being found both near the coast in the neighbourhood of
Mossamedes and on the inh\nd plateau of Ouillengues. Since it occurs
in the neighbourhood of Mount Kilima-Njaro and the \'^ictoria Nyanza,
its distributional area towards the north may be approximately limited by
the Nile watershed ; but whether in this region it intergrades with the
Abyssinian race, or whether the two keep completely apart, I have no
information.

In common with most other large African mammals, the buffalo has
been greatly reduced in numbers in many of its haunts, from some of
which it has been completely exterminated. In the eastern forest districts
ot the Cape Colony a few herds are preserved by Government protection ;
and in the impenetrable country in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay
they are still abundant. In 1892 Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington wrote as
follows regarding their distribution in South-Eastern Africa : — "North of
the Crocodile, and particularly in the tsetse- fly- infected and low-lying

Cape Buffalo 99

unhealthy countries through which the Sabi, Gorongosi, Bosi, and Pungwi
rivers tiow betore entering into the Indian Ocean, tliey are in unfrequented
pUices still quite common, and may be come upon in large herds, being,
however, extremely difficult to get at owing to the deadly nature of the
climate. Now almost driven out of Mashonaland, a good many herds
yet remain in Northern Matabililand, along the tributaries of the Zambesi,
as also on both banks of the Chobi, and particularly in the angle formed
by these rivers before their junction. Once very common throughout
the country about Lake Ngami, they have now almost entirely disappeared
from there, and are only occasionally seen in the west along some of the
swamps of the Okavango."

Habits. — Like its kindred, the Cape buftalo associates in large herds,
and when feeding generally moves in compact bodies almost always led
by a cow. Their feeding-grounds, at least in East Africa, are either among
open bush, or in clear pasture in the neighbourhood of bush. After feed-
ing during the night and early morning on such ground, they generally
seek thick covert for repose during the heat of the day. In undisturbed
districts, even when covert is at hand, they will, however, sometimes
prefer to lie out in the open during the day, probably to escape the attacks
of tiies. The old bulls, except during the pairing season, frequently
separate from the herd to wander about either alone or in parties of three
or four. Such bulls have frequently been stated to be more dangerous
than those accompanying the herd, but this is denied by Mr. F. J. Jackson
in his article on this species in the Badminton Library. As regards the
disposition of the animal, it is indeed very difficult to arrive at a satisfactory
conclusion, since different sportsmen differ much in their accounts on this
subject. Mr. Oswell, for example, in another article in the same voUniie,
gives the Cape buffalo a very bad character indeed, more especially when
stalked in thick covert, where it will craftily double back alongside its
track, and then suddenly rush out on its unsuspecting pursuer. On the

loo Oxen

other hand, Messrs. Nicolls and Eghngton state that the reputation of the
animal tor ferocity has been much exaggerated, and that wlien disturbed
it generally prefers to seek safety in flight rather than to initiate an attack.
They admit, however, that on occasions a bull that has not previously been
wounded will make an unprovoked charge, even in the open ; and they
are in accord with other writers as to the danger of following a wounded
bull in thick covert. Mr. Jackson mentions the extreme caution always
necessary in buffalo-shooting, and recommends the sportsman to get within
such a distance as to ensure killing or disabling his quarry at the first shot.
A buffalo when charging rushes forward with its muzzle held nearly
straight out and its forehead almost horizontal ; and even w^hen within
striking distance the head is not lowered, but turned to one side, and the
foe knocked down or gored by a sideway sweep of the massive horns.
This attitude is shown in the central figure in the well-known illustration
in Livingstone's Missionary Travels, although a second individual in the
same plate is depicted with the head lowered ; and in all the animals
the tail is represented as elevated instead of held straight out.

Like the rhinoceroses, buffaloes are frequently attended by the so-called
rhinoceros-birds and egrets, which perch on their broad backs for the
purpose of feeding on the insects swarming around them ; and when thus
attended they are much more difficult of approach than when alone.
Buffilo are seldom if ever found far away from water, and they are in the
habit of refreshing themselves with a bath both before and after grazing.
The calves, of which but one is produced at a birth, are born in the
summer months from January to March ; and for the first few days after
their appearance in the world are securely hidden among tall grass by the
cows, who at such times separate themselves from the herds to remain in
the neighbourhood of their offspring and attend to their periodical wants.
During the pairing season frequent fights take place among the old bulls.
Next to man, the greatest foe of the buffalo is the lion ; and although a

Abyssinian Buffalo

lOI

single lion would probably be unable tt) pull down unaidetl an old bull in
the prime ot his strength, one instance at least is on record where three ot
the telines have combined forces to effect their object.

h. Abyssinian, or Bkown Race — Bos gaffer iEQUiNocTiALis

Biibalus Cctjfcr (CCjuiiioctici/is^ Blyth, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1866, p. 371 ;
Pechuel-Loesche, Zoo/, 'yu/ir/'. Syst. vol. iii. p. 713, pi. xxvii. (1888).

Bi(/)a/us piniii/w; oriciiht/is., Brooke, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1873, p. 483, pi. xlii.

Fig. 18. — Skull ami horns of Abyssinian Buffalo. (Rowland Ward, Recoras of Big Gtime.)

Bu/hi/i/s ceqiiinoctia/is., Brooke, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1875, p. 457 ; Pousargues,
AiDi. Sci. Nat. Zoo/, ser. 7, vol. iv. p. 87 (1897).

Bos aqiiinoxici/is, Huet, Bi///. Soc. Acc/im. Paris, vol. xxxviii. p. t^t.j
(1891).

Bos centra/ is. Ward, Records of Big Ga/ik\ p. 265 (1896), nee Gray,
1872.

C/iaracters. — Size smaller than in the preceding, the height at the
shoulder being about 4 feet. Hair coarse, and often somewhat scanty, longest
along the ridge of the back and under surface of the head. General colour
uniform blackish or tawny-brown, slightly tinged with rufous on the sides

I02

Oxen

and liiinks ; chest and upper part of fore-legs light grayish-brown ; fore-
legs from knees downwards blackish-brown ; long hairs on margins of ears
brown, longer in the cows than in bulls ; tail-tuft black. Horns of the
same general type as in the Cape race, but relatively shorter, not greatly
exceeding the skull in length, separated in both sexes, except sometimes on
the extreme vertex of the head, by a broad hairy space between their bases,
which are very much flattened ; spreading at first almost horizontally
outwards, and sometimes retreating less behind the plane ot the eyes ; the
bases not developed into prominent bosses. Pits on forehead of skull very
small and almost concealed by overhanging plates of bone.

Apart from skulls, I am acquainted with this race by a mounted
specimen from Abyssinia in the British Museum, by a skeleton from
Abyssinia in the same collection, and by the figure ot the head of an
example formerly living at Berlin given by Sir V. Brooke in plate xlii.
of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for the year 1873, under the
name of B. piimihis. In the British Museum mounted specimen the
hair on the body is thicker than I should have inferred to be the case from
Sir V. Brooke's description. From pUuiiccros the present race appears
distinguishable by its darker colour, and the darker brown hairs on the
margin of the ears.

The following dimensions of horns are recorded by Mr. Rowland
Ward :—

Greatest Width.
Outside.

Inside.

Tip tn Tip.

Front Surface.

Locality.

I I^

Abyssinia

364

Sudan

E. Africa

6ft

Bure Country

31^

281

25^

Settiti River

31^

26.1

2.1

31^

26|

24t

Abyssinia

3oi

20i

Sudan

Senegambian Buffalo 103

Distribution. — From Abyssinia and the south of Somahhuul through the
Sudan for a long distance up tlie White Nile. The habits of this race are
probably not essentially, if in any respect, different trom those of its cousin
of the Cape.

c. Senegambian Race — Bos caffer planiceros

Buhdhis planiceros., Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863, p. 157.

Biibaliis centre! /is. Gray, Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 11 (1872), Hand-
list Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. II (1873); Matschie, Sciugcthiere Togogcbietcs,
p. 19 (1893) ; Pousargues, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. ser. 7, vol. iv. p. 87 (1897).

Characters. — The West African representative ot the preceding race,
to which it is closely allied, and with which it probably intergrades in the
central districts of equinoctial Africa, as it also does with the Congo race
in the hinterland of Sierra Leone. Size somewhat smaller than in the last
race. Horns very similar to those of (rquinoctialis, but shorter, directed less
outwardly (forming an angle of about 45 degrees with the middle
line of the skull), receding to a less extent behind the plane of the eyes,
and in very old bulls closely approximated at their bases. General colour
of adult bulls dark blackish-brown, becoming lighter on the hind-quarters,
thighs, and muzzle ; limbs coloured like body ; no distinct black muzzle ;
ears black inside, with the marginal fringe moderately developed.
Younger bulls, and probably cows, with the hair longer and lighter
coloured, assuming a brownish-red tinge on the fore-quarters. Pits on
forehead ot skull small.

The type of the Buha/us planiceros oi Blyth is the frontlet and horns of
a very old bull, formerly preserved at King's College, London, but now in
the British Museum. There is no record as to the place of origin ot this
specimen, which is shown in the accompanying tigure. The points ot the
horns are so worn as to be blunt and rounded, and the rugosities upon their

I04 Oxen

surface are mostly abraded. The Btihaliis centralis of Gray is typihed by a
skull in the British Museum (No. 65, 3, 30, i), with the right horn
preserved, obtained from some part of West Africa.^ It belongs to a
younger bull, the point of the horn being sharp, and directed backwards.
A comparison of these two specimens shows that they certainly belong to
the same form ; the horns in both being quite different in shape from
those ot the type of B. cajfcr luinus, and much more like those oi (Vquiuoctialis.

Fig. 19. — Frontlet and horns of aged bull of the Senegambian Buffalo. From the tvpc specimen
in the British Museum.

A third pair of horns belonging to an adult (Fig. 20), although not aged,
bull, are in the possession of Sir R. B. Llewelyn, the Governor of the
Gambia, from which colony they were obtained. They are in a fine state
of preservation, with the points sharp and slightly directed backwards ;
and are important as indicating that the tvpes o\ phinlccros and centralis
were likewise obtained from Senegambia or the adjacent districts.

A young bull from Senegal mounted in the Paris Museum appears
likewise referable to the present race, although it is labelled B. puiwlus.
On the fore-quarters the colour of the hair is reddish-brown, but elsewhere

• In the Ihuid-liit of 1873, erroneously stated to have been collected by Dr. Baikie.

Sene^ambian Buffalo

105

on the body the tint is darker than in ihnius^ while the muzzle and limbs
are lighter ; there is no black mane along the neck, and the tringe on the
margin of the ears is less elongated, and the whole interior ot the ears
black. The horns are comparatively small, and trt)m their immaturity
present no very distinctive characters.

At the same time, it must be remarked that it is frequently very
difficult to distinguish immature examples oi this race trom specimens
oi lid mis from Sierra Leone, where the horns never seem to attain the form

Fig. 20. — Frontlet and horns of male Senegambian BiitFalo. From a specimen shot on
the Gambia in the possession of Sir R. B. Llewelyn.

characteristic ot adult males from the Congo. This is confirmed by
Monsieur Pousargues, who remarks that in the Western Sudan and Upper
Guinea there occurs a blackish-brown buffalo regarded by some zoologists
as a mere variety ot piimilus [ = !iaiii/s), but by others as a distinct species
under the name of centralis. That it intergrades both with the northern
form of nanus and with planiceros, I have, as already stated, little doubt ;
and if this be so, it certainly cannot rank higher than a sub-species.

Distribution. — ^The interior of Senegambia, Upper Guinea, and the
French Sudan — that is to say, to the north and east of the tvpical West
African forest region.

IO(

Oxen

d. Congo, or Red Race — Bos caffer nanus

Bos nanus, Boddaert, E/cnchus Anini. p. 152 (17H5) ; Ward, Records of
Big Givnc, p. 275 (1896), in part.

Bos punulus, Kan-, Aniin. Kingdom, p. 340 (1792) ; Turton, Transl. Linn.
Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 121 (1806) ; Huet, Bull. Soc. Acc/ini. Paris, vol. xxxviii.
p. ^^4:5 (1891), in part; Flower and hyt^ckker, Sti/dy of Maninni/s, -^p. :;6i
(1891) ; Brehni, 'licrlchcn, — Sdiigct/i. vol. iii. p. 319 (1891).

Fig. 21. — Frontlet and horns of aged bull of the Congo Buffalo. From the type
specimen in the British Museum.

Bos brachyccros, Pd, Bi/dr. tot Dierki/ndc,yp. 33 (i 854), /'at Sundevall, 1846.
Bos hrachicheros, Du Chaillu, Exp/or. Eqnat. Africa, p. 210 (1861).
Buhahis rccUnis, Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 187:;, p. 158 ; Gray, Cat. Rumi-
nants Brit. Mus. p. 12 (1872), Hand- list Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 82

Bubalus pumilus, Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, p. 482, pi. liv., 1875,
p. 485, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xiii. p. 159 (1874) ; Flower and

,?^ J^^'J .:.^i

WiLiD OxEK, Sheep, 5vGoATs . Plate VIII

-^Sj,,^,

CONGO BUFFALO.

PaiiLsked by Bjmland Ward Ltd

Conoco Buffalo

107

Garson, Cdt. Osteal. Mas. Coll. Surg, part ii. p. 2:50 (1S84) ; Pechuel-
Loesche, Zool. yalirh. Syst. vol. iii. p. 711, pi. xxviii. tigs. :^, 4 (188S) ;
Pousargues, .•/////. Sci. Nat. Zool. ser. 7, vol. iv. p. 83 (1897).

Bi/biiliis pi/iiiili/s occhlcntal'is, Brooke, Pfoc Zool. Soc. 187:5, p. 48 "5.

Biilnilus hracliyccros., Bocage, ]. Soc. Lisho/i^ ser. 2, vol. ii. p. 21; (i8go) ;
Matschie, ^Vw^tV/z/tw Togogehictes., ■p. 19 (1893); wtr Gray, 1837.

Plate nil.

Characters. — Size comparatively small and the build light and slender,
the height at the shoulder being about 3 feet 6 inches. P'orehead of skull
nearly Hat, without any concavity in the prohle below the horns. In
fully adult bulls from the Congo the horns
closely approximated at their bases, where
they are rugose and much expanded and
flattened ; their direction at hrst mainly up-
wards, after which they become smooth and
are suddenly bent inwards and backwards, to
terminate in long slender tips, which may
be yery close together, and thus situated
directly above the forehead (hg. 21). In
younger bulls (fig. 22) less expanded and
approximated at the bases, and more widely
separated at the tips. In cows the horns are
likewise often less flattened and expanded,
and more widely separated at the bases and
tips ; in some specimens from the Congo they are almost cylindrical, and
in most examples from Sierra Leone they are widely separated on the
forehead and diverge outwardly more in the manner ot centra hs.

Hair on the body moderately thick and close, very long on the margins
of the ears and the middle line of the neck and back, where it forms

Fig. 22. — Skull and horns of bull Congo
Buffalo, from the Niger territory.
(Rowland Ward, Rfconis of Big
Garni'.)

io8 Oxen

a short mane. General colour of upper-parts bright yellowish or reddish-
orange, frequently very similar to that oJ" the bush-pig from the same
regions ; long hairs on middle of neck and back and part of those on lower
margin oi the ears black, as are the legs from above the knees and hocks
downwards, and the tutt at the tip of the tail ; on the upper border of
the ears the long hairs are pale yellow ; and the interior of the ears, except
tor a black patch near the lower border, is also yellowish. The pits on
the torehead ot the skull are very small.

The history ot the niare, as this dwarf red buiTalo is called at the Gabun,
is somewhat curious. The type specimen is the frontlet and horns of an old
male (tig. 21), formerly in the possession of the Royal Society of London,
but now preserved in the British Museum, where it is the linest specimen
representing this race. It was tirst described as long ago as the year 1686
by Grew in his Rarities at Gi-cshaiii Co/lcgt\ and was again described, and
also tigured, by Pennant^ in 1771. In 1785 Boddaert named it Bos nanus,
while Kerr in 1792 and Turton in 1806 gave it the title oi B. pii/ni/iis. In
1852 Dr. Gray figured it as the young of the Cape buffalo ; and in 1863
Mr. Blyth, apparently unaware of the earlier names, redescribed and re-
tigured the same specimen as B. /rc/inis, of which it is also the tvpe.

In 1873, and again in 1871;, Sir V. Brooke revived the WAxne. puniihts,
and included under that title all the specimens described as p/aniccros and
brachyccros. Ot the specimens referred to in these memoirs which may
be safely assigned to this race, are two skulls in the museum at Leyden
brought by Pel from Lower Guinea, which are stated to be very similar
to the type, so far as their horns are concerned. Two skulls from the
Lower Niger acquired by the British Museum from Dr. Baikie are like-
wise referable to this form — the one belonging to an adult cow, and the

1 Gray, Ami. Mag. Nut. Hist. scr. 4, vol. xil. p. 499 (1873) ; xiii. p. 258 (1874), considered that
B. ptimilus of Pennant was founded on the dwarf ox of Belon from Morocco ; see Brooke, op. cit.
vol. xiii. p. I 59.

Congo Buffalo 109

other to an immature animal. An immature skull in the same museum
from the Gabun (91, 3, 36, i) has horns very similar in shape to the type,
the tips almost meeting, hut smaller and less rugose. The frontlets and
horns of a hull and cow from the Congo figured in Dr. Pechuel-Loesche's
memoir are almost identical with the type, although the interval between
their tips is greater ; and Messrs. Rowland Ward recently had a series
of specimens of horns of both sexes, probably from the Congo, exhibiting
the same form. In a quite young specimen from the Gabun, in the British
Museum, the horns are in the form of straight upright spikes. Du Chaillu
describes the niare of the Gabun as having horns very similar to those of
the type specimen, although they are ill-represented in his figure. In the
type specimen the length of the horn along the outer curve is 2 i ^r inches,
the basal circumference I2| inches, and the interval between the tips ot
the two 2j inches.

The British Museum possesses the mounted skin of an immature cow of
this buffalo shot by Major A. J. Arnold in the Niger territory ; two skins
have been described by Sir V. Brooke, and there are two others in the
Paris Museum. Of the latter, the first is an adult cow trom Sierra Leone
which was living in the Jardin des Plantes about the year 1844. Although
the hair has been almost entirely worn off, sufficient remains to show that
the general colour was yellowish-orange, with a black muzzle and legs.
The horns are broad and fiat at the base, with the tips incurved, but not
forming a sudden bend. The second is an immature bull brought from
the Congo by M. Dybowski ; the general colour is light yellowish-orange,
with the hinder part of the inner margin of the ears, the mane on the
neck and withers, the tail-tuft, and lower portion ot the legs black. The
horns are small, and show no incurving at the tips, indicating immaturity.

Of the specimens referred to in Sir V. Brooke's memoir of 1873, one
is a cow from Sierra Leone, formerly living in the Surrey Zoological
(hardens, and of which a sketch is preserved in the Library of the Zoological

iio Oxen

Society. The second is likewise a cow from Sierra Leone, which was
living in the Zoological Gardens at Antwerp in 1875, and is figured
(together with the head of an immature bull) by Sir V. Brooke in the
Proceedings of the Zoological Society tor the year 1875. The general
colour is described as bright yellow. On the shoulders and anterior parts
of the body there is a strong tinge of brown, caused by an intermixture
of brown and yellow hairs. On the flanks and belly the yellow shades
gradually into deep rufous. Upper-parts and sides of the head and
neck pure yellow, lower surface of head and neck paler. Entire upper
and lower lip, fore-legs from above the knee, and hind-limbs from the
hock downwards black. Hair on the upper rim ot the inside of the ear
yellow, on the lower rim and tip black ; as is also the tail-tuft. The
horns are widely separated on the forehead, and directed to a considerable
extent outwards at first starting, and have no sudden inward bend at the
tips, being apparently not unlike some specimens oi p/aniccfos. The animal
was, however, not an aged one, being only about three years old ; ' and
it is possible that if its lite had been prolonged the horns might have
approximated at their tips.

In the British Museum mounted female from Nigeria the horns are
of a somewhat similar tvpe, being well flattened at the base but not bent
in at their tips. This animal was, however, still younger than the last,
all the milk-teeth except the flrst pair of incisors being retained, so that
the immaturity question again comes in ; but it is noticeable that in a
series of horns from the same district sent home by Major Arnold (one
of which is shown in lig. 22) none exhibit the marked inbending of
the typical Congo form. The same is also the case with the Togo
specimens figured by Dr. Matschie. The hair in the British Museum
specimen is very sparse, and less red than in many other examples. The
height at the shoulder is 3 feet 8 inches.

' All the milk-teeth had been replaced shortly before its death.

ConCTo Buffalo 1 1 1

Of four skulls obtained trom the Congo by M. Dybowski and pre-
served in the Paris Museum, two are those of males and two of females.
The horns ot the adult bull are strongly convergent, and much resemble the
type pair, but those of the second and younger bull are not distinctly
convergent at the tips. The horns of one of the female skulls are of
nearly similar curvature to those ot the adult male, but much thinner,
and nearly cylindrical, while those ot the second are more expanded and
flattened.

Specimens are urgently needed betore the variations according to age,
sex, and locality ot the horns of this race can be fully worked out ; but it
appears to be the case that horns precisely comparable to those of the type
specimen are to be met with only in the Congo and perhaps Lower Guinea,
and that as we advance towards Sierra Leone these appendages apparently
tend to become more divergent, and consequently more like those of the
Senegambian race. Hence it may be inferred that the type specimen was
in all probability obtained somewhere between the Congo and the mouth
of the Niger.

The leading characteristics of the race are to be found in the general
yellow coloration, the yellow inner surface of the ear, save for a black
patch on the lower margin, and the black muzzle, mane, tail-tutt, and legs.
Taken by itselt, there would be no question that the Congo buftalo should
be regarded as specitically distinct from its gigantic black relative of the
Cape; but it appears in the northern part of its range to pass imperceptibly
into the larger variety phiiiiccros, which again is closely allied to the still
larger (vqii'nioctialis ; while the latter in turn in P^ast Central Atrica not
improbably passes into the typical Cape torm.

It has been remarked that blackness in animals is very generally associ-
ated with hot damp climates ; but it is evident that the Congo buiFalo
forms an exception in this respect, the allied race inhabiting the open
plains of the Cape being black, while redness is characteristic of the

112 Oxen

Western race. An analogous instance is afforded by the bush -pigs, of
which the West African species is red, while the southern one is dull
grizzled brown.

Distribi(tio7i. — The West African forest region, extending from the
north bank of the Congo, through the Gabun, Lower Guinea, Togo,
Ashanti, and Liberia to the coast districts of Sierra Leone ; in the interior
stated to extend up the Congo valley as far as Stanley Falls.

Habits. — The Congo buffalo is described as being very shy and difficult
to approach, for which reason, as well as on account of the unhealthy
nature of the climate of most of its habitat, but little is known of its mode
of life. They apparently prefer districts covered with thick hush, especially
narrow valleys, to more open country ; and in such covert remain con-
cealed during the hottest part of the day. Hills of about a thousand feet
in height are their favourite resorts, and from these they descend before
daylight to drink, after which they gradually make their way up again,
feeding as they go. Although at times associating in herds, it is stated
that they are more commonly found in pairs, or even solitary. Although
harmless when undisturbed, native reports say they are given to charge
when wounded, and the experience of Major Arnold points to the prob-
ability of this being correct.

('. Lake Tchad Race — Bos caffer brachvceros

Bubalus bmchyccros., Gray, Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. i. p. 587 (18-^7), List
Mamm. Brit. Miis. p. 153 (184:;), Ami. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xii.
p. 499 (1873), xiii. p. 258 (1874), Cat. Vngulata Brit. Miis. p. 24 (1852),
Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 10 (1872), Hand -list Ruminants Brit. Mi/s.
p. 81 (1873); Blyth, Proc. Zoo/. Soc: 1863, p. 157.

Bos brac/iyceros, Sundevall, A.'. Svrnsh/ Let. Ak. Hand/, for 1844, p. 1^3
(1846).

Lake Tchad Buffalo 113

Biihaliis pumilus^ Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc. i^JT,, p. 482, 1875, p. 455,
in part.

(?) "Gray Buffalo," Pechuel-Loesche, Zoo/. 'Jahrb. Syst. vol. iii. p. 721,
pi. xxviii. fig. 5 (1888).

Characters. — Horns oi: adult bull less flattened and less approximated at
their bases than in the typical Congo form of nanus, with the smooth tips
shorter and curving markedly forwards so as to overhang the forehead, which
is flattened. In the cow the horns are sub-cylindrical, curving regularly
upwards and inwards, without any sudden angulation or forward inclina-
tion. Pits on the forehead of the skull very large. Colour not definitely
known, but not improbably gray.

This form, which is provisionally allowed sub-specific rank, is typified
by two skulls with horns obtained by Captain Clapperton and Colonel
Denham' from the neighbourhood of Lake Tchad and preserved in the
British Museum ; the larger of these being figured by Sir V. Brooke in
the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for the year 1873, p. 478, as the
female of B. pumilus. Both specimens were indeed regarded by Sir Victor
as referable to the female of the Congo race, but there is such a marked
difference between them that it appears most probable that whereas one
(the figured example) indicates a bull, the other belonged to a cow. More-
over, the presumed male horns, in their forward inclination, are unlike any
specimens I have seen that can be definitely assigned to nanus ; while the
large pits in the forehead of the skull are not observable in the latter. The
circumstance that Lake Tchad lies beyond the limits of the typical West
African forest region, and possesses a different fauna, including giraffes,
should likewise not be omitted from consideration. From all these circum-
stances taken together there seems a considerable degree oi probability that
the Lake Tchad buffalo represents a race by itself, although additional

1 Nurnitkr of Travels and Discoveria in Northern mid Central Africa, in the Years 1822, '23, and '24,
by Major Dcnham, Capt. Clapperton, and Dr. Oiidncy, maps and plates, 2 vols. Svo (1826).

114

Oxen

specimens are essential before the point can be regarded as settled. Not
impossibly the skull oi a female buffalo with a gray pelage figured by Dr.
Pechuel-Loesche in the memoir cited above, may prove to belong to the
present form. Unfortunately, the exact locality whence that specimen was
obtained is unknown.

Fig. 23. — Skull and horns of male Lake Tchad Buffalo. From the type specimen
in the Briti>h Museum.

In the presumed male the horns have a length of 18] inches along the
outer curve, with a basal circumstance of io| inches, and an interval ot
5^ inches between the tips. In the presumed female ^ the corresponding
dimensions are 17, ii-^, and 6| inches.

' In the Records of Big Game, p. 275, Mr. Rowland Ward takes the same view as to the sexes of
these two skulls.

Algerian Buffalo 115

Distribution. — The neighbourhood of Lake Tchad, situated in West
Central Africa due north-east of the Gulf of Guinea.

2. The Algerian Buffalo — Bos antiquus [Extinct)

Bubaltis antiquus., Duvernoy, C. R. Acad. Paris., vol. xxxiii. p. 595
(1851) ; Gervais, Zoo/, ct Pal. Gcncra/cs., ser. i, p. 93, pi. xix. (1867-69) ;
Riitimeyer, Ahhandl. sclnvciz.. pal. Gcs. vol. v. p. 145 (1878) ; P. Thomas,
Bull. Soc. Zool. France, 1881, p. 30, pi. ii. ; Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Manun.
Brit. Mus. pt. ii. p. 29 (1885) ; Cornel, Carte Gcol. d'Algerie — Pal. Mon.
Lcs Bubalidcs (1893).

Bubalus baini., Seeley, Geol. Mag. decade 3, vol. viii, p. 192 (1891).

Bos antiquus, Lydekker, Horns and Hoofs., p. 45 (1893).

Characters. — A gigantic species with the nasal bones ot the compara-
tively short type distinctive of the existing African buffalo, but with the
rims of the sockets of the eyes much less prominent than in the Cape race,
and the horn-cores (fig. 2, p. 21), which are of enormous extent, widely
separated on the forehead, and with a curvature not unlike that ot the Cape
and north-eastern races of the living African species. In their downward
curvature at the base, and comparatively slight angulation for the greater
part of their length the horn-cores come decidedly nearer to the African
than to the Indian buffalo ; and the slight prominence of the orbits is only
an exajjsjeration of a characteristic feature of the former, which is most
ap>parent in the smaller races. Specimens have been described, measuring
at least i i feet along the curve of the horn-cores, and in one example the
same measurement has been estimated at 14 feet. In addition to this, the
length of the portions of the horns themselves covering the tips of the horn-
cores has to be taken into account.

Remains of this magnificent buffalo occur typically in the superficial
deposits of Algeria, but skulls from the corresponding formations of the Cape,

1 1 6 Oxen

described under the name of B. ha'uii^ are apparently specifically indis-
tinguishable. Rude sculptures on rock-faces indicate that in Algeria the
species was coexistent with man. Regarding its affinities, the observations
ot Monsieur P. Thomas are significant. He writes that, apart from certain
diffisrences, nothing is more like the skull of this species than one of the
Indian bufi-alo ; but, on the other hand, the body-skeleton comes much
closer to that of the Cape species. If a very large arni skull were affixed
to the skeleton of a Cape buffalo, we should have an animal very like the
fossil. Monsieur Pomel is of opinion that the present species is equally
distinct from both the African and the Indian buffalo.

The resemblance to the Indian buffalo, in my own opinion, is probably
largely due to the excessive development of the horns, and therefore
superficial ; and I think it is much nearer to the African species, of which
indeed it may not improbably be regarded as the ancestral form. It is
important to observe that its horn-cores are much more like those of the
Abyssinian than those of the Cape race of the modern African species, from
which it may be inferred that the helmet-like mass formed by the horns
on the forehead of the latter is a specialised feature of late origin. Not
less noteworthy is the greatly inferior length of the horns in all the races
of the living species. At the same time, seeing that many African mammals
appear to have been derived from extinct Indian types, the present species
may have retained some indications of affinity with the Indian buffalo.

Distribution. — Africa during the Prehistoric and Plistocene periods,
ranging from Algeria to the Cape.

3. The Siwalik Buffalo — Bos platyceros [Extinct)

Biibalus platyccros, Lydekker, Rcc. Geo/. Si/rv. Ind. vol. x. p. 31 (1877),
Pal. Ind. [Mem. Geol. Surv. Ind.), ser. 10, vol. i. p. 127, pi. xviii. (1878),
Cat. Foss. Mamni. Brit. Mas. pt. ii. p. 29 (1885).

Siwalik Buffalo

117

Buhalus sivakiisis, RLitimeyer, Ah/i. sc/iwe/z. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 138
(1878).

C/hiriu-fers.- —AW'ied to the Indian buffalo, but with the forehead nearly
riat, and the horn-cores, which are perfectly triangular in section, more widely
separated at their bases, set much more obliquely on the forehead, situated
more in advance of the plane of the occiput, and with their front face in

Fio. 24.. — Restored skull ot the Siwalik Buffalo.

the plane of the forehead. The horn-cores tapering regularly and rapidly,
and directed upwards, outwards, and somewhat inwards, in a symmetrical
curve. In correlation with the position of the horn-cores, the occipital
surface of the skull is more distinct from the ridge between the horn-cores
than is the case in the living Indian buffalo. The approximate span of the
horn-cores in the type specimen is 29 inches.

This well-marked species is represented by a somewhat imperfect skull
in the Indian Museum, Calcutta (fig. 24), and a still more imperfect
one in the British Museum.

ii8 Oxen

In the tiattened forehead, as well as in the position and setting-on of
the horn-cores, this species makes a decided approach to the anoa and its
extinct allies, which it thus serves to connect with the Indian butfalo.

Distribution. — India during the Pliocene period. The known remains
occur in the Siwalik Hills, extending from the Simla district to the
Punjab, but the species probably had a wider range than these limits.

4. The Indian Buffalo — Bos iuibalis

Bos hiihalis^ Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 99 (1766).

Bos biihaliis., Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 206 (1788) ; H. Smith, in
GritHth's Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 392 (1827) ; Hutton, Joiirn. As. Soc.
Bengal, vol. xv. p. 142 (1846) ; Sundevall, A.'. Svcnska Vet. Ak. Haiuil. for
1844, P- ^S1 (^^4^) ; ^^- L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Imi. Mtis. pt. ii. p. 129
(1891); Blanford, Fauna Brit. India — Mamm. p. 491 (1891); Hose,
Mamtna/s of Borneo, p. 64 (1893); Ward, ReeorJs of' Big Game, p. 266
(1896).

Bos arnee, Kerr, Linn.'s minimal Kingdom, p. i^i^d (1792); Gray, Proc.
Zoo I. Soc. 1855, p. 17, pi. xi.

Bos bujfelus, Blumenbach, liandbuc/i Naturgeschicbte, ed. 10, p. 121
(1821) ; Flower and Lydekker, Study of Mammals, p. 361 (1891).

Bos ami, W. Smith, in Griffith's Anima/ Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 388
(1827) ; Sundevall, A'. Svenska Vet. Ak. Hand/, for 1844, p. 153 (1846).

Bos [Buba/us) ajnee, H. Smith, of. At. vol. v. p. 372 (1827).

Bos [Buba/us) buba/us, H. Smith, /oc. cit. (1827).

Buba/us arnee, jardine, Natura/isf s Librai'y — Mamm. vol. iv. p. 243
(1836) ; Cantor, Journ. As. Soc. Benga/, vol. xv. p. 27-^ (1846).

Buba/us arna, Hodgson, "Journ. As. Soc. Benga/, vol. x. pp. 469 and 921
(1841), xvi. p. 709 (1847) ; Horslield, Cat. E. Ind. Mus. p. 179 (1851).

Buba/us bufje/us. Gray, List Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 152 (1843), ^'^^^-

Wild Oxen, Sheep, & Goats. Pirate IX.

INDIAN BUFFALO.

Puiiished h>Iii!yrla.nd. WarcLlli.

Indian Buffalo 119

Uiigii/atci Brit. Mils. p. 25 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Miis. p. 9 (1872) ;
Kelaart, ProJro/iius Fauna Zcylan. p. 87 (1852) ;- Flower and Garson, Cat.
Ostcol. Mils. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 229 (18S4) ; Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Maniin.
Brit. Mus. pt. ii. p. 28 (1885); Huet, Bull. Soc. Accli/n. Paris, vol.
xxxviii. p. 7 (1891).

Bos kcralnui, Sundevall, A.'. Svt'/iska Vet. Ak. Hand!, tor 1844, p. 153
(1846).

Fin. 25. — Head nt' male Indian Buffalo. From a specimen killed by the Maharaja of Kiieh Behar.
(Rowland Ward, Records oj Big Game.)

Buffcliis indicus, Riitimeyer, /v;7;. Gcs. Basel, ser. 2, vol. iv. p. :; ^54
(1865), Denkselir. sclnceiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 52 (1867),
Al>li. scliweiz. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 189 (1878).

Buhahis iiidieus, Riitimeyer, Denkselir. sclnveiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2,
art. 3, p. 32 (1867) ; Steere, Proe. Zool. Soc. 1888, p. 415.

Biiffelus sondaicus, Riitimeyer, Denkselir. sclnveiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2,
art. 3, p. 52 (1867), Aldi. sclnceiz. pal. Ges. vol. v. p. 189 (1878), no
description, nee Bos sondaicus, Miiller and Schlegel, 1840.

Bubalus ami, Jerdon, Ma mm. Ind. p. 307 (1867); Stern dale. Ma mm.
Ind. p. 490 (1884).

I20 Oxen

Bos [Biihah/s) bujfl'lus^ Blanford, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxxvi.
p. 195 (1867).

Biihaltis kcrnhiii/, Brehm, Tierlehen — Siiiigethiej-e, vol. iii. p. 327 (1891).

Biihaliis hiiba/iis, Meyer, Ahh. Miis. Dresden for 1896-97, No. 8, p. 14
(1896).

Plate IX

Characters. — Size typically very large, the height at the shoulder
varying from 5 feet to as much as 6 feet 2 inches in adult bulls. Head
relatively long, with the muzzle moderately broad, and the nasal bones of
the skull elongated ; the profile of the whole head nearly straight, and
the convexity of the forehead moderate. Horns black, very long, distinctly
triangular, tapering regularly from base to tip, with irregular transverse
ridges and grooves for the greater part ot their length ; their bases widely
separated, and their curvature not varying much from one plane, although
typically there is a distinct recession behind the plane of the centre of the
forehead ; typically the curvature is upwards, outwards, and slightly back-
wards, markedly increasing towards the tips, where the direction is
inwards and slightly forwards. In some examples of the typical race the
horns are, however, directed almost outwards till near their tips, when
they are curved suddenly upwards. Those of cows longer and more slender
than in bulls. Ears comparatively small and tubular, without heavy fringes
ot long hair on their margins. Tail reaching about to the hocks, with a
small terminal tutt. Hair coarse and sparse, nearly disappearing in the
adult ; that on the middle line of the back reversed, so as to be directed
forwards from the haunches to the occiput, and forming a whorl in front
ot the pelvis ; the colour varying from ashy blackish-gray to dun, the legs
sometimes dirty white, more especially in the domesticated race.

It is somewhat remarkable that all the existing species of Asiatic buffaloes
are at once distinguished from their African cousins by the reversal of the

Indian Buffalo

121

hair on the middle line of the back. They likewise differ by the form of
the skull and horns, and although these display a considerable degree of
variation in the different forms, yet they are essentially of the same type, and
present a more or less complete passage from one variety to another. The
Asiatic buffaloes seem, therefore, to form a closely allied group of species,
which, owing to their isolated habitats, have become more differentiated
trom one another than have the races of the African buffalo.

Distribution. — In the wild state, India and apparently other parts of the
Oriental region.

a. Typical Race — Bos bubalis typicus

C/iarcictcrs. — Generally those given above, the horns being large and
distinctly receding from the plane of the forehead, and the colour ashy
blackish-gray, with or without whitish on the legs below the knees and
hocks ; lower lip whitish. Forehead moderately convex, and facial portion
of skull long.

Although the older writers, like Brian Hodgson, stated that old bulls
of the Indian buffalo stood as much as 6^ feet at the shoulder, such
dimensions were doubted by Colonel A. Kinloch, who suggested about
5 feet 4 inches as the maximum height. A bull shot by H.H. the
Maharaja of Kuch Behar measured, however, 6 teet 2}, inches at the
shoulder, with a length of 14 feet 2 inches trom the tip ot the muzzle
to the root of the tail, and a maximum girth of 10 teet 8 inches, that at
the shoulder being 2 feet less. As it is unlikely that this specimen was
the largest that ever lived, Hodgson's measurements are probably but little,
if at all, in excess of the truth. A second bull killed by the Maharaja
stood 5 feet 10 inches at the shoulder. There is no evidence that the speci-
mens with outwardly directed horns inhabit an area apart trom those with
more regularly curved horns, so that the two types cannot be regarded as

122

Oxen

indicating separate sub-species. The following dimensions ot horns are
recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward ; some of the specimens from Assam
possibly belonging to the next race: —

igm aiong
;er Curve.

B.nsal Girth.

Tip to Tip.

Wiliest Inside.

Sex.

Locality.

Ill

I7&

7oi

Female

Assam

65^

20I

Female

Male

i7f

lOI

61^

i5f

22 1

45i

Kuch Behar

eii

Male

Assam

58~

464

P'emale

I Si

4ii

Central Provinces

Assam

i9i

33f

5oi

Female

Kuch Behar

^5i

554

ss'.^

18.1

54i

^8*

38i

48^

Distribution. — In a wild state, India, throughout the plains of the
Bramaputra and Ganges valleys from the eastern end of Assam to Tirhut,
the Terai as far west as Rohilcund, the plains in the neighbourhood of the
coast in Midnapur and Orissa, as well as the plains in the Eastern Central
Provinces, including the districts of Mandla, Raipur, Sambalpur, Bastar,
etc., at least as tar south as the valleys of the Godaveri and Pranhita ; also
the northern parts of Ceylon. In Burma and the Malay Peninsula and
Islands (inclusive of the Philippines and Celebes) buffaloes are found
indistinguishable from the present race, and some of which are now in a
wild condition. Whether, however, they have reverted to this state from
domesticity, or whether they are indigenous inhabitants of the country
they occur, is a moot point. Some of them have the legs whitish as far as
just above the knees and hocks, but a similar condition obtains in many of

Indian Buffalo i 23

the domesticated buffaloes of India. The Bos kerabau appears to have been
named on buffaloes of this type from the Malayan Islands which, judging
from the hgure given by Brehm, can in no wise be distinguished from the
present race. In a half-wild domesticated condition buffaloes are now met
with in Italy, Hungary, Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, and all Western Asia
as far as Afghanistan. It is generally considered that these European and
North African buffaloes have been introduced from India or other Oriental
countries, but it should be remembered that there is a Plistocene European
form to which it is just possible their ancestry may be traceable.

Habits. — In India the wild bull buffalo is properly known as the arna,
and the female as the arni ; but the animal is very commonly spoken of
asjangli bhains, or wild buffalo, bhains being the Hindustani term for the
domesticated breed. Other dialects have different titles for the wild race,
to which it will be unnecessary to allude on this occasion. Wild buffaloes
generally go about in herds ot considerable size, and, like the domestic
breed, always carry their heads very low. The near neighbourhood ot
pools or lagoons of water, in the mud ot which they can wallow when so
disposed, is essential to their existence. They are consequently generally
tound near swamps, and never trequent hilly ground. Brakes of reeds, or
the tallest and thickest grass-jungles are indeed their tavourite haunts,
although they may occasionally be met with on plains covered with low
bushes or short grass, but it is very rarely, if ever, that they are met with
in true forest. Grass constitutes their chief nutriment ; and, like most
members of their tribe, their feeding-times are the early morning and
evening. During the heat of the day they sleep much, and it is said
that a bull buffalo if roused from his midday slumber by beating with
elephants is much more prone to charge than is one stalked on toot while
feeding. Doubtless this is largely due to surprise and tear, tor it is a
well-known fact that the more suddenly a wild animal is roused the more
likely is it to prove dangerous. It, so to speak, loses its head, and cannot

124 Oxen

collect its thoughts sufficiently to seek safety in Right. General Kinloch
states that he has known bull buffalo to charge elephants both when
wounded and before being hit. When they have once decided to attack,
they generally charge home ; and a beast with horns like the larger
specimens in the British Museum must be difficult indeed to avoid. For
hunting on foot the best time is in the hot season during the months of
April and May, when much ot the tall grass has either been burnt or dried
up and water is scarce. Fresh tracks in the neighbourhood of pools
should then be looked for, and when discovered followed up.

So fond are these buffaloes of water that, both in the wild and
domesticated condition, they will trequentlv stand tor hours with only
their heads above the surface. In disposition they are somewhat sluggish
animals, and show but little tear ot man even when in the wild state.
Indeed, much damage is done to crops by wild buffaloes in districts where
they are common. The innate ferocity of the wild race is well illustrated
by an anecdote told by Captain Lamb, who states that on one occasion a
bull buffalo that dropped to his riHe was immediately attacked by a second
and larger bull, which rolled the wounded animal over and over each time
it attempted to regain its legs, t^ventually the pair were bagged by the
lucky sportsman.

Both in the wild and tame condition the pairing season takes place in
autumn, and the young, which may be either one or two in number, are
born the tollowing summer, after a gestation of about ten months.
Domesticated buffaloes, which are frequently but half-tamed, differ chiefly
from the wild race by their inferior bodily size and smaller horns. And
although pale-coloured, or even albino varieties may not untrequently be
observed, no distinct tame breeds have ever been produced. Neither will
they ever interbreed with the Indian or European domestic cattle.

Regarding the date of introduction of the Indian buffalo into Egypt
there appears to be no definite information, but it seems to have been

Indian Buffalo 125

subsequent to the period of the ancient frescoes, in which the animal is not
represented. Ahhough at the present day it may be seen wallowing in the
swamps of the Jordan valley as commonly as in those of the Ganges,
Canon Tristram states that it does not appear to have been known to the
ancient Israelites, and was probably introduced into Palestine at a later
period. To Italy, according to the testimony of a contemporary monk,
they were introduced about the year 600, in the reign of the Longobardian
King Agilulf Regarding their place of origin, Messrs. Hehn and
Stallybrass ^ write as follows : — " It seems probable, as they appear in
company with wild horses, that they were a present to the Longobardian
kings from the Khan of the Avars, for this Turkish race of nomads, who
at that time dwelt near the Danube and scourged the Roman Empire with
fearful devastations, were on friendly terms with the Longobardian court.
If King Agilulf sent shipbuilders to the Avarian Khan to supply the
vessels necessary to taking an island in Thrace, that Khan may well have
sent presents from the heart of Asia in return."

Regarding the occurrence of the Indian buffalo in a semi-wild state
in Tunisia, Sir H. Johnston writes as follows : — " In the district of Mater
in Northern Tunis there is a rather remarkable herd of buffaloes, about fifty
in number. They are said to be descended from a few domestic buffaloes
of the Indian species presented forty years ago or more by a King of Naples
to the Bey of Tunis. They were placed on a property of the Bey's where
there is a large swampy lake, in the middle of which rises a mountainous
island. Here they have resumed the feral state, and, judging from several
heads I have seen, are developing much longer horns than those of the
domestic buffalo of Italy."

Domesticated buffaloes are kept chiefly for agricultural labour and as
beasts of burden, and also for their milk, which is richer than that of the
cow, although somewhat ropy in consistence.

' Tl-C WanJcrings of Plariti and Aiibnah^ London, 1885.

126 Oxen

h. Upper Assam Race — Bos bubalis fulvus

Bos hubalus fulvus, Blanford, Fauna Brit. India — Manini. p. 492 (1891).

Characters. — Distinguished from the typical race by its uniformly dull
colour, the more convex forehead, and the shorter ficial portion of the skull.
The race is definitely known by a mounted head in the Indian Museum,
Calcutta, and by a skull and horns presented by Mr. A. O. Hume to the
British Museum.

Distribution. — The upper districts of the Assam valley.

c. Bornean Race — Bos bubalis hosei

Characters. — Size small, the height at the shoulder being about 3 feet
8^ inches, with relatively short horns, which are continuous with the
plane of the torehead, without any backward curvature. General colour
ashy-black ; the lower lip, a narrow gorget on the throat, the fore-legs
from above the knees downwards, the front of the thighs and of hind legs
below hocks, except for a triangular patch on the fetlocks, dirty white.

This form is represented by a mounted specimen in the British Museum
sent by Mr. C. Hose from Borneo, purporting to be that of a wild animal.
In point of size and general appearance the specimen is almost exactly
intermediate between the typical Indian buffalo and the tamarau ; and
it agrees with many examples of the latter in the white gorget on the
throat. Mr. Hose mentions that buffaloes exist in a wild state on the
Miri and Baram rivers, and it is quite as probable that there should be a
native race of buffalo in Borneo as in the Philippines. Accordingly, the
present form is provisionally reckoned as such. It appears to be a much
smaller animal than the so-called B. kera/mu, which has long horns,
no white gorget on the throat, and seems indistinguishable from the
domesticated Indian buffalo.

Distribution. — Borneo.

Narbada Buffalo 127

d. Narbada Race — Bos bubalis pal^-indicus [Extinct)

Bos piil(ri/hlicits\ Falconer, Cat. Foss. Vert. As. Soc. Bc/igci/, p. 230 (1859),
Pa/. Mem. vol. i. p. 280, pi. xxii. (1868).

Biijfeii/s pci/ieithhci/s, Riitimeyer, Verh. Ges. Base/., ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 3-^4
(1865), Denksc/ir. sc/iwe/z. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 52 (1867), A/^/i.
sc/iweiz. pa/. Ges. vol. v. p. 189 (1878).

Bu/ni/its pa/ivindicus^ Lydekker, Pa/, hid. {Mem. Geo/. Si/rv. I//d.), ser. 10,
vol. i. p. 132, pi. xix. (1878) ; Riitimeyer,^/;//. sc/nveiz. pa/. Ges. vol. v.
p. 141 (1878).

Bu/ni/iis namadicus., Dawkins, Cave Hunting, p. 428 (1874), nee Bos
uamadiciis. Falconer, 1859.

Bu/ia/its /niffe/us pa/c^indici/s, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mas.
pt. ii. p. 28 (1885).

C/iaracters. — Very close to the typical race, but of larger dimensions,
with a more convex forehead, and the horns apparently always directed
to a great extent outwardly. In the horn-cores themselves the transverse
section is also somewhat different, tending to become quadrangular, instead
of being strictly triangular.

Distribution. — India during the Plistocene period; found typically in
the ossiferous gravels of the Narbada river, but also occurring in those
of the Godavari and Pem Ganga. Buffalo skulls discovered in the top-
most Siwalik rocks of the Punjab probably also belong to the same form.

e. European Race — Bos bubalis pallasi [Extinct)

Bos pa//asii, Baer, Foss. Mamm. Prussia, p. 27 (1823).

Buba/us pa//asii, Romer, Zeitschr. deutsch. geo/. Ges. vol. xxvii. p. 435,
pi. xi. (1875) ; Riitimeyer, Verh. Ges. Base/, vol. vi. p. 320 (1875), A/^/i.
sc/iweiz. pa/. Ges. vol. v. p. 143 (1878).

128 Oxen

Characters. — Apparently distinguishable from the Narbada buffalo
merely by its somewhat inferior dimensions.

Distrihiitioii. — Central and Southern Europe during the Plistocene
period. This form is typified by an imperfect skull from Dantzig, where
a second and smaller skull was subsequently discovered. Additional
remains have been recorded by Professor Riitimeyer from the pre-glacial
deposits near Rome and other districts in Italy.

5. The Tamarau, or Mindoro Buffalo — Bos mindorensis

Buhaliis mindorensis, Heude, Mem. Hist. Nat. Emp. Chinois, vol. ii. pp. 4
and 50 (1888), ihid. p. 204, pi. xix. (1894) ; Heller, Ah/i. Mas. Dresden,
1890-91, No. 2, pp. 3 and 31 (1890); Nehring, Zool. Anzeiger, 1890,
p. 448 ; fentink, Notes Leyden Mus. vol. xvi. p. 199 (1894) ; Meyer, Ahh.
Mits. Dresden, 1896-97, No. 6, p. 12, pis. vii. and viii. (1896) ; Thomas,
Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. xiv. p. 410 (1898).

Anoa mindorensis, Steere, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1888, p. 413 ; Oustalet, Bull.
Mus. Paris, 1895, p. 202.

Probubalus mindorensis, Steere, loc. cit. (1888).

Bos mindorensis, Lydekker, Royal Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 206 (1894), Geogr.
Hist. Mam 1)1. p. 47 (1896).

Plate X. Fig. I.

Characters.- — A small, rather stoutly built species, in many respects
intermediate between small forms of the Indian buffalo (such as the one
from Borneo mentioned on p. 126) and the anoa; the height at the
shoulder being somewhere about 3 feet 6 inches.^ Horns short but stout,
marked with very deep irregular transverse grooves and pits tor the greater
part of their length ; their direction mainly upwards, with the tips some-

' The measurement taken from tlic British Museum example, which is said to have been made too
low and too thick in the mountine.

Wild Oxen, Sheep, &. Goats . Plate X.

TAMARAU (0 AND ANOA (2)

Pablished/ hyRffwland'War-d-LiJ.

Tamarau 129

what incurved ; those of cows slenderer and more widely separated at their
bases ; colour black. Hair less sparse than in th^ larger buffaloes, reversed
on the middle line of the back from the occiput to the haunches ; its
general colour ashy-black, but in some cases apparently dark brown ; a
triangular patch on the inner side of each eye, one or two spots on each
side of the lower jaw, the lower lip, in some cases a gorget (or a pair of
such) on the throat, the inner surface of the ears, a patch or band above
each hoof, and in some examples a larger irregular patch above this on the
front and inner side of either the front or both legs, whitish or grayish-
white. Head relatively shorter than in the Indian buffalo ; the ears
rather small, with a band on the inner margin fringed with long
brownish-white hairs.

In the exhibited example of this buffiilo in the British Museum the
white gorget on the throat is wanting, although present in the specimens
described and figured by Dr. Meyer. The gorget, when present, is
similar to the one on the throat of the small Bornean race of the Indian
buffalo, to which this species presents a considerable resemblance, although
its horns are shorter and more upright. In the direction of the horns,
as well as in the presence of one or two pairs of spots on the lower jaw,
the tamarau is, however, more like the anoa. By Dr. Jentink it has,
indeed, been suggested that the tamarau is a hybrid between the anoa and
the Indian buffalo. But, apart from other considerations, this would
imply the existence of the anoa in the Philippines, of which there is no
evidence either at the present time or in the past. And it may accordingly
be admitted that the tamarau is a perfectly distinct form ; although
whether it should best be regarded as an aberrant race of the Indian
buffalo or as a species by itself may perhaps admit of argument.

Distribution. — The island of Mindoro, situated on the western side of
the Philippine group, between Palawan and Calamianes on the south and

Luzon on the north.

130 Oxen

In this place it may be well to mention that two other buffaloes have
been described from the Philippines. The first of these is the Biibalus
mainitensis, of Heude,^ from the island of Mindanao, at the south-eastern
corner of the group ; but since its describer himself states that " ce hiijfle est
actiiellement cntiercmcnt domest'iqiic^' its claim to rank as a species cannot,
for the present at least, be admitted.

The second, which is reputed to come from the island of Busuanga,
in the Calamianes sub-group, has been named by Dr. Nehring B.
moellendorji} But a gentleman who has resided for a long period in the
Calamianes informed Dr. Meyer" that there are no wild buffalo on any
of the islands of that group.

Habits. — ^The tamarau seems to be distributed all over Mindoro,
although chiefly found in the neighbourhood of marshes and near the
mouths of the rivers. Professor Steere, by whom the British Museum
specimen was procured, gives the following account : ^ — " The animals are
buffalo-like in habits ; they come out upon the sandy reaches of the rivers
at night to fight and to escape the insects, and gather together in bands of
some size. They separate by day, going two or three together, or solitarily,
into the low bottoms at the back of the streams, feeding on the wild sugar-
cane, and making their way to the little forest streams and pools, in which
they bathe in the water and the mud like the buffaloes. The domestic
buffilo, the only beast of burden here, has escaped from its owners in the
island of Mindoro in large numbers, and is now found wild, and is called
cimmarone. The tamarau and these come into frequent conflict ; the
tamarau being said to attack the buffaloes at first sight, and, though much
smaller, being quicker and stronger, to drive the buffaloes back."

Mr. J. Whitehead, in a letter to Mr. O. Thomas, furnishes the following

1 Mem. Hist. Nat. Etnp. Clnnois, vol. ii. p. 205 (1S94), iii. p. 45, pi. x. (1896).

- SB. Gcs. uatiirf. Berlin, 1894, p. 185.

^ Op. lit. p. 13.

■• Owing either to a misprint or an error, the animal is termed the " tamaroii " in the original.

Anoa 131

additional particulars: — "This interesting little bovine is not uncommon
in the huge virgin forests that cover nearly the entire island of Mindoro.
It is, however, difficult to hunt the animal successfully unless a number of
beaters, accompanied by good dogs, are employed. I foolishly employed a
professional native hunter tor several days ; but, although we found a
number of fresh tracks, we never saw a sign of a tamarau. The tamarau,
as the natives name this animal, is also found high up on the mountains.
I have seen regular tunnelled pathways through the thick bamboo under-
growth which covers the mountain-sides above 6000 feet. But the animal
is so small that one has to bend double or go on one's hands and knees,
making it quite impossible to follow up the tracks. On moonlight nights
the tamarau might be heard bellowing on the mountain-side, generally far
away and above my camp. The aboriginals of Mindoro told me that they
never attack the tamarau, being too much afraid of it ; the only reduction
of its numbers is caused by a few sporting Spaniards and one or two
professional Indian hunters."

6. The Anoa, or Celebes Buffalo — Bos depressicornis

Antilope [Anoa) depresskorms^ H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom.,
vol. iv. p. 293, V. p. 1^^^ (1827).

Bos [Anoa) depressicornis. Gray, Spied. Zool. p. 12 (1828).

Antilope depressicornis, Quoy and Gaimard, Ann. Sci. Nat. vol. xvii.
p. 623 (1829), Voyage de F Astrolabe — Zool. vol. i. p. 136 (1830).

Anoa depressicornis, Swainson, Classif. Quadrupeds, p. 286 (1835) ; Gray,
List. Mamm. Brit. Mus. p. 153 (1843), ^^^^- Vngulata Brit. Mus. p. 29
(1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 13 (1872); Sundevall, K. Svenska
Vet. Ak. Hand I. for 1844, p. 148 (1846) ; Heller, Der Urbuffel, etc., p. 5
(1889); Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 281 (1896).

Antilope (Taurotragus) depressicornis, Wagner, in Schreber's Saugethiere,
vol. iv. p. 539 (1844).

I ^2

Oxen

Bidmliis ikpresslconiis. Turner, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1850, p. 178 ; Flower
and Garson, Cat. Osteol. Mus. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 228 (1884).

Prohiibalus cc/cbc/isis, Riitimeyer, Verhandl. Ges. Basel, ser. 2, vol. iv.
p. 334 (1865), Doikschr. schweiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 52 (1867).

Buhalus [A)ioa) depressicorms, Riitimeyer, Denkschr. sc/iweiz. Ges. vol.
xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 26 (1867); Hoffmann,^/;//. Mas. Dresden, 1887, No.
3, p. 26.

Vrobuhalus [Anoa] celehensis, Riitimever, Ahh. scfnverz. pal. Ges. vol. v.
p. 189 (1878).

Bos depressicornis, Brehm, Tierleben — Sdiigethiere, vol. iii. p. 448 (1891) ;
Flower and Lydekker, 5Wy of Mammals, p. 361 (1891) ; W. L. Sclater,
Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mas. pt. ii. p. 130 (1891).

Plate X. Fig. 2.

Characters. — Size verv small, the height at the shoulder being about
3 feet 3 inches ; limbs rather short, body plump, neck thick, and withers
rather higher than the hind-quarters. Horns ot male of moderate length,
arising far below the plane of the occiput, ringed and triangular at the base,
nearly straight, and directed upwards and outwards nearly in the plane of
the forehead, with the tips sharply pointed. Ears small, well haired at
the bases, but becoming almost naked at the tips, and with a tuft of long
white hair on the inner side. Tail reaching about to the hocks. In
young animals the skin ot the body covered thickly with somewhat woolly
hair, which becomes gradually more and more sparse with advancing age,
until in old individuals it is almost completely bare ; hair of middle line of
back reversed from the occiput to the haunches, as in the Indian buffalo
and tamarau. In young animals the general colour of the hair yellowish-
brown ; in adults the colour varving from dark brown to blackish, often
with white spots in front of the lateral hoofs, on the throat, the hinder part

Anoa

of the neck, the back, in front of the eyes, and on the sides of the lower
jaw, while the inner sides of the cannon-bones may also be white, as are
the inner surfaces of the ears ; under-parts generally light brown. Old bulls
from which the hair has almost disappeared have the skin as black as in
the Indian buftalo. In the lower jaw there are frequently only two lower
premolar teeth, although there may be three of these teeth, as in almost
all other Bovuiie. Although the occipital surface has not the prominent

Fig. 26. — Head of Bull Aiioa, from a living specimen. (Rowland Ward, Reiords of Bis; Game.)

crest found in adults ot the larger buffaloes, when compared with that of a
young Indian buffalo the skull is almost identical, the resemblance being
carried even to the continuation of the vomer as far back as the hinder
margin of the palate. As in the tamarau and other buffiloes, the number
of pairs of ribs is usually thirteen, although one instance of the presence of
fourteen pairs has been recorded by Dr. Heller.

The difference between an anoa skull and that of an adult Indian
buffalo is probably in part due to the inferiority in the size of the present
species, since it is an established fact that the smaller representatives of a
group tend to retain the generalised features of the ancestral type which

134 Oxen

become lost in the adults of the larger kinds. It has been uro;ed that the
anoa exhibits many traits of affinity with the antelopes ; among these
being the comparatively straight form of the horns and the frequent
presence of the white spots on the sides of the head and sometimes on
other parts of the body. The animal is, however, evidently very closely
allied to the tamarau, and has probably become dwarfed by its island
habitat and the length at time during which it has been separated from its
kindred. So that although the anoa is probably to a certain extent a
primitive type, some ot its generalised features may be due to degeneration.
With regard to the two spots frequently developed on the sides of the
lower jaw, the antelopes in which similar spots occur are the kudus [St/rp-
siccros) and harnessed antelopes [Triigc/aphus) ; but since these antelopes
have cheek-teeth quite different in structure from those of the anoa, it
seems very doubtful if the spots in the latter can be regarded as
indicative of affinity with antelopes. As mentioned above, the tamarau
frequently exhibits similar spots in front of the eyes. In the very general
loss of the first lower premolar tooth the anoa is decidedly more specialised
than other buffiiloes. In the short and sparse hair of the adult, the broad
and naked moist muzzle, and the barrel-like form of the body, as well as
by its peculiarly bovine odour, its partiality for water and shade, and like-
wise in its habit of drinking by long draughts instead of in short gulps, the
anoa is essentially a buffalo.

It was considered by the late Professor Riitimeyer that tlie anoa is the
species which comes nearest to the under-mentioned extinct Siwalik
bovines, but Dr. Heller has pointed out that it is really the tamarau which
makes the nearest approach in this respect, and he is of the same opinion
as myself in considering that many of the peculiarities of the Celebes animal
are due to degeneration.

The following dimensions of anoa horns are given in Mr. Rowland
Ward's Records of Big Gdiiic : —

Anoa 135

Length along
Outer Curve.

15^

I2|

Ili

Basal
Circumference,

Tip to Tip.

7i ^, 7i

6 6i

6i 8|

5l 7i

si 5&

84 H

Of these the first and largest example is in the Paris Museum, while
the three following specimens are in the British Museum.

Distribution. — The island of Celebes. The sapi-utan (wood-ox), as the
anoa, in common with other members of the ox-tribe, is called by the
Malays, is the most eastern representative of the Bovida ; and, as has been
pointed out in the Deer of all La/uh, its presence in Celebes affords one of
the strongest arguments, for regarding that remarkable island as torming a
part of the Oriental region, instead of pertaining to the Australasian region.
Habits. — By reason of its shy and retiring habits, very little is known in
regard to the anoa in a wild state. It has, however, been ascertained that
it inhabits elevated woodland districts, where it goes about in pairs ; being
in the latter respect quite unlike the larger buffaloes. It always frequents
localities far from the haunts of men, and is partial to the neighbourhood
of water. From captive individuals it has been ascertained that the period
of gestation is thirty weeks. The fiesh, especially that of calves, is tender
and well flavoured, and therefore much sought after. Its favourite pace is
a kind of trot, but it occasionally leaps in a clumsy sort of manner. In
captivity the bulls frequently display a pugnacious and spiteful disposition ;
and it was found necessary to put knobs on the horns of a bull kept at
Woburn Abbey.

The first specimen exhibited in captivity of which there is any record
was in the Viceregal Menagerie at Barrackpore, near Calcutta, where it
was described in 1816 by General Hardwicke.

136 Oxen

Two males were subsequently brought to Paris by MM. Quoy and
Gaimard, one of which was exchanged in i 845 with the Earl of Derby for
an eland. It lived but a short period at Knowsley. In 1863 the Zoological
Gardens at Rotterdam received a male anoa ; and from that date there has
been a continuous succession of these rare and interesting little bovines
at that establishment. Between 1863 and 1889 the Rotterdam Gardens
have possessed no less than eighteen examples, of which ten were bulls and
eight cows, three having been born in the Gardens. From Rotterdam the
London Zoological Gardens purchased a young male in 1871, and they
acquired by exchange a female in 1880. Specimens have been exhibited
in other public menageries, and at the present time there is a pair living
at Woburn Abbey.

7. ThK SiWALIK TaMARAI" Bos TKIcrt'ETRICORNIS [Exti>ict)

Prohiihd/iis siviilensis, Rutimever, Ver/i. Ges. Basely ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 334
(1865), no description, Denkschr. sc/nceiz. Gcs. vol. xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 5
(1867).

Bubalus [Hcniihos) triquctricornis, Riitimeyer, Dcnksc/ir. fc/iwe/'z. Gcs. vol.
xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 23 (1867).

(?) Bos occipitalis. Falconer, Pal. Mem. vol. i. p. 280 (1868) ; Lydekker,
Horns and Hoofs, p. 48 (1893).

Hemibos triquetriccros. Falconer and Cautley, in Falconer's Pal. Mem.
vol. i. p. 546 (1868) ; Lydekker, Pal. hui. {Mem. Geol. Si/rv. Iml.), ser. 10,
vol. i. p. 145 (1878).

(?) Perihos occipitalis, Lydekker, Pal. hid. [Mem. Geol. Siirv. Lid.), ser.
10, vol. i. p. 141 (1878).

Prohubahis [Hemibos') triquetricornis, Riitimeyer, Abb. scbice/z. pal. Ges.
vol. V. p. 122 (1878).

Probubaliis triquetricornis, Riitimeyer, op. cit. p. 189 (1878).

Falconer's Tamarau 137

(?) Hcmihos occipitalis, Lydekker, Pal. Iiid. [Mem. Gcol. Si/rv. Iiul.),
ser. 10, vol. i. p. 174 (1880).

(?) Bubalus occipitalis, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Miis. pt. ii.
p. 30 (1885).

Characters. — Nearly allied to the next species, but the horn-cores rising
from a more prominent frontal ridge, sloping more away from the plane of
the forehead, and their proper front surface directed more towards the
frontal aspect, being thus more like the tamarau. In the typical form the
horn-cores are markedly triangular, but in the specimens described under
the name oi" occipitalis the front outer angle is rounded off, so as to give
a pyriform section, and the tips are curved forwards. By the late Professor
Riitimeyer these two variations were not considered worthy of specific
separation, the second being distinguished as the troclioceros form.

Distribution. — Northern India during the Pliocene period.

8. Falconer's Tamarau — Bos acuticornis [Extinct)

Amphihos acuticornis, Riitimeyer, Vcrh. Gcs. Basel, ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 331
(1865), no description, Abli. scliuYiz. pal Ges. vol. v. p. 147 (1878) ;
Falconer and Cautley in Falconer's Pal. Men/, vol. i. p. 547 (1868).

Probuhalus acuticornis, Riitimeyer, Verb. Ges. Basel, ser. 2, vol. iv.
p. 334 (1865), no description, Denkschr. scbweiz. Ges. vol. xxii. part 2,
art. 3, p. 52 (1867).

Bubalus [Aniphibos) acuticornis, Riitimeyer, Denkschr. schweiz. Ges. vol.
xxii. part 2, art. 3, p. 29 (1867).

Hemibos acuticornis, Lydekker, Pal. hul. {Mem. Gcol. Surv. Iml.), ser. 10,
vol. i. p. 176 (1880).

Bubalus acuticornis, Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus. part ii.
P-33 (1885).

■38

Oxen

Bos aci/ticor/i/s, Lydekker, Horns and Hoofs ^ p. 48 (1893).

Characters. — Size apparently much the same as in the tamarau, but the
horns longer. Skull generally like that of the tamarau, but the horn-cores
more distinctly triangular in section, with their front outer angle brought

Fig. 27. — Skull and horn-cores of Falconer's Tamarau. Restored from a specimen in the

British Museum.

much more on to the frontal aspect of the skull, and the proper frontal surface
of the horn-cores consequently directed to a great extent upwards, instead
ot almost immediately forwards. Horn-cores long, pointed, and directed
upwards and outwards, with the front outer angle forming a sub-spiral
curve arising at its base near the middle line of the horn-cores, as seen
from the front.

Musk-Oxen

The following are the dimensions of the figured specimen : —

Width of skull beneath horn-cores

Length of horn-cores along greater curve

Interval between tips

Diameter ot inner surface of base of horn-core

Basal girth of horn-core .

Interval between bases of horn-cores
Distri/mtion. — Northern India during the Pliocene epoch

33i

Incert^ Sedis

Anoa sa/iteng, Dubois, Nat. Tijd. Nederl. hid. vol. li. pt. i , p. 96 (i 89 i) ;
Jentink, Notes Leyden Mas. vol. xiii. p. 220 (1891).

Named on the evidence of an unfigured and insufficiently described
skull obtained from the superficial deposits of Java, and said by its
describer to indicate an animal allied to the anoa of Celebes, which
may still be living in the island. The evidence is considered insufficient
by Dr. fentink.

II. The Musk-Oxen — Genus Ovibos

Ovibos, De Blainville, Bi/i/. Soc. Philoiu. Paris, i 8 i 6, p. 76 ; Gray, Cat.
Ungiilata Brit. Miis. p. 42 (1852) ; Riitimeyer, Ahhand. schwciz. pa/. Ges.
vol. V. p. 103 (1878) ; P. Thomas, Rul/. Soc. Zool. France, 1881, p. 25 ;
Rhoads, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, 1895, p. 242 ; Matschie, SB. Ges. naturf.
Berlin, 1898, p. 30.

Bootheriiim, Leidy, Proc. Acad. Philadelphia, vol. vi. p. 71 (1851).

Characters. — Size medium ; build stout and clumsy ; the neck short,
and the head carried only slightly above the level ot the back ; no dewlap.
Extremity ot muzzle moderately broad, and, except for a narrow strip on
the inner margins of the nostrils, and a triangular patch where these two

140 Musk-Oxen

lines converge interiorly, covered with short fine hair ; no glands on the
fiice ; probably two teats in the female;^ ears short and thickly haired;
tail verv short and rudimentary, entirely concealed amid the long hair
of the hind-quarters ; main hoofs large, flattened, broad, and slightly
unsymmetrical, the outer one being more rounded and the inner one more
pointed ; lateral hoofs also large ; under surface of ieet partially covered
with hair between the hoofs. Plorns present in both sexes, much larger
in the male than in the female ; those of the former more or less approxi-
mated at the bases, arising close to the occiput, and when adult extending
nearly to the sockets of the eyes, expanded and flattened at the bases, where
they are marked by coarse longitudinal groovings, at the tips smoother,
their curvature outwards, or outwards and then downwards at first ; those
of female always widely separated at the bases, situated midway between
the occiput and the upper border of the sockets ot the eyes, so as to leave a
broad parietal zone above them, nearly cylindrical throughout the greater
part ot their length. Pelage long and shaggy ; and general coloration
nearly unitorm. Upper molar teeth with tall but comparatively narrow
crowns, on the inner side of which there is no distinct additional column.
Skull without either pits or fissures below the eyes ; the sockets of the
eyes greatly produced and tube-like ; the premaxilUr separated from the
nasal bones, which are short and wide ; and a distinct, broad parietal zone
on the anterior aspect above the frontal bones. Cannon-bones short and
stout, as in the oxen.

In young musk-oxen the horns are in the form of simple spikes
growing straight out from the sides of the head, and widely separated at
their bases on the forehead, which is thickly haired.

The true relationships of the musk-oxen are still tar from clearly
ascertained. At one time they were regarded as intermediate between the
oxen and the sheep, while at a later period thev were considered to be

' I liave been unable to ascertain the luuiiher.

Characters 141

more nearly related to the latter, which they approach in the structure
of their molar teeth and hairy muzzles. The rudimentary condition of
the tail, which is shorter than in any ot the sheep, widely separates them
from the oxen ; but, on the other hand, their short and wide cannon-bones
are similar to those of the latter animals and quite different to the corre-
sponding bones ot the sheep and goats. From the study of fossil forms
Mr. Rhoads has been led to suggest the existence of a transition between
the musk-oxen and the bison, but the structure of the molar teeth and
the rudimentary tail seem to negative any near relationship between the
two groups. Some years ago Prof A. Milne-Edwards suggested an
affinity between the present genus and the Tibetan takin [Biukjicas), and
the two genera were subsequently placed in juxtaposition by the late
Prof RUtimeyer. The idea of this latter relationship has recently been
developed by Dr. Matschie, who regards the two genera as forming a
sub-family by themselves, the Ovibovina. As indications of their mutual
affinity, he notices the short and broad front cannon-bones, the structure
of the skull and form of the horns, the small ears, the hairv muzzle,
the short tail, the clumsy main hoofs, and the large size of the lateral
pair.

As regards the horns, the structure of the sheaths is quite different in
the two, and I cannot see that such resemblance as exists in their form
and curvature is likely to be anything more than superficial. The skull
of Budorcas lacks the projecting tubular orbits of the musk-oxen.
The form ot the cannon-bones equally affiliates the present genus to
the oxen ; and the characters of the ears, tail, and hoofs I cannot regard
as of much classificatory value.

Mr. Blanford has placed Budorcas in the neighbourhood of the serows
[Nemor/uediis)^ and at present I fail to see any sufficient reason for departing
from this arrangement. This leaves Ovibos without any near existing
relatives, and since palaeontology throws no light on the subject, it must

142.

Musk-Oxen

apparently be regarded as a more or less isolated and specialised type, with
some affinity to the sheep.

Distrihi/tioii. — The central and northern parts of the Holarctic region,
to the northern portion of the western half of which it is restricted at
the present day.

I. The Greenland Musk-Ox — Ovibos moschatus

.v^*^

Bos moschatus, Zimmermann, Gcograph. Gcschichtc, vol. ii. p. 86 (17H0) ;
Huet, Bi/l/. Soc. Acclim. Paris, vol. xxxviii. p. 346 (1891).

Ovihos woschattis, De Blainville, Bull. Soc. Philom. Paris, 18 16, p. 76;

Desmarest, Mammalogic, vol. ii. p. 492
■^^^-'f'*\ 1, (1822); H. Smith, in Griffith's .-/wW/

Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 373 (1827) ;
"^. Richardson, Fauna Bor. Amcr. p. 275

"^ ^ (1829) ; Ogilby, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1836,

p. 137 ; Grav, List Mamw. Brit. Mus.
p. 153 (1843), Cat. Uiigulata Brit.
Mus. p. 43 (1852), Cat. Rumimiuts
Brit. Mus. p. 32 (1872) ; Dawkins,
Brit. Pleist. Mamm. pt. v. {Pal. Soc.
1872), Quart. Journ. Gcol. Soc. vol.
'^i-fW-' xxxix. p. 575 (1883); Lydekker, CV/A

Fig. 28.— Head of male Greenland Musk-Ox. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mus. pt. ii. p. 38
(Rowland Ward, Records of Bie dime.) / nn \ -nt rr 1 ,■ r,i-

^ -^ * ' (1885); Newton, Fcrteljrata of Pliocem'

Deposits of Britain [Mem. Gcol. Surv. United Kingdom), p. 22 (1891);
Feilden, Zoologist, ser. 3, vol. xix. p. 41 (1893) ; Ward, Records of Big
Game, p. 260 (1896).

Ovd)os pallantis, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom, vol. iv. p. ^^75
(1827).

Wild Oxen, Sheep^c Goats. Plate XI.

^^«(^

MUSK— OX.

Failished, byRowlaniWofd-Ltd.

Greenland Musk-Ox 143

Bos pi///as/\ De Kay, y^////. Lye. Neiv Tori, vol. ii. p. 29 (1828), m'C
Baer, 1823.

Bos canaliciilatiis., Fischer, Mem. Acad. Moscou, vol. iii. p. 287 (1834).

Bubaliis inoschatiis, Owen, Qjjiirt. "Joiini. Geo/. Soc. vol. xii. p. 124
(1856).

Plate XI.

Characters. — Height of male at shoulder from about 4 teet to 4 feet
2 inches. Head short and blunt, with a slightly convex profile. Horns
of male enormously expanded and flattened at the base, separated trom
one another merely by a narrow strip ot skin covered with short hair ;
curvature at first outwards, then downwards and slightly backwards, and
finally upwards and a little forwards, their tips terminating in the plane
of the eyes ; in colour pale yellowish-olive at the bases, but black at the
tips, which are quite smooth and cylindrical. Horns of female with the
same general curvature. The greater part ot the head and body covered
with a dense coat of long and coarse hair, which is curly and somewhat
matted at the shoulders, but elsewhere long and straight, hanging down
on the flanks to below the level of the knees and hocks ; on the neck and
withers it forms a kind of matted mane, the forehead has a distinct tutt,
and there is a long fringe on the chin, throat, and chest, although no dew-
lap is developed ; on the muzzle and lower portion ot the limbs, as well
as on the strip of skin between the horns, shorter and finer than elsewhere ;
a soft woolly under-fur at the bases of the longer hairs which is shed in
summer. General colour of pelage very dark brown, becoming still darker
or even blackish on the forehead, the throat-fringe, and the sides of the
body ; a saddle-shaped patch of matted hair on the middle of the back,
as well as the short hair between the horns, on the muzzle, and on the
limbs below the knees and hocks, butTish or yellowish-white.

There is no evidence that the musky odour to which the animal owes

1 44 Musk-Oxen

its name is the secretion of any special scent-gland, but further details
of" its anatomy are required before this can be regarded as definitely
ascertained.

The following dimensions of horns are recorded by Mr. Rowland

Ward :—

Length along

Width of Basal

Tip to Tip.

Locality.

Outer Curve.

Expansion.

29f

^ll

I2i

N. America

26|

N. Canada

26|

I2f

N. America

261

i3i

27g

24I

25i

N. Canada

loi

N. America

23i

2 2|

i9i

Grinneli-land.

Good horns of females measure between 18 and 19 inches along the
outer curvature, with a basal expansion of about 4 inches.

Distribution. — At the present day Arctic America, eastwards of the
Mackenzie river and northwards of the 60th parallel through Parry
Islands and Grinnell-land (lat. 82" 27') to the north of Greenland, on the
western coast of which it extends as far south as Melville Bay, and on the
eastern coast to Sabine Island. Unknown in Spitzbergen or Franz Joseph
Land, as it is in Alaska, although it formerly extended at least as far as
Eschscholtz Bay. During the Plistocene period a large part of Europe
and Northern Asia, ranging as far as the Alps and Pyrenees.

Colonel Feilden states that at the present day the distributional area of
the musk-ox includes about two-thirds of the coast-line of Greenland.
He concludes that the advent of the animal in that country has been from
the westward, and that the progenitors of the herds now living on the east
coast rounded the north of Greenland and spread southwards until they

Greenland Musk-Ox 145

encountered some physical obstacle, such as the glaciers of Cape Farewell,
capable ot barring their further progress. Probably the same has been the
case also on the western coast, where the great glaciers debouching into
Melville Bay would appear to have set a limit to the wanderings of the
animal in this direction. "The distribution ot the musk-ox along the
shores ot Greenland," continues the same writer, " covers an immense
coast-line ; we have traced it from Polaris Bay, on the north-west side of
Greenland, from about 8i" north to Independence Bay on the north-east
coast in about the same latitude, and from there as far south as the seventieth
parallel. On the east coast of Greenland the range of the musk-ox in a
line drawn over the map from north to south embraces at least 700
geographical miles."

The British Museum possesses skulls of the existing musk-ox from the
frozen superficial deposits of Eschscholtz Bay, Alaska, found in company
with those of the Plistocene bison and the mammoth.

The Russian naturalist Pallas discovered two skulls of the musk-ox in
the superficial deposits of Northern Asia, one on the banks of the Obi, and
the other farther north in the Siberian tundra. It was these specimens
that were mentioned by Holl as Bos moschatiis^ and much later on by De
Kay as Bos pallasi. Subsequently other remains were discovered by the
late Prof. Lartet in Perigord, in association with remains of man, the
reindeer, and the bison. They have also been found in various parts of
Central Europe, notably near Ulm, in Wlirtemberg, in association with
bones of the reindeer, the mammoth, and the woolly rhinoceros. Similar
remains have been disinterred from the Plistocene gravels of several districts
of England, such as those of Maidenhead, Bromley, Freshfield near Bath,
and Barnwood near Gloucester, as well as from the brick-earths of the
Thames Valley at Crayford in Kent. In 1883 Mr. W. B. Dawkins described
the imperfect skull of a musk-ox found at Triniingham which there seems
every probability was derived from the Norfolk forest-bed, forming the

146 Musk-Oxen

base of the Plistocene deposits, and antedating the glacial epoch. A
second specimen, described by the same author and preserved in the
Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge, is believed to have had a similar
origin, although dredged from the bed of the North Sea.

Habits. — The musk-ox has, I believe, never been brought alive to
Europe, and indeed would probably be unable to withstand transportation
from its icy home to more genial climates ; naturalists are therefore
compelled to rely exclusively on the accounts of its habits given by
explorers and sportsmen, like Colonel Feilden and Mr. Warburton Pike,
who have seen the animal in its native haunts. Musk-oxen associate in
herds numbering from about twentv or thirtv to as manv as eightv or a
hundred head. The herds appear to be largest in winter, the big bulls
during the summer being for the most part solitarv, and the herds
consisting of cows and calves which go about in small bands of from ten to
twenty. The movements of the herds are described by Colonel Feilden as
very sheep-like, the old bulls, when present, taking the lead, and the whole
assemblage crowding together when alarmed, much after the manner of a
flock ot sheep. The single calt is produced in May or fune, and the cows
are reported by the natives to breed only once in two years, so that the
rate of increase is slow. In summer their food, according to Mr. Pike, con-
sists almost exclusively of the leaves of the small willows scattered here and
there over the Barren Grounds ; hut grass, moss, and lichens are also largely
consumed, and in winter these two last, with perhaps bark, must form the
sole nutriment. To obtain lichens and moss the snow is scraped away to
a great extent by the hoots, which trom their shape are admirably adapted
tor this purpose, as they are for climbing rocky ridges. The horns are,
however, also said to be brought into use for clearing away snow. By the
end ot the short northern summer musk-oxen have generally fed themselves
up into prime condition, but in April, when thev are flrst hunted by the
natives of the Barren Grounds, they are miserably thin. Although it has

Greenland Musk-Ox 147

been reported that in winter the musk-oxen on the mainhmd come south
to the wooded districts, this, according to Mr. Pike, is an error.

In spite of their comparatively short and massive limbs, musk-oxen can
run with considerable speed ; and when thoroughly alarmed they are stated
to take to hilly ground, where they display marvellous agility in climbing
precipitous cliffs. Where they have not been much molested, and
especially when iar away from water, the herds may be approached with-
out difficulty, and the sport of shooting is consequently comparatively tame.
In spite of stories to the opposite effect told by the Indians, Mr. Pike is of
opinion that even old bulls are by no means dangerous animals ; and even
when wounded they seldom, if ever, charge. Although the flesh of old
bulls is rank and musky in the extreme, that of cows in good condition is
stated to be palatable enough ; calves, however, afford but an insipid and
unsatisfying food.

The skins of musk-oxen are largely used in Canada for sleigh-rugs, and
since the extermination of the bison the demand for, and the price of these
"robes," as they are termed, has considerably increased. In 1891 the
Hudson Bay Company sold 1358 of these skins at prices varying from six
shillings to six pounds apiece. To procure the skins, hunting parties are
organised by the Canadian Indians, and large numbers of the animals slain.
In winter the herds are rounded up with dogs, and wholesale slaughter
takes place. In summer, according to Mr. Pike, no dogs are used, but the
animals are driven into the waters of some small lake, upon which canoes
are launched and the whole band quickly exterminated, the animal being
but a poor swimmer, and apparently finding considerable difficulty in
keeping its head above water.

Mr. Caspar Whitney, who is also one of those who have successfully
hunted the musk-ox, writes that, in general, Indian dogs, strange as it may
seem, are not of much use in the pursuit. " Theirs is a craven nature,
and but tor the urgency imparted by the pangs of hunger, they would be of

148 Musk-Oxen

little use in bringing the musk-cattle to bay. . . ■ The musk-ox usually
stops when wounded, and shows little inclination to go on ; and, as a rule,
they will stand until the last one has been killed, narrowing their circle as
their numbers diminish." When attacked by their great enemy the wolf,
thev also form a circle, with the calves in the middle, and the lowered
heads of the adults facing the enemy.

In spite of the wholesale slaughter, Mr. Pike is of opinion that even on
the mainland the musk-ox stands in little, it any danger of impending
extermination. Even on the most frequented hunting-grounds it is still
met with in vast numbers, and all these tracts are situated only on the
extreme verge of the musk-ox country, which extends to the desolate
regions bordering the Arctic Ocean, where only a few Eskimo eke out an
existence near the coast. This impenetrable country probablv serves there-
fore as a feeder to the hunted districts farther south.

2. Harlan's Musk-Ox — Ovibos bombifrons {Extinct)

Bos bombifrons^ Harlan, Fauna Americana^ p. 271 (1825).

Boot/icriiiin bombifrons, Leidv, Proc. Acad. Pbibniclpbia, vol. vi. p. 71
(1852).

Boot her in ni cavifrons, Leidy, /^r. cit. (1852).

Ovibos priscns, Riitimeyer, Fiv//. Gcs. B^/jv/, ser. 2, vol. iv. p. 32H (1865).

Ovibos bombifrons, Dawkins, Qnart. Jonrn. Geo/. Soc. vol. xxxix. p. 577
(1883) ; Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mns. pt. ii. p. 39 (1885).

Ovibos cavifrons, Dawkins, loc. cit. (188:;) ; Lydekker, op. cit. p. 40
(1885) ; M'Gee, Amer. yourn. Science, ser. 3, vol. xxxiv. p. 217 (1887).

Characters. — Horn-cores of male directed mainly outwards and some-
what downwards at the tips, without the close approximation to the sides
of the skull characteristic of the existing species ; their bases much less
expanded than in the latter, and apparently less approximated in the middle

Sheep 149

line, possibly also smoother. In the female cylindrical and rugose, with
an outward direction, so as to torm a regular curve with the convexity in
front.

The small skull described as Boothcrium bombifroiis is, I think, rightly
identified by Mr. Boyd Dawkins as indicating the female of the animal of
which the male is represented by the skull subsequently named B. cavifi-ons.
In the latter the centre ot the forehead is deeply excavated and the bases
cjt the horn-cores are nearly smooth, but (judging from the cast in the
British Museum) it appears that these features are largely due to injury
or imperfection, as may also be the relations of the frontal plane to that of
the sockets of the eyes.

As regards the curvature of the horns, this species would seem to be
less specialised than the last, thereby suggesting an American origin for
the genus.

Distribution. — North America during the Plistocene period ; the skull
described as Bodthertu»i bombifrons was obtained from Kentucky, and the
one named B. cavifrons from Arkansas.

III. The Sheep — Genus Ovis

Ow-f, Linn. Svst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 97 (1766).

Characters. — Size medium or small ; build of moderate stoutness, with
the limbs rather long and slender ; neck of moderate depth and length,
and the head carried well above the level of the back ; no dewlap.
Muzzle narrow, pointed, and covered with short fine hair, save for a
small naked area immediately above and between the nostrils ; glands
invariably present between the hoofs of both feet, and frequently also on
the face below the eyes ; two teats in the female ; no beard or strong
odour in the males ; ears moderate, upright, pointed, and well haired ;
tail in all wild species except one short and pointed ; main hoofs

ISO

Sheei

symmetrical, rather small, narrow, and upright ; lateral hoofs also small.
Both sexes generally provided with horns, which are large and spreading
in the males, but, except in one case, small and upright in the females ;
those of males directed at first outwardly trom the sides of the head, with
the upper border convex at starting, and then generally torming a circular
or spiral curve, with the tips pointing outwards; in section generally more
or less distinctly triangular, and the surface, of which the colour is usually
some shade of yellowish-olive or brown, in most cases marked by fine
parallel transverse wrinkles. Pelage usually consisting of close, short,
stiff hair, which may be elongated into a ruff on the chest and throat, and
in one instance is long and shaggy on the whole of the throat, chest, and
front surface of the fore-limbs ; coloration usually some shade of rufous,
brown, or tawny, becoming lighter on the under-parts, and in some cases
with blackish markings between the dark and light areas and on the limbs.
Upper molar teeth with tall, narrow crowns, on the inner side of which
there is no additional small column comparable to that of the oxen. When
face-glands are developed, the skull has shallow pits below the eyes for
their reception, but only very small unossified vacuities. Cannon-bones in
both limbs relatively long and slender, and thus quite unlike those of
either the oxen or the musk-ox.

As additional characters of the skeleton, it mav l^e mentioned that the
skull is broadest across the sockets of the eyes, which are fairly prominent
but not distinctly tubular ; below these it narrows suddenly, and thence
tapers gradually to the muzzle ; the planes of the forehead and the occiput
(the latter of which includes the parietal bones) meet one another nearly
at a right angle, the true occiput being almost flat.

Although very closely connected with the goats, the relationship of
the sheep to other members of the family Bovidie is still very obscure.
They appear to be an essentially modern group, possibly even of later
origin than the oxen, as it is doubtful whether they are represented in the

Characters 1 5 1

Siwalik deposits of India, where remains of the hitter are abundant. That
they have no intimate rehitionship with the oxen, may be considered tairly
certain ; and it seems more than doubtful if they have any very near
kinship with the musk-oxen, trom which they differ markedly in the
structure of the horns and in the form of the cannon-bones. Antelopes, so
far as our present knowledge goes, are among the oldest of the hollow-
horned ruminants, and since the gazelles and their allies have molar teeth
of the same general structure as those of the sheep, it is possible that
the latter may be a specialised offshoot from the ancestral stock of the
former.

From the point of view of the systematic naturalist sheep form an
excessively difficult group to deal with. In the first place, several of the
local forms are so similar to one another that it is almost impossible to
decide whether they should be regarded as species or races. And, in the
second place, the more aberrant members of the group exhibit so many
characters common to the goats that it becomes a question whether, on the
one hand, it would not be advisable to include both sheep and goats in a
single genus, or whether, on the other, the sheep themselves might not be
divided into at least three genera. As a compromise, three distinct sub-
genera, or groups, of wild sheep are here recognised. In addition to these,
the various breeds of domestic sheep {Ov/s arics), which form the type of
the whole genus, are perhaps entitled to constitute a fourth and typical
group. Here it may be mentioned that the ancestral form of these
domestic breeds, which differ from all the wild species save the arui by
the length of the tail, is at present totally unknown, so that no detailed
mention of the typical group is made in the present work. The woolly
character of the pelage, which forms such a marked feature in the European
breeds of sheep, might seem another feature distinguishing all the domesti-
cated kinds from the wild species. This, however, is not the case, since
many of the domesticated breeds belonging to less civilised tribes, like

152 Sheep

several of those of Africa, have more or less distinctly hairy coats ; and it
is stated that this type of pelage tends to reappear in the woolly breeds of
domesticated sheep which have run wild.

" Sheep," writes Darwin in liis Animals and Plants under Domestication,
" have been domesticated from a very ancient period. Riitimeyer found in
the Swiss lake-dwellings the remains of a small breed, with tiiin, tall legs,
and horns like those of a goat, thus differing somewhat from any kind now
known. Almost every country has its own peculiar breed ; and many
countries have several breeds differing greatly from each other. One of
the most strongly marked races is an Eastern one with a long tail, includ-
ing, according to Pallas, twenty vertebra-, and so loaded with hit that it is
sometimes placed on a truck, which is dragged about by the living animal.
These sheep, though ranked by Fitzinger as a distinct aboriginal form,
bear in their drooping ears the stamp of long domestication. This is like-
wise the case witli those sheep which have two great masses of fat on the
rump, with the tail in a rudimentary condition. The Angola variety of
the lon<>--tailed race has curious masses ot fat on the back ot the head and
beneath the )aws. Mr. [Brian] Hodgson, in an admirable paper on the
sheep of the Himalaya, infers from the distribution ot the several races that
this caudal augmentation in most of its phases is an instance of degeneracy
in these pre-eminently Alpine animals. The horns present an endless
diversity in character, being not rarely absent, especially in the female
sex or, on the other hand, amounting to four or even eight in number.
The horns, when numerous, arise from a crest on the frontal bones, which
are elevated in a peculiar manner."

The important feature in this passage is Hodgson's theory that the
len"-th of the tail in the domesticated breeds is due to degeneracy. And if
this be true, and bearing in mind that the horns of many ot such breeds are
of the same o-eneral character as those of several members of the Caprovine
group, it is quite possible that the latter is really identical with the typical.

Distribution and Habits 15

or Ovine group. For the present, however, it seems preferable to allow
the former to stand as a subdivision of the genus.

Distribution. — The Holarctic and Sonoran regions, with one species just
impinging on the north-western frontier of the Oriental region. The
headquarters of the genus are the highlands of Central Asia, where there
occur two out of the three groups into which its wild members are divided.
In America there is but a single species, represented by a local race in
Kamschatka ; and North Africa has likewise only one species, which is,
however, very distinct from all the others. In most respects the distribu-
tion of the sheep is very similar to that of the genus CV/tv/j, especially in
having one peculiar type common to Eastern Asia and North America, but
it differs in the marked distinction of the African from the European form.
In a fossil state sheep are not definitely known previous to the epoch of the
Norfolk forest-bed, forming the earliest stage of the Plistocene epoch,
although there is some evidence that they may be represented in the
Indian Siwaliks.

Habits. — Sheep, like goats, are essentially mountain-dwellers, associ-
ating either in small parties or in large flocks, the latter of which are,
however, formed during the greater part of the year by ewes and young
rams alone, the old rams keeping apart. In Asia sheep generally
inhabit more open and undulating ground than that tenanted by goats,
and do not frequent precipitous cliH^s. The rams, more especially during
the pairing season, are extremely pugnacious animals, fighting by charging
one another from a considerable distance, and receiving the impact of the
charge on the forehead. In these contests the majority of the species do
not raise themselves on their hind-legs when butting, after the manner
of goats, although this is the case with the bharal, which is structurally
the most goat-like of the group. From the absence of any strong odour
in the males, the tiesh of all the species of wild sheep is of excellent
quality.

154 Sheep

i. Caprovine Group — Sub-Genus Caprovis

Caprovis, Hodgson, "Join-ii. As. Soc. Bc/igci/, vol. xvi. p. 702 (1847) ;
Gray, Cat. Ungii/aia Brit. Miis. p. 171 (1H52).

MiisiiNoii., Gray, K/ioicsAj Meihigerie., p. 36 (1850), iUit. Lhigii/ata Brit.
Mils. p. 172, as a sub-genus.

Argci/i., Gray, Kno-ics/cy Mouigcrie., p. "i^J (1850), Ciit. Vngii/ata Bnt.
Mils. p. 174 (1852), as a sub-genus.

Characters. — Horns of males forming a circular or spiral curve, strongly
angulated (at least when young), and with more or less distinct transverse
wrinkling. Face with small and indistinct glands, and depressions in the
skull below the eye-sockets for their reception. A clearly defined black
line between the fawn of the back and the light of the under-parts, and
distinct black markings on the tront of the limbs are frequently wanting,
although present in some species. No long fringe extending from the
throat to the fore-legs. Tail very short.

Distribution. — Coextensive with tliat of the genus, except in not
extending into Atrica.

I. The European Muflon — Ovis musimon

Mgoceros musimon., Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso.-Asiat. vol. i. p. 230 (181 i).

Oris mtisinon., H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom., vol. i\'. p. •522,
V. p. 360 (1827) ; Jardine, Naturalist' s Library — Mamm. vol. iv. p. 132
(1836).

Capra miismon., Fischer, Synop. Mamm. p. 488 (1829).

Ovis musimon occidentalism Brandt and Ratzeburg, Med. Zool. vol. i. p. 55
(.829).

Ovis musimon^ Wagner, in Schreber's Saiigetliiere, vol. iv. p. 242 (1844) ;
Gray, K/iowsley Menagerie, p. 36 (1850) ; Blasius, Saugetliiere Deutsclilands.,
p. 471 (1857).

European Muflon

155

Caprovis mi/sinion, Hodgson, Jour/?, .is. Soc. Boiga/., vol. xvi. p. 702
(1847) ' Gray, Cat. U/igii/ata Brit. Mi/s. p. 173 (1852), Cut. Riiminauts Brit.
Mus. p. 56 (1872).

MiisiiHoii /iiiis/iioii^ Gervais, Hist. Ntit. Mxiinni. vol. ii. p. 191 (1855) ;
Graells, Mem. Ac. Madrid., vol. xvii. p. 369 (1897).

Plate XII.

Characters. — Size small, the height at the shoulder being about 27
inches ; females usually hornless. Horns of male fairly large, stout, and

Fit;. 29. — Head of male European Muflon. From a specimen in the British Museum.
(Rowland Ward, Records of Big Gume.)

strongly wrinkled ; the frt)nt surface markedly distinct from the outer one,
the front outer angle rounded off, but the inner one distinct ; the curvature
of the horns forming a close spiral of about one complete circle, vs'ith the
tips bending forwards and outwards so as to be situated almost immediately
below the eyes. Hair close and thick, elongated in winter on the throat
of the rams to form a distinct fringe, and with a thick coat ot woolly

156

Sheep

under-fur at the same season. General colour of adult rams in late summer
or early autumn bright rufous-brown, or toxy-red, becoming chocolate-
brown on the head and tace ; sides of neck, throat, chest, a line on the
flanks, a streak down the withers, a saddle-shaped patch on the back, the
front and sides of the fore-legs above the knees, and the front and inner
side of the hind-legs above the hocks black. Ears grayish externally,
white on the margins and part of the interior ; muzzle and chin grayish-
white, passing into a grayish-rufous patch in the centre of the black area

on the throat ; hinder border of black
saddle marked by a broad band grizzled
with white. All the under-parts, except
a narrow dark streak between the tore-
legs, and the buttocks, pure white, which
stands out in brilliant contrast to the
black band on the flanks. A narrow
white streak on the hinder surface ot
Fig. 30.— Female Muflon with horns. From both pairs of legs abovc the knecs and

a photograph bv the Duchess of Bedford. 1.1 • r r ^ 1 •

hocks ; lower portion or tore-legs white,
with a variable amount of black on the front surfice between the knees
and the pasterns ; hind-legs below the hocks similarly coloured, but with
less of pure white. In winter the colour darkens and tends more to
chestnut-brown, while the saddle-like patch becomes larger and squarer,
and assumes posteriorly a yellowish or whitish tint, which is apparently
most marked in the very old rams. The face-glands below the eyes
are comparatively small. The description of the autumn coloration
is taken from a very fine mounted ram in the British Museum
shot by Mr. F. G. Barclay in the mountains of the interior of
Sardinia.

The ewes seldom have horns, and when present these are usually about
2 inches in length, as shown in the illustration.

igth along

Basal

nt Curve.

Circumference.

34i

29f

28f

8-^

28f

I of

^5i

European Muflon 1^7

The following horn -measurements of this species are recorded by
Mr. Rowland Ward : —

Tip to Tip. Locality.

i6|^ Sardinia

1 1 ,,

1 1 „

21 „

10 J,

10 ,,
loi

loi Corsica

10 Sardinia
9r

Distribution. — At the present day the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia.
Said formerly to have inhabited Greece and the Balearic Islands, thou<^h
this requires confirmation. With regard to the reputed former occurrence
of the muHon in Spain, Brehm believes this is due to it having been
confounded with the Spanish tur ; much the same view being taken by
Senor Graells, in his monograph of the mammals of Spain quoted above.

Habits. — Muflon are restricted to certain mountain ranges in their
native islands, and there frequent only the higher portions, generally
selecting peaks which enable them to take a wide survey of the surround-
ing country. They are remarkably wary, employing their senses of sight,
hearing, and smell ; and, according to Mr. Buxton, are in the habit of
seeking for spots where currents of air meet. When thus situated they
are quite unapproachable, even when their station is otherwise most
favourable to the stalker. The ground they generally frequent is broken
rather than mountainous ; many of the valleys being filled with forests
of ilex. When, however, pigs are brought up to feed upon the acorns of
the latter, the muflon betake themselves to less disturbed situations.
Formerly, at any rate, muflon were found in flocks of very large size,

158 Sh

eei

which at the pairing season spHt up into small parties consisting ot one old
ram and several ewes. Mr. Buxton speaks ot never having seen more than
a dozen in company ; and also states that the old rams were sometimes
solitary, but more often in small companies by themselves, while the
young rams generally went about with the ewes. During December
and January the old rams are much given to hghting among themselves.
In April or May the ewes give birth to their young, of which there may
be either one or two at a time ; and these are able to run with their
mothers within a few days of their appearance in the world. If suffi-
ciently hung, the tiesh of the rams is excellent tor the table when the
animals are in good condition ; but in the latter part ot the winter they
become excessivelv lean, and the quality ot the meat is then inferior. As
is the case with the bharal, the meat is probably in its best condition about
September. Mutlon will breed with domesticated sheep.

Mr. Buxton's account in Short Sui/ks of the muflon in its native haunts
is so excellent that it mav be quoted //; cxicnso : — "Though he lives on
ground more or less steep, it is easy, and he has no occasion tor any
remarkable feats of agility. On the other hand, his best safeguard lies in
the dense macquia which covers the hills. At this elevation it is exclusively
composed of the tall ' bruyere ' heather, from which the so-called ' briar-
root ' pipes are made. This grows from two to six feet high. It this
covert were continuous, it would of course be impossible to see an animal
which stands little over two feet, but much ot it has been burnt, and there
are natural openings beside. It is in these openings that he must be
sought when feeding. As all wild sheep are constitutionally restless, and
never remain long in one place, it will be understood how difficult it is,
even when thev have been spied, to hold them with the glass. They are
constantly disappearing in the inucqiild, and have to be retound again and
again before a stalk can be successfully effected. When they arc alarmed
or ' at gaze,' they have a habit, or at least the rams have, ot placing them-

Asiatic Muflon 159

selves in the middle of a bush of macquia^ or in the shadow which it casts.
The ewes, who are naturally less conspicuous, do this in a less degree.
The muflon are also assisted by the wonderful alertness of their eyes.
I do not think that they see at a great distance, but they detect an
exceedingly slight sign at a moderate range. . . . When startled they
whistle as a chamois, and as a Highland sheep occasionally does."

2. The Asiatic Muflon — Ovis orientalis

Ovis miisiinon orientalis, Brandt and Ratzeburg, McJ. Zoo/, vol. i. p. 54
(1829).

Ovis gmelini, Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 6g ; Brooke, i/yii/. 1875,
p. 526 ; Blanford, Eastern Persia, vol. ii. p. 88 (1876) ; Danford and Alston,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 276, 1880, p. 55; VV. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamin. linl.
Mus. pt. ii. p. 139 (1891) ; Ward, Records of Big Ga/z/e, p. 258 (1896) ;
Satunin, Zool. Ja/irl>. Syst. vol. ix. p. 312 (1896).

Ovis orientalis, Keyserling and Blasius, JVirbelthiere Ei/rop. p. 29 (1840);
Wagner, Schreber's Siiiigetliiere, vol. iv. p. 507 (1844) ; Nehring, Zool. Garten,
vol. xxviii. p. 378 (1887).

Ovis [Miisinion) orientalis. Gray, Knows ley Menagerie, p. 36 (1850).

Caprovis [Miisimon) orientalis. Gray, Cat. Vngulata Brit. Mus. p. 172
(1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 56 (1872).

Ovis anatolica, \^ilenciennes, CR. Ac. Paris, vol. xliii. p. 65 (1850).

Caprovis orientalis, Gray, Hand-list Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 131 (1873).

Characters. — Typically of larger size than the European muflon, the
height at the shoulder reaching to about 2 feet 9 inches. Females horn-
less. Horns of males rather large, curving at hrst outwards, upwards,
and slightly backwards, and then backwards, downwards, and inwards, so
that their tips are situated over the withers, instead of curving forwards
below the eyes ; the spiral usually forming only about one halt ot a circle ;

i6o Sheep

transverse wrinkles on the front and lateral surfaces usually bold and
widely separated, but becoming approximated in old animals ; inner front
angle always well developed, but the outer one either distinct or com-
pletely rounded off. General colour of upper-parts some shade of russet-
yellow or foxy-red, with the under-parts and lower portion of the legs
white, but lacking most of the black markings of the male European
muflon. There is, however, a dark mark on the fore-legs above the
knees, a darkish stripe on the chest and Hanks, and more or less indistinct
traces of a light saddle-mark in the adult rams. Typically the neck
thick, with a fringe of elongated hairs on the throat. Face-glands well
developed.

Distrihiition. — The mountains of Elburz in Northern Persia, of
Armenia, the Taurus range of Asia Minor, and the central chain of
Cyprus.

a. Armenian Race — Ovis orientalis typica

Characters. — Size relatively large, the height at the shoulders reaching
to 2 feet 9 inches. Horns of adult rams generally with the front outer
angle well marked, so that the front surface is clearlv defined from the outer
one. Neck thick and bushy. CJeneral colour of head and upper-parts
of adult male russet-yellow or foxy-red ; under-parts and lower portion
of legs white; a space before the eyes, nose, chin, and the inner surfaces of
the ears whitish ; a dark purple-brown mark above the knees on the fore-
legs, and a darkish streak down the chest ; the ridge of the neck and
back somewhat darker than the rest of the upper-parts. In older males
the general colour reddish, with a whitish saddle-mark.

Specimens of this sheep are rare in collections, and I have had to
depend for the description of the coloration entirely upon the writings
of others, as I have never seen a perfect skin. The British Museum
possesses the skull and horns of a male, with some portions of the skin,

Armenian Muflon i6i

from Erzerum, forming the type of Blyth's Ovis ginclini (No. 55, 12, 24,
396), and presented by the Zoological Society in 1855. Also a complete
skeleton presented by Mr. Danford. In both these the horns are of
average dimensions ; but the museum also possesses a skull, said to be
from an island in the Mediterranean, and presented by Mr. W. B. Baker,
in which the horns are greatly larger than in any other known example,
and are further characterised by the great number and fineness of the trans-
verse wrinkles. The latter is, however, a character which tends to be
developed at the base of horns of old individuals ; and as the pair under
consideration agree in form and curvature with normal examples of the
present species, there seems every reason for referring them to it, although
they may possibly indicate a distinct race. The dimensions ot this
magnificent specimen occur first in the list following. Although the
distinct development of the front inner edge is in general a marked feature
of the horns of the mainland race, Messrs. Danford and Alston describe
specimens which approximate both in this respect and in curvature to the
Cyprian form.

Mr. Rowland Ward records the following horn-measurements : —

Length on Basal .y ^■

Outer Curve. Circumference. "'

^H lof 5|

30.^ I of 18

261V 81 1 21

24 9f 17

Some degree of confusion has arisen among zoologists as to whether
0. orientaUs or O. gmclim is the proper name for this sheep. In 1876 Mr.
W. T. Blanford ' wrote as follows on this question : " No such name as
0. orientaUs was given to this sheep by J. G. Gmelin ; he simply called it
in German the Oriental sheep {das orientalise he Sc/uif), and apparently

' Editeni Penia, vol. ii. p. 88.
\

1 62 Sheep

considered it the same as the argaH ot J. G. Gmelin (0. amnion, Linn.).
The name O. orientu/is appears to have been first given, as from Gmelin,
by KeyserHng, and Blasius in the Wirbclihicre Europas. The date on the
title-page of that work is 1840, and in the same year Mr. Blyth published
the name 0. ginelini, which should, I think, be retained for the species,
since Keyserling and Blasius's title is erroneously quoted as Gmelin's."

So far as it goes, this passage is perfectly correct, but the author
appears to have been unacquainted with Brandt and Ratzeburg's O. miisimon
orit'fita/is, which antedates the names given both by the English and
German zoologists mentioned above, and is therefore, so far as the third
name is concerned, entitled to stand tor the species.

The Ovis nuis'imon oricnta/is ot Brandt and Ratzeburg is stated to in-
habit the Armenian mountains of Persia, the Greek Islands, Cyprus, and
probably the Taurus, and to be distinguished from O. miisimon occ'idcntcilis
by the backward and inward inclination of the tips of the horns. As
Persia is mentioned before Cyprus, the name evidently belongs to the
Armenian rather than to the Cyprian variety.

Distribution. — The mountains of Elburz in Northern Persia, those
of Armenia, and the Taurus range ot Asia Minor. In Transcaucasia
(Armenia) Dr. Satunin states that this sheep occurs in the neighbourhood
of Kars and Eriwan, but extends some distance farther north.

Habits. — Messrs. Dantord and Alston write as follows concerning this
sheep : — " It seems hardly ever to occur on the southern slopes of the
Taurus, preferring the barer districts of the north. Herr Kotschy,
otherwise so accurate in his observations, must have been misled into
stating that ten to twenty wild sheep are killed yearly at Gallek, as at
that place, which is situated on the south side of the Bala Dagh, we
were assured that the species is not tound. Specimens were obtained
from the district of Eregli, where they are common, and frequent the
salt-licks in large flocks. Winter is the easiest time of year to p;et at

Cyprian Muflon 163

them, the deep snow which generally covers that part of the country
impeding their movements. At other times they are shy, and, owing
to the scarcity of covert, very difficult to approach. The severe winter
ot 1873-74, which was so fatal to the tame breeds of sheep, also destroyed
a great number of the wild species. Gmelin's sheep is a very graceful
animal, deer -like in its appearance, having long, fine limbs, and in the
male a thick, bushy throat."

/;. CvPRiAN Race — Ovis orientalis ophion

Ovis ophion, Blyth, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1840, p. 69; Brooke, ibiJ. 1875,
p. 526 ; Alston and Danford, ihld. 1880, p. 59 ; Biddulph, ihiiL 1884, p. 594,
pi. Ixviii. ; Langkavel, Zoo/. Garten, vol. xxxii. p. 183 (1891) ; Ward,
Recori/s of Big Game, p. 256 (1896).

Ovis cyprius, Blasius, Sciuget/iiere Dei/tsc/i/am/s, p. 473 (1857).

Caprovis op/iioii. Gray, Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 56 (1872).

C/iaracters. — Smallest of all wild sheep, the height at the shoulder
being only about ib\ inches. Horns of male with the outer front angle
so completely rounded off that the outer and front surfaces are merged
into one ; entire horns less massive and more slender than in the typical
race, and also curving more regularly from base to tip, with the transverse
wrinkles less fine. General colour of upper-parts bright foxy-red or
rufous-fawn, with a few scattered whitish hairs on the sides of the body
forming an incipient saddle-mark ; a line down the middle of the withers,
a band on the flanks continued on to the thighs, the tip of the upper
surface of the tail, a broad streak down the middle of the chest, showing
a tendency to develop into a patch on the lower part of the throat, front
of fore-legs above the knees, and a patch on the inner side of the thighs
above the hocks black or blackish ; under-parts, a narrow line on the
buttocks, the inner surfaces of the thighs and of the fore-legs above the
knees, as well as the whole of the legs below the knees and hocks, together

164

Sheep

with the muzzle, chin, and throat, white ; upper part of nose and area
in front of the eyes dusky-hrown ; ears gray externallv, white internally.
Face-glands small.

The ahove description is taken from an adult mounted male presented
to the British Museum by Colonel John Biddulph. With the exception
of the form of the horns, the animal reminds one of a European muflon,
with most of the black points and the saddle-mark either wanting or

Fig. 31. — Head of "male Cyprian Mufloii. (From Biddulph, Proi. Zool. Soc. 1S84..)

greatly reduced in size. And it may be observed that the curvature of
the horns, as in the typical race, recalls to some extent that which obtains in
those of the bharal, thus indicating that the latter is not quite so aberrant in
this respect as is generally considered to be the case. The type specimen
of this race is preserved in the museum at Berlin.

The following horn-measurements are given by Mr. Rowland Ward : —

Length .ilong
Front Curve.

22f
22I

i7i

Basal
Circumference.

7
7i

Tip t„ Tip.

4i
6

Plistocene Muflon 165

Although the complete rounding-ofF of the outer front angle of the
horns is considered distinctive of the Cyprian race, Messrs. Alston and
Danford, as mentioned above, have recorded examples of the typical main-
land race in which the same teature is displayed, so that the two forms
are evidently very closely allied.

Distri/nttion. — The Troodos Mountains of Cyprus. These mountains
form the western central portion of the island, with their central peak
rising to a height of 6500 feet above the sea-level. " Here," writes Col.
Biddulph, " the wild sheep have a considerable area of pine-clad mountain
to wander over, disturbed only by occasional wood-cutters and peasants
herding goats and sheep. At the time of the first occupation in 1878
it was supposed that the wild sheep had been exterminated with the
exception of a single Hock of twenty-five members, and a check was
placed on their slaughter. Since then their numbers have increased,
and it may be hoped that under modified restrictions mulion-stalking in
Troodos may long continue to be one of the sports of Cyprus."

3. The Plistocene Muflon — Ovis savini [Extinct)

Ciiprovis savii!!^ Newton, Geo/. Mag. decade 2, vol. vii. p. 449 (1880),
Vertcbrata of Forest-Bed [Mem. Geo/. Surv. United Kingi/on/), p. 49, pi. x.
(1882), Vertebrata of Pliocene Deposits of Britain {Mem. Geo/. Surv. United
Kingdom) , p. 22 ( i 89 1 ) .

Ovis savini., Lydekker, Brit. Mamm. (Allen's Nat. Li/?rary), p. ^09
(1895).

C/iaracters. — Founded upon the imperfect right halt of a frontlet with
the greater portion of the horn-core attached, now in the British Museum.
In size and general curvature this specimen agrees very closely with the
corresponding portion of the skull of the Armenian race of the Asiatic
muflon, to which species it seems probable that the Plistocene wild sheep

i66

Sheei

was allied. In the fossil skull the posterior surface of the horn-core is
marked hy a series ot deep tlutings, not observable in the existing kind.
The outer front angle is, moreover, much less prominent, but as this is a
feature observable in the Cyprian muflon, it would not appear to be of any
very great distinctive value.

Distrihi/tion. — The east of England (and probably other parts of Europe)
during the earlier portion of the Plistocene period.

4. The Sha, or Urial — Ovis vignei

Ovis vig/h'i, Blyth, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1840, p. 70; Gray, List. Maniin.

Br/t. M//S. p. 169 (1843) ; P- L. Sclater,
Proc. Zoo/. Soc. i860, p. 127, pi. Ixxix. ;
Brooke, //>/(/. 1875, p. 526; Sterndale,
Maiinii. Ilk/ill, p. 435 (1884); Blantord,
Fauna Brit. Iiniia — Maiiini. p. 497
(1891) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamiii.
hhi. Mils. pt. ii. p. 138 (1891) ; True,
Proc. U. S. Mils. vol. xvii. p. 5 (1894) ;
Ward, Records of Big Ga/iic, p. 250,
I 896.

Ovis [Mil si won) vignei. Gray, Knows /cy
Menagerie, p. 36 (1850).

Caprovis {Miisinion) vignei, Gi'ay, Cat. Ungii/ata Brit. Miis. p. 172
(1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Miis. p. 55 (1872).

Ovis niontana, Cunningham, Lada/;, p. 199 (1854), nee Cuvier, 18 17.

Miisinion vignei, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Manim. vol. ii. p. 191 (1855).

Caprovis vignei, Adams, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1858, p. 526; Gray, Hani/-/ist
Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 130 (1873).

¥\r,. 32. — Head ot male Ladak Sha. (Row
land Ward, Rccordi of Big dime.)

Wild Ox^n, Sheep, &l Goats .Plate XIII.

SALT-RANGE URIAL.

Ptihlishedi hy Eowlofid Wardltd ■

Sha or Urial 167

Plate XIII.

Characters. — Size medium, the lieight at the shoulder varying from
32 to 36 inches ; both sexes horned ; the face-pits in the skullhirge. Adult
males with a more or less developed ruff of long hair on the throat,
commencing as two large tufts on each side of the chin, but soon uniting,
and extending downwards to the chest. Horns of male arising close
together on the head, curving in a circular form at first backwards and
outwards, and then forwards and inwards, so that their tips come more or
less nearly below the line of the eyes ; the curvature in some cases almost
or completely in one plane, but in other instances forming a spiral, very
seldom exceeding a circle ; all the three surfices marked with coarse
transverse wrinkles, varying in distance from one another either indi-
vidually, or according to age and locality ; the two front angles more or
less distinctly marked, in some cases forming prominent nodose beads,
between which the front surface is concave. Horns of female short and
nearly straight. Colour of upper-parts rufous-brown or gray in summer,
light grayish-brown in winter ; tail, buttocks, limbs, and under-parts
white or whitish ; throat and chest ruff in some cases black throughout,
but usually with some white hairs, and in old rams of one race entirely
white in front passing into black at the base ; muzzle in old animals
white or whitish ; a black or brownish-black patch behind each shoulder,
and in some cases a line on the tianks and markings on the outer side of
the limbs also blackish-brown.

The following are some of the largest horn-measurements recorded by
Mr. Rowland Ward in the 1896 edition of Rccorih of Big Game: —

1 68 Sheei

Length along
Front Curve.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to Tip

39i

I of

i8i

III

i5i

I21

iii

37i

loi

35A

I°-i

35i

loi

Ili

33i

33h

Ili

IO§

loi

I a

32f

32I

1 1

3^i

.0.1

lOl

i4i

30t^

III

'li

30^

20i

30*

29!

loi

16.1

29A

28i

28.1

i5i

Locality.

Punjab

?
Afghanistan
Punjab
Afghanistan
Ladak

Punjab

Ladak

Piiiiiab

Sind
Punjab
Baluchistan
Afghanistan

In regard to horn-measurements, Mr. Blantord, quoting from notes
supplied by Mr. A. O. Hume, states that whereas horns of the Punjab
and Sind urial scarcely ever exceed 10 inches in basal girth, those of
the Ladak sha are sometimes between 11 and 12 inches in circum-
ference. And he further observes that, judged bv this test, "■the typical
O. cycloceros of Hutton is identical with O. v/gm'/\ and the smaller urial, if
kept distinct, must bear a different name." The measurements given
above indicate, however, that Punjab specimens may occasionally measure
II or even 12 inches in girth ; ami there accordingly appears no necessity
tor replacing cycloceros by a new sub-specific title.

Sha or Urial 169

Distribution. — From Ladak, Zanskar, and apparently still more easterly
districts in Northern Tibet through Astor and Gilgit to Russian Turkestan
(Bokhara and Khiva), also throughout Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and
Southern Persia, and likewise in the Punjab and Sind Trans-Indus Ranges,
as well as in the Cis-Indus Salt Range of the Punjab. In Zanskar and
Ladak this sheep is found at elevations of trom 12,000 to 14,000 teet
elevation, but in Sind at or near the sea-level, in districts where the summer
temperature ranges exceedingly high.

Habits. — With such a wide variety of station it is not to be wondered
at that this sheep varies to a certain extent in its habits according to
locality. In Ladak and Zanskar it is found in open more or less barren
valleys, where it may often be seen in numbers on the hillsides, at a
great elevation above the sea-level. On the other hand, in the neighbour-
hood of Astor and Gilgit urial mainly confine themselves to the grassy
tracts at moderate elevations below the belt of forest, which occurs high
up on the hills and receives more rain than the ground below. In the
Punjab Salt Range, Sind, Baluchistan, and Persia they frequent low hills
or undulating ground much intersected by ravines and gullies, being more
generally seen on scarped rocky hillsides than among bush and jungle.
Many of the rocks in the Salt Range where urial are common consist ot
bright red marls and sandstones, against which the rutous coat of the sheep
is almost invisible ; and this local coloration of the rocks may be the reason
that the Punjab urial is a brighter-coloured animal than the sha ot Ladak.
The number of ravines, separated from one another by narrow ridges of rock,
coupled with the slight elevation above the sea-level, renders urial-stalking
in the Salt Range fir less fatiguing than the pursuit of any other kind of
wild sheep accessible to Indian sportsmen. The number ot individuals in a
flock of urial varies from three or four to as many as about twenty or thirty ;
and although the rams frequently separate themselves during some part of
the summer, both sexes are commonly found in company.

1 70 Sheep

Although less active climbers than bharal and tahr, Punjab urial
display a great amount of agility in getting over the rough ground which
forms their haunts ; and in this respect are decidedly ahead of the larger
sheep of Central Asia. When alone, their call is a kind of bleat not
unlike that ot domesticated sheep, but when alarmed they utter a shrill
whistle, at the same time stamping with their fore-feet. The period of
gestation is probably about six months, the pairing season occurring in
September in the Punjab, but apparently considerably later in Astor, where
the young are born in June. There may be either one or two lambs at a
birth ; and the species will cross readily with domesticated sheep, while it
has been known to breed with tlie Tibetan argali.

General A. A. Kinlocli writes as follows of this sheep in the Punjab :
"The urial is found among low stony hills and ravines, which are
generally more or less covered with thin jungle consisting principally of
thorny bushes. During the heat of the day the urial conceal themselves
a eood deal, retirintr to the most secluded places, but often comintr down
to feed in the evenings on tlie crops surrounding the villages. Where not
much disturbed they will stav all day in the neighbourhood ot their
feeding-grounds, and allow sheep and cattle to feed amongst them without
concern, but where they have been much fired at they usually go long
distances before settling themselves for the day. They are generally found
on capital ground for stalking, tlie chief drawback being the stony nature
of the hill^, which renders it difficult to walk silently. When hred at,
urial usually go leisurely away, stopping to gaze every now and then, so
that several shots may be fired at one herd. . . . Urial appear to be
partly migratory, as they are now plentiful where they were not so
common formerly, and places that were once famous for them are now
nearly deserted. This is doubtless in great measure caused by the way in
which they are hunted and shot at, wherever they are known to be
plentiful."

Sha or Urial 171

a. AsToR Race — Ovis vignei typica

Characters. — Size relatively large, the height at the shoulder reaching
to 36 inches. Horns of male generally thick and forming a wide circle,
with the tips more or less divergent ; the front angles more or less rounded
off, apparently never forming distinct beads, and the transverse ridges on
the front surface never very coarse. RufF on throat and chest apparently
less developed than in the next race, and the summer pelage less distinctly
red.

Specimens of the Astor and Ladak sha of different ages, and showing the
pelage of the two seasons, are much required in English collections. There
has been considerable discussion as to whether the horns can in all cases be
distinguished from those of the Punjab race, and in some instances this is
probably impossible. Nevertheless, I have not observed horns of this race
bearing the distinct beads so frequently seen in those of the following one.
It must be borne in mind that some of the skulls in the British Museum
labelled Northern India may perfectly well have come from Ladak ; and
this may have been the cause of some confusion. Mr. W. L. Sclater
states that the present race is redder than the Punjab form, but this I
believe to be a mistake, specimens of the latter in the British Museum from
Afghanistan and Peshawur being almost foxy-red in colour.

Distribution. — Typically from Astor, where it is known as the urin, but
ranging into Zanskar, Ladak, and other parts of Tibet, where it is termed
sha, the male having the special designation of shapo and the female of
shamo. Eastwards the range extends through Gilgit to the borders of
Afghanistan, where the typical sha probably intergrades with the true
urial.

172 Sheep

/;. PrNjAB Race — Ovis vignei cvcloceros

Ovis cycloceros, Hutton, Calcutta Joi/ni. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. 51 4
(1842) ; P. L. Sclater, Proc. ZooL Soc. i860, p. 128, pi. Ixxx. 1887, p. 637 ;
Jerdon, Mamm. India, p. 294 (1867) ; Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, pt. i.
p. 29 (1869) ; Blanford, Kastcrn Persia, yo\. ii. p. 87 (1876) ; Sterndale,
Mamin. India, p. 435 (1884) ; Thomas, Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, vol. v. p. 63
(1890) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Manini. Ind. Miis. pt. ii. p. 138 (1891).

Ovis arkal, Blasius, Sliugethiere Deiitschlands, p. 469, figs. 243, 244 (i 857).

Caprovis cy cheer os. Gray, Cat. Pinninants, Brit. Mns. p. 55 (1872).

Caprovis arkal. Gray, op. cit. p. 56 (1872).

Characters. — Size smaller than in the tvpical race, the height at the
shoulder seldom exceeding 32 inches. Horns usually slightly spiral,
forming a less open and more compact circle, with the tips convergent,
and thus approximated to the eyes ; the two front ridges frequentlv verv
strongly developed and forming distinct nodose beads, between which the
tront surhice ot the horn is concave and carries bold and widely separated
transverse wrinkles. Ruff on throat and chest very strongly developed,
and its upper tront portion more or less completely white in old males.

That the urial, as this sheep is termed in the Salt Range and other
districts of the Punjab, is not entitled to specilic separation from the sha of
Astor and Ladak, may be fully admitted ; but, at the same time, it seems
to have a distinct claim to be regarded as a more or less well-marked
small local race. I have never seen Astor or Ladak horns showing the
prominent bead-like front ridges displayed in the old male from Afghan-
istan in the British Museum forming the subject of plate xiii. Although
many other specimens display similar beads, and equally pronounced and
widely separated transverse wrinkles on the front surface, it must not be
supposed that these features are distinctive of all individuals of this race ;
quite the contrary. For instance, in a younger mounted male specimen

Sha or Urial 173

from Peshawar in the British Museum the development of the two front
ridges of the horns is comparatively slight, as is likewise the case in two
older mounted heads from Afghanistan in the same collection. All that
can be said is that similar prominent beads on the front angles of the horns,
and similar bold transverse ridges on the surface between them, appear
unknown in Astor and Ladak specimens. The differences cannot be
explained by differences in age. The specimen figured in plate xiii. is a
very old male, but some young specimens show equally strong front angles
to the horns. On the other hand, the Peshawur specimen mentioned
above, in which the front angles are but slightly developed, is an immature
animal, while the heads in the British Museum from Afghanistan are those
of old individuals. Horns of the latter type are, as Mr. Blanford points
out, very difficult to distinguish from those of the Ladak sha ; and in some
cases it may be impossible to refer specimens to their proper race.

It may be added that, in addition to the distinctive features indicated
above, very different physical conditions obtain in the typical habitats of
the two ; the Astor and Ladak animal dwelling at very high elevations,
where the winter temperature is of excessive severity, whereas the other
form occurs in the hot low ranges ot the Punjab, Sind, and neighbouring
districts.

The sheep described under the name of Ov/'s arkal comes from the
Turkoman country, on the eastern precincts of the Caspian — that is to say,
from the neighbourhood of Khiva or Bokhara. Where the type skull
figured by Blasius is preserved, I have no means of knowing ; but the skull
and horns of a ram in the British Museum (No. 94, 5, 31, 2) from the
Turkoman country agrees with the figures given by Blasius, and doubtless
belongs to the same form. It is clearly referable to the present species,
and as it shows the strongly marked and beaded front angles and bold
transverse ridges found in many horns of the Punjab race, coupled with
the fact that it is the latter which inhabits Afghanistan and Persia, it

174

Sheep

appears most probably that the Turkoman sheep is inseparable from the
race inhabiting the former districts.

Distribution. — Typically the Salt Range of the Punjab, but extending to
the Cis-Indus Ranges of the Punjab and Sind, and thence into Afghanistan,
Southern Persia, and apparently Russian Turkestan.

c. Kelat Race — Ovis vignei blaxfordi

Ovis hlaiifordi, Hume, "Joitrn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xlvi. p. 327, pi. iv.
(1887) ; P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1887, p. 639.

C/iaj-acters. — Horns of male relatively large, with the two front angles
distinct, and the curve forming an open spiral, instead of lying almost or
quite in the same plane, as in the two preceding races ; the tips being thus
very much further apart tlian is the case in the latter. Pelage apparently
unknown. The tollowing dimensions ot the type specimen are given
by Mr. Hume, the figures in the second column indicating the corre-
sponding measurements of a fully adult skull of the Punjab race : —

Length of horns along the curve
Basal circumference of same
Interval between tips
Greatest breadth of horn at base
(ireatest depth ot horn at base

^si

'-9I

•6i

Distribution. — The neighbourhood of Kelat, in Northern Baluchistan.

5. The Arcali — Ovis ammon

Capra annnon,\J\wx\. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 97 (1766); Fischer,
Synop. Mamm. p. 4S7 (1S29).

O'cis argali, Pallas, Spici/. Zool. fasc. xi. p. 20 (1777-80) ; Blasius,
Sauget/iicrc Deittschlands, p. 468 (1857) ; Radde, Rcisc Ost.-Sihcr. p. 2^6

Wild Oxen, Sheep, 5^ Goats . PLATt: XIV.

\v ^ !.'it

SIBERIAN ARGALI.

PuhUshetL hfRawhLfuiy'WarcLLt^

Sha or Urial 175

(1862) ; Severtzoff, Trans. Soc. Moscoii^ vol. viii. art. 2, pp. 150 and

Ov/'s ammon, Erxleben, Syst. Nat. Mawiu. p. 250 {ijjj) ; H. Smith, in
GrifHth's Animal KiiigJoni, vol. iv. p. 317, v. p. 359 (1827) ; Brooke, Proc.
Zool. Soc. 1875, p. 518; Blanford, ihicL 1896, p. 787; Ward, Records of
Big Game, p. 243 (1896).

Mgoceros argali., Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 2^1 (181 i).

Ovis [Argali) argali., Gray, Knows ley Menagerie., p. t^j (1850).

Caprovis [Argali) argali., Gray, Cat. Ungulata., Brit. Mas. p. 174
(1852), Cat. Ruminants, Brit. Miis. p. 57 (1872).

Musimon argali, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mamm. vol. ii. p. 191 (1855).

Caprovis argali. Gray, Hand-list Ruminants, Brit. Mi/s. p. 132 (1873).

Plates XIV. and XV.

Characters. — Size largest of all living sheep, the height at the shoulder
reaching from 3 feet 9 inches to 4 feet, and the build proportionately stout.
Horns of adult male exceedingly massive, their basal girth being very great
and both the front and lateral surfaces relatively broad ; frequently both
the inner and outer front angles rounded off" near the base, and the trans-
verse wrinkles numerous and closely approximated, with the intervening
grooves deep, and strongly developed both on the front and lateral surfaces ;
in some cases, and more especially in the Tibetan race, the horns with
the front angles much more distinct ; curvature of the horns forming a
spiral varying from somewhat less to considerably more than one complete
circle. In females the horns short, erect, curving backwards and outwards,
and becoming thin and strap-like near the tips. Hair short, coarse, and
close in winter ; in summer, especially in old rams, still shorter and much
thinner ; in some cases a ruff" on the throat. General colour of upper-parts
light brown in winter, mingled brown and white in summer, at least in old

176 Sheep

males ; a more or less distinct white disk on the buttocks oi the rams ; the
face, more or less of the imder-parts, the inner surfaces ot the legs and their
front surfaces below the knees and hocks white ; outer surface of thighs
dark like the back.

This species, which, although originally named by Linna'us, was first
adequately described by the Russian naturalist Pallas on the evidence ot
specimens obtained from Siberia, is the typical representative of that
exceedingly difficult and still very imperfectly known group of large
Asiatic sheep to which the name ot argali may be collectively applied. If,
as some sportsmen have suggested, all these great sheep are nothing more
than local races of one very variable species, the name O'V/s avDuon will be
the one which will have to stand. There seem, however, to be at least
three well-marked types of large wild sheep in Central and Northern Asia,
severally represented by Ovis ammoii^ O. po//\ and the Kamschatkan race of
the bighorn. And as I cannot satisfy myselt that the two tormer pass into
one another, while they are certainly distinct trom the latter, I think it
better, for the present at any rate, to regard them as distinct species, with
fewer or more local races.

The general characters of the horns of adult rams of the typical race of
O. (U)iino>i are so ditFerent from those of the adult O. poll that there is never
any difficulty in distinguishing between the two animals, which are further
difierentiated by colour, the former having the outer surtace ot the thighs
coloured like the back, while in the latter it is white. In the Tibetan
race, where the horns are often more angulated, they are always much
more massive than those of poll, as well as considerably shorter. If inter-
mediate tonus between the ammoii and poll types are to be looked for any-
where, it is in the Altai, where they would most likely be found, since the
typical race of the former ranges into the northern districts of that area,
while a variety of the latter inhabits the more southern parts. And in the
British Museum there are certain Altai sheep referred to below which in

Siberian Argali 177

regard to their liorns are to a certain extent intermediate between the
typical omiuon and the variety oF prAi named kareitiii. But these sheep are
in colour so different from both that, in the present state of information,
it appears desirable to keep tliem apart.

The weight of males of the Tibetan race has been estimated to reach
from 250 to ^550 lbs. ; one specimen is known to have weighed 205 lbs., and
a second 2 i 2 lbs.

Distrihittioii. — The countries bordering the Gobi Desert, being deffnitely
known from Mongolia, north of Pekin, through Eastern Siberia and
Northern Mongx)lia to the Semipalatinsk Altai, and thence tlirough the
Kuenlun, and perliaps tlie district north ot the Mustag, to the Tibetan
plateau. Although it is not definitely ascertained that the range is con-
tinuous from North-Eastern Mongolia to the Kuenlun, vet it is most
probable that this will be tound to be the case. Apart from this, it seems
fiiirlv evident that the distributional area ot the ii/iuiiou type torms a hollow
ellipse, or perhaps a horse-shoe, on the north-western border of which
are situated the districts inhabited by the po/i type and the sheep here
called O. sdirciisis.

a. Siberian Race — Ovis amnion tvpica

Ovis argali altaica, Severtzoff", Trans. Soc. Moscoii., vol. viii. art. 2,
P- 154 (1873).

Ovis argali inoiigoiica, Severtzoff", loc. cit.

Plate XIV.

Characters. — Size very large, the dimensions being the maximum
attained by the species. Horns of male very massive, long, and curving
much outwards at the tips, which are generally entire, so as to form

.78

Sheep

considerably more than a complete circle ; usually both front angles much
rounded off. Hair on sides and under surface of the neck in males only
slightly elongated, and not forming a distinct ruff. Pelage in winter with
the hairs close and about an inch in length ; general colour of the upper-
parts uniformly light brown tinged with gray ; tace, abdomen, a disk on
the buttocks, the inner side of the legs and their front surfaces below the

Fig. 33. — Skull and horns of male Siberian Argali. From a specimen shot by
Mr. Littledale in the .Altai.

knees and hocks white ; anterior portion ot under surface of body darker
than the back ; no dark stripe on the nape of the neck and withers. In
summer the hair much shorter and less dense, and the whole colour much
lighter, all the upper-parts being uniformly speckled brown and white,
becoming lighter on the tace, throat, chest, under-parts, and limbs, the
caudal disk being only slightly lighter than the back.

The above description is taken from a mounted male specimen, with
the winter pelage, in the British Museum, purchased many years ago from

Siberian Argali 179

the late Dr. Brandt, and stated to come from Siberia ; and secondly, from a
male in the summer coat shot by Mr. St. George Littledale in the Semip-
alatinsk Altai, and presented by him to the Museum. It is this second
specimen that forms the subject ot plate xiv. In addition to several skulls,
the Museum also possesses a mounted male head shot by Major C. S.
Cumberland in the district east of Semipalatinsk (about lat. 50" N., long.
88" E.), which has been described and figured by Mr. Blanford on page
787 of the Zoological Society's Proceedings tor 1896. This specimen,
which is in summer pelage and tully adult, exhibits in great perfection
the slight angulation of the bases of the horns and the numerous wrinkles
with deep grooves between them so characteristic of the species and race.
An adult skull also presented to the Museum by Major Cumberland, and
now mounted on the wall to the left of the large sheep-case, has the
front angles of the horns sharp, and it does not appear that this difference
can be accounted for by immaturity.

The dimensions of the four largest pair of horns obtained by Major
Cumberland are as follows : —

Length along Basnl ry.- ^ r^-

r- . r^ „. , Tip to Tip.

Front Curve. Circumference. ^ '^

564 i8i 33i

S4| i8f ,30

54i 19 35

54i i9f 33f

Distrihiition. — Imperfectly determined, but apparently in former times
extending from the Baikal Mountains in the south of Eastern Siberia
through Northern Mongolia to the Semipalatinsk Altai. In the latter
locality it is still abundant, and inhabits an undulating plateau at an
elevation of from 6000 to 10,000 feet above the sea-level ; but from the
greater part of Eastern Siberia it appears to have been exterminated and
driven south by the Cossacks. In Northern Mongolia it still survives ; and
to the eastward not improbably intergrades with the next race. In Siberia

i8o Sheep

and Mongolia it lives at comparatively low elevations above the sea-
level.

Habits. — Although the habits oi this sheep are doubtless in the main
very similar to those of the Tibetan race, a note bv Mr. St. George Little-
dale with regard to one trait is worthy of quotation. This passage is as
follows: — "The sheep's habit ot disappearing in cavities and under rocks
from lo A.M. until evening made the sport less interesting than the
pursuit of Ovis po/i, who is always 'on view,' and even when hard hit the
extraordinary vitality ot the beast not untrequently enables him to escape
the hunter."

/;. Mongolian Race — Ovis ammon jitbata

Oris jii/nitii^ Peters, Monatshcricht AkaJ. Bcr/in^ 1^76, p. 117, pis. i.-iv. ;
Prezewalski, Cat. Zoo/. Coll. p. 15 (1887).

Characters. — Apparently nearly allied to the Tibetan race, having horns
ot a very similar type, and a distinct throat-rutf, which, like the face, is
yellowish- white. The white on the buttocks and hinder surtaces of the
legs is, however, more abundant and of a purer tint even than in the
Siberian race, the tail being wholly pure white.

Distribution. — Eastern Mongolia, to the north of Pekin. This sheep is
known to me only by the description and plate in Peters's memoir.

c. Tibetan Race — Ovis ammon hodgsoni

Ovis hodgsoni., Blyth, Pi'oc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 61;; P. L. Sclater, ibid.
i860, p. 129; Severtzoff, Trans. Soc. Moscoi/, vol. viii. art. 2, pp. 151
and 154 (1873) ; Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1875, p. 520; W. L. Sclater,
Cat. Ma/nni. Ind. Mas. pt. ii. p. 1^6 (1891) ; Blanford, Fauna Brit. India —
Manini. p. 494 (1H91) ; Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 243 (1896).

Tibetan Arorali i8i

Ovis iu)u)ioiio/th's, Hodgson, yoi/rn. .is. Soc. Bengal., vol. x. pp. 230 and
91:? (1H40-41), XV. p. 338 (1846) ; flutton, ibIJ. vol. xvi. p. 568 (1847).

Ovis tiiiiiiioii., Horsfield, Cat. E. Imi. Miis. p. 176 (1851), nee O. amnion^
Linn. 1766 ; Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, pt. i. p. 19 (1869) ; Blanford,
""fotirn. As. Soc. Benga/, vol. xli. p. 40 (1872).

Caprovis arga/i, Adams, Pror. Zoo/. Soc. 1858, p. 527, nee 0. arga/i,
Pallas, 1777-80.

Ovis hlythi, Severtzoff, 'Trans. Soc. Moscoi/, vol. viii. art. 2, p. 154 (1873).

Ovis hrookei, E. Ward, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1874, p. 143 ; Brooke, i/jiJ.
1875, p. 52] ; Sterndale, Man/n/. hn/ia, p. 434 (1884), Journ. Bom/my
Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. i. p. 35 (1886), Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1886, p. 205.

(?) Ovis </a/ai-/anhe, Prezewalski, Cat. Zoo/. Co//, p. 16 (1887).

P/ate XV.

C/iaracters. — The size hut little less than in the typical race, the height
at the shoulder ranging from about 3 feet 6 inches to at least 3 teet 10
inches.^ The horns of males generally somewhat less massive, and forming
a less open spiral, which does not exceed one complete circle and is usually
less ; their tips almost invariably broken, the wrinkles apparently slightly
less prominent, and the outer front angle frequently distinct. In adult
males the hair on the sides and lower surface of the neck elongated into a
large whitish ruff, which apparently persists throughout the year ; there is
also a shorter crest of dark hair running along the back of the neck to the
withers.

Apart from the whitish ruff, the general coloration is very similar to
that of the typical race. The upper-parts are grayish-brown, the throat,
chest, under-parts, and insides of the limbs, the front surface of the legs

^ Mr. BlanFnrd gives 4 feet as the maxinium, but 1 am doubtful if this height is ever reached.

l82

Sheep

below the knees and hocks, as well as a small caudal disk in males, dirty
white. The upper surface ot the root of the tail has a dark mark ; and
the caudal disk and white on the legs are less developed than in either of
the preceding races, the fawn of the hind -legs sometimes extending
completely round them above the hocks. In old males, probably in

Fig. 34. — Head of male Tibetan Argali. From a specimen shot by Col. Wade-Daltoii.
(Rowland Ward, Records of Big Game.)

summer coat,^ the back becomes grizzled, owing to the admixture of white
with the brown hairs. The ewes have little or no mane, less of white on
the limbs, and the caudal disk much more indistinct.

The following are some ot the largest horn-measurements of this race
given by Mr. Rowland Ward in the edition of 1896: —

' Mr. Blanford suggests that this sheep is darker in ^llnlmcr than in winter, but this is certainly
not so in the case of old rams.

Tibetan Amali

•83

Length aloi
Front Curv

48.1
48

' 47
461

+6i
46i
46

445
44i
44
42.'.

Basal
Circiimferei

■9
16

17
16.1

19
16

n
161

i6.i

?
21

?
p

2 2^
2I§

i9i
19

In the male specimen forming the subject of plate xv. the front angles
of the horns are distinct and strongly developed, but they are much more
rounded off in the head represented in iig. 34. There appear indeed to be
two sub-varieties of this race, differing in this respect, but whether these
are confined to particular localities, I have no means of ascertaining. As
already said, the development of the front angles of the horns appears, on
the whole, to be decidedly more marked than in the Siberian race. The
Ov/s hlythi of Severtzoff was founded on specimens of this sheep in which
the outer front edge of the horns is rounded off.

Distrilnition. — The plateau of Tibet, from Northern Ladak to the
districts north of Sikhim, and probably farther east ; northwards it extends
to the Kuenlun, and perhaps beyond the Mustag, while eastwards the range
may extend along the southern border of the Gobi Desert to join that
of the preceding race, with which the present form may intergrade.
Unknown to the southward of the main axis of the Himalaya. In
Western Tibet not found in summer below an elevation of about 15,000
feet above the sea-level, but in winter descending locally to some 12,000
or 1000 feet above the level of the town of Leh.

I am indebted to Dr. E. Buchner, of St. Petersbourg, for the

184

Sheep

information that O. dalal-lanue is probably identical with the present
race.

Hiibits. — Although 1 have seen large herds ot ewes and young rams
of the Tibetan race of this species, I have only once come across a full-
grown ram, and mv notes on its habits must consequently be taken trom
the writings ot those who, like General A. Kinloch, have enjoyed more
favourable opportunities for observation. I can, however, confirm the

^^9^Id ' ''^j^^^^^^^

IH^HM.?' v '4l^ ^^B

*' jb

Sy^ifryl-c

Fr;. 35. — Head of young male Tibetan Argali. (From Darrali's &port in the
Highlanas of Ktishmir.)

testimony of others as to the magnificent appearance and carriage of the
adult rams, and I can even now recall the sight ot the indi\'idual I beheld
standing on the top ot a low pass in the Changchenmo district ot Ladak.
In the latter country during the winter these sheep inhabit the lower and
more protected valleys, where snow does not accumulate to anv great
depth ; but with tlie aiivent of summer the old rams separate trom the
fiocks to resort to more secluded situations at higher levels. According
to General Kinloch, these sheep are very particular in their choice of
locality, resorting year after year to the same spots, and entirely
neglecting other hills which apparently possess similar advantages with

Littledale's Sheep i8

regard to pasture and water. The open nature of the ground they
trequent renders the old rams exceedingly difficult to stalk, and even when
they resort to more broken ground, where the actual stalking is easier, their
extreme wariness often defeats the most carefully laid plans of the sports-
man. The breeding-season is in December and January, when the flocks
are at a comparatively low elevation ; and the young are born about the
following May or June.

6. Littledale's Sheep — Ovis sairensis

Characters. — Size smaller than in either O. ammon or 0. pol'i^ the height
at the shoulder being about 3 teet 2 inches. Horns of adult male in some
respects intermediate between those ot the two species named, forming a
close spiral of rather more than a circle ; decidedly more massive than in
poll., with the front angles rounded oiT, and thus more like the typical
race of aiuiHoii., although considerably smaller ; those of immature males
distinctly angulated. General colour of the upper-parts of adult male in
summer pelage full rufous-brown, becoming blackish-brown on hinder part
of head, withers, loins, rump, tail, outer surface of thighs, and under-parts ;
face, except muzzle, which is dirty white, gray-brown ; legs gradually
more and more speckled with white hairs, till from just above the knees
and hocks downwards they become white ; sides of head, neck, and throat
speckled brownish-gray, becoming impure white in the middle of the chest.
Immature males nearly uniform rufous-brown throughout. Females rufous-
brown on the upper-parts, with a broad black streak extending from the
back of the head to the loins, and widening into a patch in the neighbour-
hood of the withers ; under-parts and legs nearly white. In the adult
male the horns, of which the tips are broken, measure 46! inches along
the front curve, with a basal girth of about 15^ inches, and an in-
terval of 27 inches between the tips. The basal girth of the horns is

2 B

i86

Sheep

absolutely greater than in specimens of O. poJ'i karc/iiii, with horns of
(greater lenu;th.

Distribution. — The Sair, or Saiar Mountains, situated in the Great Altai
on the north-western border of Mongolia, nearly due east ot a point mid-
way between the Semipalatinsk and the Semirechinsk. Altai, in latitude

;/// / c>

Fig. 36. — Littledale's Sheep. From the type specimen in the British Museum.

86° E. longitude 47" N. Also at Semitau, north ot the Jair, or Jaiar
Mountains,' lying in latitude 84 E. and longitude 46 N. The distribu-
tional area theretore lies a little to the eastward of the line approximately
dividing tlie habitat ot O. cuhdioii typica from that of O. poli karelini, and
impinging on the eastern boundaries of both.

Cotiipariso?is. — This sheep is typified by three specimeiis (Nos. 90, 4,
30, 3-5) in the summer pelage presented to the British Museum by Mr. St.

1 Marked in Map 77 (F. 1) of the Tiwrs Jt/.is.

Littledale's Sheep 187

George Littledale, who shot them in the Sair Mountains. They include an
adult and an immature male and an adult female, the first of which may be
taken as the actual type. It is, moreover, most probable that a skull (No.
91, 6, 17, i) presented to the Museum by the same gentleman, and obtained
trom Semitau, north ot the Jair Mountains, belongs to the same form.

That this sheep is distinct from all the three races of O. uiiiiiion referred
to above seems to be beyond doubt. It clearly appears to be equally
distinct trom the typical race of O. poli^ of which specimens in summer
dress are available tor comparison in the British Museum ; while Severtzoft's
plate shows the winter coat, which is almost identical with that ot poll
kiirchni. So tar as can be determined from comparison with specimens
ot O. poll karclini in winter dress, there seems also good evidence ot
distinctness trom that form, although in the matter of coloration it comes
nearer to that animal than any other ; both showing some brown on the
upper part of the tace and a dark streak down the back of the female. I
cannot, however, think that O. poli karelini in its summer dress would have
the dark under-parts and rump of the present form, while it certainly has
not horns of the same massive type, and is altogether of larger bodily size.
Moreover, if poll kcirc/ini became thus dark in summer, it would differ so
much from poli typica as to be entitled to specific distinction. As already
said, the horns are stouter than in 0. poll karelint. As I cannot identity it
with either of the insuthciently described sheep named by Severtzotf, and
fail to see that it comes decidedly closer to O. amnion than to 0. poli^ I am
tain, at least provisionally, to regard it as representing a separate species.

The summer coat of the adult male differs broadly from that of both
amnion and poll typica by its darker colour, and more especially by the
absence of a white caudal disk and by the dark under-parts. From poli
typica it is further distinguished by the dark outer surface ot the thighs ;
while the females of both amnion and poli typica lack the broad, blackish
dorsal stripe characterising that sex in the present torm.

1 88 Sheep

Of the sheep described by Severtzoff, O. /w/'/isi and O. nigrimotitana were
named on the evidence of skulls alone. The former was obtained much
more west than Mr. Littledale's sheep, coming from Tokmak, situated in
the Southern Semirechinsk, between the Alexandrovski Mountains and the
Alatau, and therefore within the distributional area of O. poli, of which, at
most, it probably forms a race. O. nigrimontami^ on the other hand, is from
a point much south of the habitat ot the present form, coming from the
Karatau, or Black Mountains, lying to the south-west of Kulja,^ and east
of the Alatau. Living specimens seen at a distance by its describer are
stated to have shown a white caudal disk and under-parts ; and the sniall
length of the horns in the type specimen (:58 inches) is suggestive of
affinitv with the amnion type.

7. i\1akco Polo's Shekp — Ovis poli

Ovis po/i, Blyth, Proc Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 62, .-Jnn. Mag. Nat. Hist.
ser. I, vol. vii. p. 195, pi. v. (1841); Severtzoff, Trans. Soc. Mosro//,
vol. viii. art. 2, pp. 150 and 154, pis. ii. and iii. (1873) ; Stoliczka, Proc.
Zool. Soc. 1874, p. 425, pi. liii. ; Brooke, ihiJ. 1875, p. ^14; Biddulph,
ibid. p. 157, Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, 1879, p. 280; Scully, Proc. Zool. S
1 88 1, p. 209; Blanford, ibid. 1884, p. 326, Fauna Brit. India — AL
p. 496 (1891) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Manini. bid. Miis. pt. ii. p. 133 (1891);
De Poncins, Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. \. p. ^], (1^95) ; Ward,
Records of Big Game, p. 240 (1896).

(.?) Ovis arkar, P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874, p. 89.

Plate XVL
Characters. — Height at shoulder probably only slightly less than in

' All these places arc shown in Map 77 ot" the Times Atlas.

'OC.

a mm.

Wild Oxen, Sheep, (k_GoATS . Plate XVI.

MARCO POLO'S SHEEP, PAMIR RACE.

PailisluiJ ly Umlioai THardUJi

Marco Polo's Sheei

189

O. amiiiou^ and the build perhaps rather lii2;hter. General characters very
similar to those ot the latter, but the horns thinner and frequently longer.
Horns of adult male long, slender, and forming more than a complete circle;
typically the front angles well developed, the wrinkles on the front surface
placed rather far apart at the base of the horns, and those on the lateral
surface frequently but slightlv developed. Hair of summer pelage longer
than in O. cii/iiuoii ; general colour of upper-parts of adult male in summer

•■'A>3i?

Fig. 37. — Head ot Pamir race ot Marco Polo's Sheep. From a specimen in the possession of
Mr. David T. Haiiburv.

pelage light speckled brown ; most or all of face, throat, chest, under-parts,
buttocks, and legs white, the white extending largely on to the outer
surface of the thighs ; a black streak from the nape to the withers ; no
distinct ruft on the throat. In winter the hair considerably longer, and

' Major C. S. Cumberland, as quoted by Mr. Rowland Ward, states that this sheep grows to 4 feet
at the shoulder, but Mr. Blanford, in his latest memoir on that species, speaks of O. atnmon being probably
the larger animal ot the two, and I cannot find any record of its exceeding 4 feet. Mr. Littledale's
male of O. lunmoii in the British Museum measures about 3 feet 9 inches as mounted, his po/i 3 feet
5 inches, and his Hiircnsu 3 teet 2 inches ; but there may have been some shrinkage in the skins.

190 Sheep

forming a well-marked white ruff on the throat and che^t, and a darkish
line ot somewhat elongated hair extending from the nape to the withers ;
the upper-parts showing a more or less rufescent tinge, especially towards
the border of the dark area. In females the neck is brown in front in the
winter pelage ; while in the summer coat there is typically no blackish
stripe extending from the head to the root of the tail, although this is
present, at least in the winter coat of the second race. Horns of female
generally similar to those of O. ammon.

Twenty-two stone is given as the approximate weight of an adult ram.

The two points whereby this magnificent sheep may be most easily
distinguished from its fellows are, firstly, the relative slenderness of the
horns ot the rams, which in the typical race are longer and extended more
outwardly than in any other sheep ; and secondly, the large extent of
white on the hind-quarters, which includes the greater part of the outer
surface of the thighs. Between the horns of the typical races of the present
species and of 0. amnion even the most superficial observer would not fail
to easily recognise the difference. Those horns of O. po/i karclini in which
the outer front angle is rounded off are, however, much more like those of
O. ammon typica in form, although the marked difference in stoutness and
depth forms a ready distinction between them.

In the British Museum this species is represented by a magnificent
series of skulls and horns from the Pamirs, and also by a mounted male and
female in summer pelage presented by Mr. Littledale. All these belong to
the Pamir race ; but the Thian Shan form is likewise represented by several
mounted specimens of various ages obtained during the Second Yarkand
Expedition under the leadership of the late Sir Douglas Forsyth. These
latter are, liowever, all in the winter pelage, and it is thus, unfortunately,
at present impossible to compare the two races at the same season, at least
so far as the British Museum collection is concerned.

In the absence of the original specimens, it is difficult to say whether

Marco Polo's Sheep 19

the sheep called by Mr. Sclater Oris arkar is the present species or O. amnion.
On the one hand, arkar is the Turki name oi O. poll, but, on the other, the
skulls mentioned by Mr. Sclater were reported to have come h'om the
Altai.

Distrihiition. — From the Thian Shan and the plateau north of Hunza
through the Semirechinsk Altai and the Pamirs to the valley of the
upper Amu Daria, or Oxus. By Prezewalski it has been recorded trom
the Altyn-tag, to the south of the Gobi, but this reference is very doubtful,
and it is probable in that district its place is taken by a member of the
atnnion gvo\\\^. The definitely known distributional area is therefore situated
on the western border of the hollow ellipse occupied by the amnion group,
the typical and most highly specialised race inhabiting the extreme western
portion of the area, and the less modified Thian Shan form occurring in the
country between the Pamir race and the typical O. amnion.

History. — Although met with by Marco Polo during his Asiatic
journeys, this sheep was tirst definitely made known to European science
by skulls obtained by Lieutenant Wood, R.N., in 1S38, on his return
from his journey to the source of the Amu Daria, when detached
from Sir Alexander Burne's Mission to the Court of Cabul. These
specimens, one of which is preserved in the British Museum, and
the other in the Royal College of Surgeons, were obtained on
the high plateau near Lake Siri Kol, at an elevation of about 16,000
feet above the sea-level, and apparently from near the same locality
as the one mentioned by Marco Polo. Two years after their discovery
the species to which they belonged was named O. po/i by Blyth.
So far as I am aware, nothing more was known in England with regard
to the species till the return of the Second Yarkand Expedition in 1874,
when several skulls of the typical Pamir race, and also skins trom the
Thian Shan, then regarded as belonging to the same form, were brought
home. Some of these skins were described by Dr. Stoliczka as the true

192 Sheep

Ovis poll. It happened, however, that as far hack as ahout the year 1840 the
Russian explorer Karelin ohtained some large wild sheep from the Alatau,
near Semirechinsk. and due north of Lake Issik Kul, which in 187:5 were
named in his honour O. kdrcliiii by his countryman Severtzoff. In 1875 Sir
Victor and Mr. B. Brooke referred the specimens brought home by the
^'arkand Expedition from the Thian Shan to O. kuir/i/ii ; and four years
later this species was accepted by Mr. Blanford, in his account of the
mammals ot the expedition, as a valid one. Later on, however, the same
writer, h'om the study ot additional specimens, came to the conclusion that
O. karclim was, at most, merely a variety of O. poli ; and this view was
subsequently adopted by Mr. W. L. Sclater, who wrote as follows : "The
above, I think, is sufficient to justify the combination of the Pamir typical
form and the Thian Shan specimens brought back by the Yarkand F^xpedi-
tion, under the name of Ovis po/i, even if the sheep described by Severtzof?"
as O. kiircliiii should turn out to really differ from the typical O. poli of
the Pamir."

Habits. — Since the habits are fully describeil under the heading of the
two races, it will suffice to state here that the typical Ovis po/i is but rarely
found at elevations below 10,000 and i 1,000 feet above the sea, and some-
times at much higher levels ; the Thian Shan race is, tiowever, stated by
Severtzof}-" to desceml as low as 2000 or •5000 feet. It is essentially an
inhabitant of open, hilly, grass-clad plains; and only takes to the mountains
for the purpose of concealment, avoiding even then the more rocky and
preci p i tou s 1 ocal i t i es.

a. Pamir Rack. — Ovis poi.i T^■PICA

Characters. — Size large ; horns of adult males of great length, with
both the front angles usually well developed at the base, and the spiral,
which may be either comparatively close or extremely open, forming

Marco Polo's Sheep

19.

much more than a single complete circle. Frequently, although by no
means invariably, the wrinkles on the outer lateral surface of the base of
the horns are but slightly developed.

In the summer pelage the face of the male is pure white, and there is
much white on the under-parts and Hanks ; winter pelage of same practi-
cally indistinguishable from that of the Thian Shan race. Females in
summer uniformly dark blackish-brown above, without a distinct median
dorsal stripe, and still more white on the flanks and thighs.

Ot this race the British Museum has a mounted male and female in

Fig. 38. — Marco Polo's Sheep Head.

the summer dress ; while the winter garb is well shown in Severtzoff's
plate in the Trans. Soc. Moscoii for 1873.

The following are some of the largest horn-measurements given by
Mr. Rowland Ward ; the fifth in the list being an additional specimen,
now in the collection of Sir E. G. Loder : —

Length along
Front Curve.

75
73
71

Circumference.

16
15

i5i
i5i

Tip to Tip.

48
56

2 c

194 Sheep

Length along Bas;il ™. .,.. ^

Front Curve. Circumference. ° ' '

694 i4i 39

68i 15 35l

68 17 43

68 16 52

67I 16 53

67 i6i 42

66| 15! 46

66f 13I ?

66 i5i 44

65A 16 53

65 16 444

65 i6i 49A

65 ? ?

644 i6i 46

64I 164 41

643: i5i 39

631 1 61 42J

63i 15& 46i

62| 16I 51

62 15I 40

Distribution. — The Pamirs, from Hunza to near the sources of the
Amu Daria.

Habits. — The following excellent account ot the habits of Marco
Polo's sheep on the Pamirs is given by Viscount E. de Poncins : — " As a
rule, Ovis poli xxc not at all fond of difficult and rocky mountains. Their
true ground is the long rolling plateau or the rounded hills ot the Pamirs.
I never saw one in a really bad place. They are not very wary, but
often difficult to stalk on account of the ground. A close shot is a rare
occurrence, and 200, 250, or 300 yards is the common range.

"They are commonly found at a height from 18,000 feet up to the
snow, the little patches of grass along the snow lines over broad stony
nullas being their favourite resorts. They feed in the early morning and
keep moving about till ten or eleven o'clock in the day ; then they lie

Marco Polo's Sheep 195

down, sometimes on the same spot, or oftener they go up some bare hill,
where they scratch the ground and make a sort of big ' form.' I did not
notice that they are at all fond of lying on the snow. I nearly always
found them in very dry places or on the stony slopes. It is not easy to
see them when they are moving about, and when standing they look, very
light coloured except on the back.

" When lying down arkars nearly always keep the head erect, as if
on the lookout, and when sleeping they lie with the neck outstretched.
I saw big males with heavy heads resting their horns on the ground.
In this case the under-parts of the neck and jaw do not touch the earth
by several inches. The animal cannot touch the ground except with
its mouth, on account of the shape of the horns.

" They seem to be affected by height. I more than once saw them,
when going at lull speed uphill, open their mouths as if in want of breath.
When going uphill they never run very fast, and stop from time to time.
When going leisurely they do not mind heights over 17,000 feet. I saw
some coming down for food on the sky-line at certainly more than 18,000
feet. When disturbed they go up slowly but steadily to great elevations.
As a rule, they dislike snow and are very cautious when in deep new
snow. I once saw four repeatedly try a glacier covered with new snow
not more than 400 yards from me. It was wonderful the way in which
they avoided the bad places. The one in front went very slowly, trying
the ground, and every now and then went shoulder-deep into the snow.
He then drew back and tried other places without success, and then saw me.

" After keeping very quiet all day, about three or four o'clock they go
again to feed. Once I saw three males fighting on the way to the
grazing- ground. They were butting each other exactly as sheep do,
and sometimes ran alongside each other striking sideways against the
ribs and flanks. The points of the horns being at right angles with the
line of the neck, they must hurt each other in this way much more than

196 Sheep

when knocking their heads together. When engaged in such a fight
they utter a kind of low grunt, and the noise ot the horns against each
other can he heard a long way off. They do not move about at night
except when disturbed.

" One has to be very cautious when watching Ov/'s po//\ as they have
excellent sight and are wonderfully keen-scented. It they see anything,
they all stand looking at it, crowding against each other and striking the
ground with the fore-feet, often coming some paces nearer. All at once
one bounds away, all the herd follows, and betore long all stop again and
turn to look at what has disturbed them. Then they start again and stop
again, sometimes everv two or three hundred yards. . . . They nearly
always resort to the same places and the same nullas. Big herds always
consist of females and young males. When about five vears old the males
herd together in small parties of two or three, sometimes more, but scarcely
ever exceeding eight or ten. Once only I saw twentv-three. These herds
of males spend the summer in the highest and most remote nullas, but in
winter thev come lower down, and manv die of starvation in the spring,
when, after a bad winter, the food runs short. One can see on the ground
many heads of old individuals which died in the spring. In some places
thev are to be seen by dozens, and by the more or less decayed condition
of the horns and skulls one can guess how long they have been lying on
the ground. Durins: the summer there is not a sintjle big male to be seen
near those places where the horns are found, and it is evident that they
only come in winter. . . . When galloping they have a peculiar way of
keeping the head quite erect ; this is certainly due to the great weight of
the horns, which would be felt much more if the head were kept straight
out. All the same, they go very fast indeed downhill, and their gallop is
a long stride even when going uphill ; but I noticed more than once
what a peculiar stiff action they have in the shoulder, which is due to the
way they carry their heads."

Marco Polo's Sheep 197

The weight of a good ram's head is estimated by the Viscount at about
40 lbs.; and to support this enormous burden great strength of neck
is requisite. This is effected by an excessive development of the great
tendon of the neck, the ligamentum nuchit ot anatomists, which is like a
cable. Some idea of the numbers in which these magnificent sheep are
found on the Pamirs may be gathered from a statement of the same
writer, to the effect that he estimated the number he saw during a single
day's hunting at not less than 600 head. Such a profusion of large animals
is only to be met with elsewhere in Africa, and formerly on the American
prairies.

h. Thian Shan Race — Ovis poli karelini

(.?) Ovis sculptor II III, Blyth, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1840, p. 12; Flower and
Garson, Cat. Osteol. Miis. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 245 (1884).

Ovis karelini, Severtzoff, Trans. Soc. Moscoii, vol. viii. art. 2, pp. 150
and 154, pi. i. (1873), Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xviii. pp. 171,
210, and 217 (1876); Brooke, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1875, p. 512; Blanford,
Results of Tarkand Mission — Mamni. p. 80 (1879).

(.?) Ovis colliiim, Severtzoff, Trans. Soc. Moscoii, vol. viii. art. 2, p. 154

(1873)-

(.?) Ovis hcinsii, Severtzoff, op. cit. pp. 150 and 154 (1873) ; Brooke,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1875, p. 517 ; Prezewalski, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 15 (1887).

Ovis poli, Stoliczka, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874, p. 425, pi. liii.

Characters. — Distinguished from the typical race by the following
characters : — Horns of adult male shorter, their spiral seldom much
exceeding one complete circle ; the outer front angle in some specimens
completely rounded off at the base, but in other examples sharp. In the
winter coat apparently rather less white on the buttocks and thighs, and
the upper part of the face, at least frequently, brownish instead of pure
white ; female in winter coat (according to Dr. Stoliczka's figure) with a

198 Sheep

dark stripe from the back of the head to the root of the tail. Height at
shoulder ranging from 3 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 8 inches.

Ovis karelhu was first described upon the evidence of specimens
obtained from the Alatau, north of Lake Issik Kul in the Semirechinsk
Altai, the translation ot Severtzoff's original description running as follows :
"The horns are moderately thick, with rather rounded edges; frontal
surface very prominent ; orbital surface rather flat, narrowing only in the
last third of its length. The horns are three times as long as the
skull. . . . The neck is covered by a white mane shaded with grayish-
brown. The light brown of the back and sides is separated from the
yellowish-white of the belly by a wide dark line. The light brown of
the upper-parts gets gradually lighter towards the tail, where it becomes
grayish-white, but does not form a sharply defined anal disk. On the
back there is a sharply marked dark line running from the shoulders to
the loins. I did not find any soft hair under the long winter hair in
October. . . . Height at the shoulder 3 feet 6 inches ; length of the
horns from 44 to 45 inches."

This description obviously applies to animals in the winter coat.

In the continuation of his memoir SevertzofF states that the same sheep
inhabits all the neighbourhood of Issik Kul, to the south of which it is
met with, although not very commonly, on the northern flanks of the
Thian Shan, which are more or less wooded. Now during the sojourn
of the Second Yarkand Expedition at Kashgar numerous large sheep were
brought in, which were in the winter dress and had been transported from
the Thian Shan, apparently in a frozen condition. Although described by
Dr. Stoliczka as the true Ovis poli^ they were subsequently identified by Sir
V. Brooke with the O. karcUm of Severtzoff, and from the locality whence
they came, and their general agreement with the description of the
latter, there can be little hesitation in accepting the identification. Dr.
Stoliczka's description of the coloration of the male is as follows: "General

Marco Polo's Sheep 199

colour above hoary brown, distinctly rufescent or fawn on the upper hind
neck and above the shoulders, darker on the loins, with a dark line ex-
tending along the ridge of the tail to the tip. Head above and at the
sides a grayish-brown, darkest on the hinder part, where the central hairs
are from 4 to 5 inches long ; while between the shoulders somewhat
elongated hairs indicate a short mane. Middle of upper part of neck
hoary white, generally tinged with tawn ; sides of body and the upper
part of the limbs shading from brown to white, the hairs becoming more
and more tipped with the latter colour. Face, all the lower-parts, limbs,
tail, and all the under-parts, extending well above towards the loins, more
white. The hairs on the lower neck are very much lengthened, being from
5 to 6 inches long. Ears hoary brown externally, almost white internally."

Several of these specimens are now mounted in the British Museum ;
and all of them show more or less brown on the upper half of the face,
while the dark line on the tail is not apparent. Otherwise they accord
well with the description.

As already mentioned, it is most unfortunate that there are no means
ot comparing these specimens with the corresponding (winter) dress of
the typical poll. But it seems most probable that at the same season the
general coloration of the two forms would be very similar ; and, apart
from other features, it is thus unlikely that kareliui would in summer
assume the dark buttocks, thighs, and under-parts of O. sairensis. Still, as
has been stated above, in the dark upper part ot the face and the blackish
dorsal stripe of the female the present form does lead on from the typical
poll in the direction of the latter.

With regard to the horns, one of the Thian Shan males in the British
Museum has the outer front angle completely rounded off, as is well
shown in the figure given by Sir V. Brooke in the Zoological Society's
Proceedings for 1875, p. 512, figs. 2 and 3. In the other examples,
however, both front angles are very strongly marked indeed ; and it does

200 Sheep

not appear that this angulation can be attributed to immaturity, one of the
specimens being taller than the animal in which the front edges of the
horns are rounded off. This rounding of the horns cannot, therefore, be
taken as an invariable point of distinction between po/i /(v7;v//W, and po/i
typica. Neither, I think, can interioritv of size in the former be so regarded,
one of the specimens with angulated horns in the museum measuring
3 feet 8 inches at the shoulder, and thus considerably exceeding Mr.
Littledale's mounted example of the Pamir race. And I think it most
probable that in the Western Semirechinsk the two will be found to
intergrade completely.

The Ovis sculptorum ot Blyth is founded on a single horn in the Museum
of the College ot Surgeons which was regarded both by Severtzoff and
Brooke as probably identical with the present form. And if such identity
could be definitely established, Blyth's name, as the earlier, should be
adopted. In the absence of any such certainty the name generally in use
has been retained tor the present.

Now comes the question as to Ovis hcinsi^ named on the evidence or
skulls obtained from Tokmak, situated in the Southern Semirechinsk to
the north-west of the Issik Kul lake and to the north-east ot the Alexan-
drovski Mountains, and thus within what ought to be the range of the
present species. And, so far as the available evidence goes, I cannot see
how O. ht'insi can be differentiated trom the present race ot O. poll, and, at
any rate, that form cannot apparently he more than another race ot the
same species.

Distribution. — Typically from the Alatau, but apparently extending over
the greater part of the Semirechinsk and Sapliski Altai to the Thian Shan
and south-west to the Narin river, where its range is said to overlap that of
O. poli typica. Tokmak and the Alexandrovski Mountains, the former of
which is the typical localitv for the so-called Ovis hciiisi, are included in
this area.

Marco Polo's Sheep

20 1

Habits. — The mode of life of the Thian Shan race is doubtless identical
with that ot the typical O. poll. SevertzofF writes as follows : — " Oiv'j-
karcHin., like other sheep, does not live exclusively amongst the rocks, as
is the case with the different species of Cnpra. It is not satisfied, like the

Fig. 39. — A dead male of Marco Polo's Sheep. From a photograph by Mr. David T. Hanburv.

latter, with small tufts ot grass growing in the cletts of rocks, but requires
more extensive feeding-grounds ; it is therefore more easily driven from
certain districts than is the case with Capra. In the neighbourhood ot
Kopal, for instance, the goats are abundant in the central parts ot the
steppes of Kara, whilst the sheep have been partially driven from these
places, visiting them in autumn. On the southern ranges of the Semi-
rechinsk Altai, in the vicinity of the river Hi, wherever good meadows

2 D

20 2 Sheep

and rocky places are found, Ovis karelini occurs at elevations of from 2000
to 3000 feet ; at the sources of the rivers Lepsa, Sarkau, Kora, Karatala, and
Koksa it goes as high as 10,000 feet, and even to 12,000 feet in the
neighbourhood of the Upper Narin. In winter it is found at much lower
elevations."

In the Field of 5th November 1898 Capt. R. B. Cobbold writes that
owing to rinderpest, which has raged throughout the winter all over
the Pamirs, Oiv> /":///" has, for the time being, become practically extinct.
All over the Russian Pamirs, and in the Taghdumbash also, hundreds
of dead animals may be seen ; and in nullas where last October I
saw hundreds, in July last there were only skeletons. On the Tagh-
dumbash the rinderpest has not been so severe as on the Russian side ; but
large heads, owing to the numbers that have been shot by British sports-
men, are few and far between. The nullas in Chinese territory which hold
poll are in the north, the nullas near the Karaart Pass at the head ot the
Kuntemis river ; but there is no head of 50 inches in any ot them.
Farther south in the Taghdumbash, the Kungerab, Oprang, Bayik,
Kukturuk, and two nullas near Bozai Gumbaz, still hold a few small
heads ; but I saw no head of 50 inches in any of them this summer. The
big heads I killed last autumn, and which were latelv mentioned in the
Fields were killed in the neighbourhood of the Bayik Pass ; and at that
time large males were numerous on the Russian and Chinese side ot that
pass, but they have literally died in hundreds."

Incert^ Sedis

Ovis nigrimontana

Ovis nigrimontana, Severtzoff, Tmns. Soc. Moscoii, vol. viii. art. 2,
p. 154 (1873) ; Brooke, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1875, p. 517 ; W. L. Sclater. Cat.
Mamm. Ind. Mus. pt. ii. p. 132 (1891).

Ovis darwini 203

Description. — The translation of Severtzoff's original description is as
follows: — "The horns are not massive; the fronto- nuchal edge is very
sharp, the other two edges are also not much rounded ; the frontal surface
is narrow, but prominent ; the other two surfaces pressed in, rendering the
edges sharp, especially the fronto-nuchal edge. A section ot the base of the
horn shows the orbital and nuchal surfaces to be nearly equal in width,
each of them being about i^ times as wide as the frontal surface. . . .
The ridges of the horn are sharp, straight, and regularly parallel with each
other. . . . This species is, like Ovis heiiisi, only known from skulls ;
amongst these is one of an adult male. Through a telescope I saw that
the colour of the animal is a light grayish-brown, with a white belly and
rump. It is considerably smaller than Ovis karcliiii, being one ot the
smallest and weakest of all the Central Asiatic sheep." The length of
the horns in the type skull is given as 38 inches.

Bearing in mind the known variability in the horns of these large sheep,
the above description does not appear sufficient to define this torm, and
there are no specimens in the British Museum from the typical locality.
Mr. W. L. Sclater is, however, probably right in his suggestion that 0.
nigrimontana conforms to the ammoii type, of which it may constitute a
small race, its distributional area being on the western border ot that o\ the
latter species. If it be true that this sheep has a white caudal disk and
under-parts, it seems, as already mentioned, unlikely that it can be the same
animal as Littledale's sheep.

Distribution. — The Karatau, or Black Mountains, lying to the south-
west of Kulja on the Mongolian frontier.

Ovis darwini

Ovis darwini^ Prezewalski, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 15 (1887).
The brief description of this sheep being in Russian, I can say nothing
either as to its characteristics or its habitat.

204

Sheep

8. The Bighorn — Ovis canadensis

Ovis ccvhufcnsls, Shaw, Naturalist's Miscellany, vol. xv. p. 6io (about
1804);' Biddulph, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1885, p. 684; Ward, Records of Big
Ganit\ p. 246 (1896).

Ovis niontana, Cuvier, Rig/ie Animal, vol. i. p. 267 (18 17), ncc Ord,
1815; X^t'ii-mxti.x., Mammalogie,\o\. ii. p. 487 (1822); Richardson, F(^7////^z
Bor.-Anicr. p. 271 (1829) ; Blvth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. yj ; Gray, List

Fig. 40. — Head of Rocky Mountain Bighorn. (Rowland Ward, Rctoriis of Big Giime.)

Maniin. Brit. Mas. p. 169 (184:5) ; Baird, N. Amcr. Manini. p. 674 (1857);
Blasius, Sciiigt'tli. Dci/tsclilands, p. 470 (1857) ; Giiillemard, Proc. Zool. Soc.
1885, p. 677.

Ovis ccrvina, Desmarest, Noi/v. Did. Hist. Nat. vol. xxi. p. 551 (18 18) ;
Alston, Biol. Ccntr.-Anicr. — Manun. p. i i i (1880) ; Rhoads, Anier. Natural.
vol. xxviii. p. 526 (1894) ; Matschie, SB. Gcs. naturfor. Berlin, 1896,
p. 99.

' See Biddulph, torn. cit. p. 682. On account of the absence of a date to the volume in which it
occurs, Mr. Rhoads rejects the name canademis in favour of cervina, but it is definitely known that the
volume in question appeared before 181 3.

Bighorn 205

Ovis pygargiis, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal Kingdom^ vol. iv. p. 318,
V. p. 359 (1827).

Ovis califoriuanus^ Doughis, Zool. JoKni. vol. iv. p. 332 (1829).

Ovis California }ia^ Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. ']'].

Ovis [Argali) niontana. Gray, Kno-wsley Menagerie, p. 37 (1850).

Caprovis [Argali) canadensis. Gray, Cat. Ungitlata Brit. Mas. p. 176
(1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 57 (1872).

Musimon montanus, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mamm. vol. ii. p. 191 (1855).

Caprovis canadensis. Gray, Hand-list Ruminants Brit. Mus. p- 133 (1873).

Plates XFII. and XVIlA.

Characters. — Size comparatively large, the height at the shoulder
varying from about 3 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 6 inches in the larger races.
Face-glands very small, and the pits in the skull for their reception corre-
spondingly reduced in size. Horns of adult male markedly triangular, with
the transverse wrinkles much less developed and the longitudinal stris
distinctly more apparent than in any of the species hitherto mentioned ;
the outer front angle markedly prominent, but the inner one partially
rounded off; the curvature forming a more or less close spiral, but little
if at all exceeding one complete circle. General colour ot upper-parts
varying from white or pale tawny to dark grayish-brown, frequently with
a darker streak along the middle line of the back ; a white disk ot variable
size on the buttocks, which is always divided in the middle line by a dark
streak connecting the brown of the back with the dark upper surface of the
tail ; flanks and front surfaces of the legs darker than the back ; more or
less of the under-parts, as well as a considerable portion or the whole ot
the posterior surfaces of the legs, together with a variable proportion
ot their inner sides, white ; outer aspect of thighs always dark coloured
like the back.

2o6 Sheep

From all the large sheep described above, the bighorn, with its various
races, is easily distinguishable at a glance by its much smoother horns,
and by the more or less conspicuous caudal disk being divided by the
dark line running trom the brown of the back to the tail ; the white
markings on the legs are also very characteristic. A closer examination
will reveal the minute and almost rudimentary condition of the glands below
the eyes and the depressions of the skull in which they are contained.
All the above features indicate an approximation from the argali type in
the direction of the bharal and the goats.

Much still remains to be done in working out the various modifications
ot the bighorn type, as the specimens in the British Museum are quite
insufficient to permit of this being accomplished at present. Although
there are several more or less distinct and definable forms of bighorn inhabit-
ing the North American continent, all these appear best regarded, quite
irrespective of whether or no they intergrade, as geographical modifica-
tions of a single well-marked specific type. Another bighorn is met
with in Kamschatka and other districts of North -Eastern Asia, and
although this animal is markedly distinct from the typical bighorn of the
Rocky Mountains, yet the wild sheep from Alaska and other districts in
the north-west of the American continent show such a marked approxima-
tion in the characters of their horns, as well as in certain other features,
to the Asiatic bighorn, tliat it seems preferable to include the latter
within the limits of the same species. It must, however, be understood
that there is no evidence of gradation between the Alaskan and Kams-
chatkan bighorns, and that the latter, as might have been expected, is
more distinct from all the American forms than these are from one another.
Additional information is urgently required with regard to the white
bighorns, of which specimens have been received both from Alaska and
Kamschatka, as it is not yet determined whether the white coat is merely
a seasonal phase. Turning to nomenclatural considerations, the reasons

Bighorn 207

for retaining the name canadensis instead of cervina have already been
stated. Reference must, however, be made to the case of the name
0. californiana which is somewhat pecuHar. By its founder Douglas it
was applied to the wild sheep ranging from British Columbia to
California, but said to be most abundant in the latter area. The type
was, however, a skull and skin from British Columbia ; the skull being
now in the British Museum. The tail was described as being; long.

o o

Blyth's description was merely an amplification of the original one, but
he gave the habitat as California. Manifestly, however, the typical
locality must be British Columbia ; and the name California would obvi-
ously be inappropriate to a sheep coming from that region. Accordingly,
the name cannot be adopted for either of the races into which the species
has been divided by later writers.

Distribution. — Typically from the western and north-western districts
of North America, but also ranging into the countries bordering the
northern part of the Sea of Okhotsk and parts of North Siberia. In
America the bighorn and its various races have a very extensive range.
They are found throughout the whole extent of the Rocky Mountains,
both on their eastern and western slopes, and extend as far south as
Sonora, Northern Mexico, and the southern extremity of the Californian
peninsula, so that on the Pacific coast they occur on all the lesser
mountain chains from British Columbia to California. Northwards they
extend throughout Alaska to the shores of Bering Sea and the Arctic
Ocean. Their distribution in the Eastern Hemisphere is noticed later
on, but it may be mentioned that they probably occur on the Asiatic
coast of Bering Strait, so that the American and Asiatic forms are
separated by a comparatively small distance.

The habits ot bighorn may be more conveniently referred to under
the heading of the various races.

2o8 Sheep

a. Southern Race — Ovis canadensis nelsoni

Ovis nelsoni, Merriam, Proc. Soc. Washington, vol. xi. p. 218
(1897).

Characters. — Somewhat interior in size to the typical, or Rocky
Mountain race, and much paler in colour, with the molar teeth decidedly
smaller. The general plan of coloration is stated to be very much the
same as in 0. canadensis stonei, but the pallor is even more marked when
compared with that form. The light caudal disk is small and com-
pletely divided in the middle by a dark line ; the tail is relatively
short and slender; and the cheek-teeth are unusuallv small. General
colour of upper-parts, except the caudal disk, pale dingy brown ; under-
parts much darker, and contrasting strongly with the white areas ; ab-
dominal region, together with a streak in the middle line, continued
forwards nearlv to the tore-lei^s, inner side of thighs, and hinder surface
of legs white.

Dr. Merriam remarks that, compared with the north-western race, "The
contrast in colour is even more marked, but the pattern seems to be the
same, and the darkening of the under-parts is also a character of stonei.''
No mention is made in the original description of the size and shape of the
horns, but from Mexican specimens that have come under my notice these
seem to be generally similar to those of stonei.

Distribution. — Typically the Grapevine Mountains, on the boundary
between California and Nevada, a little south of t^j'' N. latitude, prob-
ably also including the semi-barren desert ranges of Mexico and the
Southern United States, from Texas to California.

Wild OxE n,She-e p. & Goats .Plate XVIL

ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN.

Published by Kavfla^ui.'War^lid

Rocky Mountain Bighorn 209

h. RocKv Mountain Race — Ovis canadensis tvpica

Plate XJII.

Chardctcrs. — Size large, the height at the shoulder apparently ranging
from about 3 feet 2 inches to 3 teet 6 inches.^ Skull long and narrow.
Horns of adult male (tig. 40) very massive and thick, without a distinct keel
on the outer tront edge, and with the spiral short, so that the tips, which
are generally blunt and broken, are directed nearly forwards. Ears broad,
pointed, deer-like, and moderately clothed with hair, being apparently
a trirte larger than in the argalis. No long mane on the back of the head
and nape of neck. Caudal disk large and continued on each side of the
dark streak connecting the back with the tail well on to the upper surhice
of the hind-quarters. General colour ol upper-parts some shade of grayish-
brown, darkening along the middle line ot the back, where there is a more
or less distinct dark streak ; in winter and spring the prevalent tinge more
decidedly brown, and in autumn more distinctly gray ; old males, at least
in the summer coat, very pale coloured, so that the caudal disk is scarcely
distinguishable from the darker area. The under-parts, the inner and
hinder surfaces ot the legs, the buttocks and a streak on each side of the
base ot the tail, the chin and muzzle, and a spot on a grayish ground near
the upper part of the throat white or whitish ; face and outer surface of
ears light ashy-gray ; front surfaces of legs a darker blackish gray-brown
than the back, and the upper surface of the tail lighter than the dorsal
streak. Light area on under-parts not sharply defined.

Such is the best description I am at present able to give of the coloration

' Mr. Cameron informs me that adult rams measure From 40 to 42 inches in height at the withers,
and in girth around chest behind shoulders from 46 to 49 inches. Thcv weigh from 150 to 300 lbs.
clean, according to season, as when much "run " thev would appear to lose about a fourth of their
weight ; some of the ewes at this time ivcighing as much as the fivc-vcar olcf rams.

2 E

2IO Sheep

of the typical race of this species, the British Museum being singularly
deficient in examples. Indeed, almost the only good skin it possesses is that
of an old male, which is mounted and exhibited. It is apparently in the
winter coat, judging from the length and thickness of the hair, and
remarkable tor its extreme paleness, but whether this is normal or due to
fading, I am unable to say.

Mr. E. S. Cameron informs me that in autumn and winter the pre-
vailing tint is the same as that of the mule-deer, namely, a dark brownish-
gray, and when the two animals are placed side by side no difference can
be perceived in the colour of the upper-parts. In the sheep the under-
parts anteriorly, portions of the legs, and the tail, are brown ; a narrow
strip ot the brown colour ot the tail being continued across the white of
the rump and meeting the gray of the back. The tail itself is very short,
only 4 inches in the largest rams, surrounded by an extensive patch of
yellowish-white extending between the thighs and to the groin. Measured
from the root of the tail this disk reaches 8,^ inches above and 8^ inches
on either side in full-grown examples, and is thus very conspicuous in
the bad-lands where these sheep show up like a band of pronghorns — more
especially in early summer. The muzzle is of the same yellowish-white
colour. A broad yellowish-white stripe extends down the inside of the
fore-legs and on the outside of the hind-legs ; or, in other words, the legs
are half-white and half-brown ; but I have seen old rams in which this
white was much circumscribed. In the spring the sheep gradually bleach
out lighter and appear of a dun colour until they shed the coat, which may
be any time from the end of May to the middle of July according to the
season.

The following are some of the largest horn-measurements of the present
and other American races recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward : —

Rocky Mountain Bighorn

21 I

Length along
Front Curve.

Circumference.

Tip t„ -l-i,..

Locality.

42i

^6i

25I ^

Lower California

Wyoming

i7i

„

40^

1 61

Yellowstone

i5i

Rocky Mountains

40T

i5i

20^

39&

i5i-

Colorado

39^

i6i

24I

Montana

39i

i5i

15I

144

i8i

Rocky Mountains

i5i

i9i

Montana

i6ji

Bighorn Mountains

North-West Territory

3«

British Columbia

i5r

23I

Mexico

37^

1 61

22;^

British Columbia

37i

i6~

"Wyoming

1 61

Montana

36^

British Columbia

36^^

i5i

22^

Wyoming

364

144

36.V

14*

36.^

Wyoming

Female horns i.eldoin measure more than 15 inches along the curve.
Mr. Ward says that " large horns of the male are now very difficult to
obtain, and I have seldom of late years seen fresh-killed specimens whose
horns exceed 38 inches on the curve from base to tip. American sports-
men are very keen to obtain horns of large circumference, and, as will be
seen from the records here given, they very seldom exceed 16 inches."

DistributioN. — Not definitely defined, but embracing the mountainous

212 Sheep

districts of- western North America from the desert regions of the Colorado
river and Arizona northwards into British Columbia, where the present
race not improbably intergrades with the next. Examples from the Yellow-
stone river, like the mounted ram in the British Museum, have somewhat
less massive horns than those trom ^^"voming and Colorado, but in other
respects appear to be indistinguishable.

Habits. — It is the custom ot American sportsmen to speak of the Rocky
Mountain bighorn as inhabiting the most inaccessible precipitous cliffs,
thus giving the idea that in its mode of life it is more like a goat than
the wild sheep of the Old World. According, however, to Mr. Phillips-
Wollev, in his account of this animal publislied in the BaJ/nlnton Library.,
this is quite a mistaken notion. Bighorn, he observes, are luidoubtedly
sometimes found in difficult and even dangerous places, but to describe
sheep-shooting as anything like chamois or ibex-hunting is a mistake. In
this respect, therefore, the bighorn does not depart so widelv h'om the
habits ot other wild sheep as might easilv be imagined to be the case from
the accounts given by manv writers.

For the following notes I am indebted to Mr. E. S. Cameron : — Big-
horn are found in the "bad-lands" of the Yellowstone, Missouri, and
Powder valleys, and are met with in flocks of from five to fifty individuals ;
they are very gregarious, and in my experience under no circumstances
ever remain alone for long. The flocks, when undisturbed, seek the prairie
to feed at daylight, returning to the bad-lands at nine or ten o'clock to rest
until the afternoon, when they will again rise to feed among the bad-lands,
often returning to the prairie in the evening, and grazing until dark. So
far as I am aware, they never feed at night like the mule-deer. Their food
consists of grass and three varieties of sage-plant, known locally as sweet
sage, sour sage, and salt sage, but I have never known them to eat any wild
fruits or berries such as are sought by the deer. Like these, they obtain their
food in winter by scraping away the snow, and in summer they graze like

Rocky Mountain Bicrhorn 213

the domestic merinos, with which they sometimes associate on the prairie.
I do not think that they can he reared in captivity without some kind of
wild sage. They resemble mule-deer in frequenting a certain range of bad-
lands, and always watering at the same spring, hut are more shy, deserting
the locality at the first alarm. In time of security the ficK'k is led by an
old ram, but when danger threatens he becomes a rearguard, and a ewe
assumes the lead. This ram (excepting during the pairing season) would
appear to be the usual sentinel, as he may be seen on the top of a high
butte, while all the rest of the flock are hidden in gulches below — but no
demoralisation occurs it the leader is killed, another sheep taking the
initiative, and the flock quickly vanishing.

About the second week in November the old rams fight savagely for
the ewes ; but the young rams pair earlier, and I shot a five-year-old which
had collected some ewes on 29th October. The victors collect and herd
as many ewes as they can, from five to a dozen being a usual number with
one ram, while the disappointed males wander about alone ; but the
possessor of ewes may lose them at any time, solitary rams being always on
the lookout to give battle. The yearling and two-year-old rams remain
with the ewes ; and although occasionally chased away by him, in the
main the leader pays but little attention to them.

When the pairing season is over the sheep ot all ages and both sexes
flock together again until May, when the ewes drop out singly from the
main body to bring forth their lambs. At this time large flocks of rams
may be seen, locally called " buck herds " ; twenty-three ot all ages, h'om
yearlings upwards, having been counted in the bad-lands opposite Terry.
The ewes generally have a single lamb at a birth, although rarely they are
followed by twins. The dam carefully conceals the newly-born lamb
amidst sage-brush or weeds in the bad-lands, from which she never goes
any considerable distance. In three or four days the lamb, which resembles
the parents in colour, comes out of its concealment to follow the ewe, and

214 Sheep

about a week after the latter rejoins the Hock. The six-months-old lambs
constantly lose themselves, to wander about in a bewildered state. The
ewe is a devoted mother, and although by nature these sheep are exceed-
ingly timid, should her offspring be injured she will not desert it. On the
other hand, an old ram severely wounded in a place trom which he cannot
leap, seems mad with rage and tear, as, with hair turned the wrong way,
he charges desperately when closely approached.

A lamb makes a charming pet, and a male which was brought up in
Miles City used to run about the cantonment ; and so superior were its
leaping powers, that when chased by dogs, or otherwise alarmed, it grace-
fully bounded on to the roofs of the houses, which consisted of one story.
Remarkable as are the leaping powers ot these sheep, the tacilitv with
which they walk up a sheer cliff seems even more remarkable. They will
walk a little way in a zigzag manner to stop and look, then advance a little
farther and again stop to reconnoitre on a face of rock steep enough to
appal a cat, until they hnally disappear over the top. This they are able
to do by the structure ot their feet, the exterior and interior line of each
hoof being perfectly straight, while the toes are bevelled on the inside in
such a way, that each division ot the hoof catches in the soft rock like the
blade of a pair of shears. In consequence of this, they make a square track,
which can never be mistaken for that of deer or prongbuck, even by
an unpractised eye.

Bighorn possess a strong scent, readily perceptible to human nostrils if
they are in any numbers and the wind favourable. Horses quickly smell
them, and my horse once stopped, refusing to proceed along the " divide "
on which I was riding. Expecting some fierce beast, I crawled to the
edge, only to discover a solitary ewe. Another horse, accustomed to carry
deer, became frenzied when two sheep were packed on him. Although
they never stay in them, sheep have no objection to passing through woods.
1 occupied a ranch at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, to which they

Liard River Bighorn 215

were known to descend in winter, threading the dense forest of the
mountain slope, and in this locality they constantly traverse the pine and
cedar thickets. They will also frequent isolated buttes on the prairie,
from which they must cover a long distance to reach the bad-lands, and in
such situations they have often been pursued by horsemen. In these chases
the rams outstripped the ewes. I have shot them on level ground, on
which, in my opinion, they can run as fast as mule-deer ; but they offer an
easier mark for the rifle than either deer or prongbuck, having neither the
bounding gait of the former nor the incredible swiftness of the latter. I
have seen a whole Hock lie down at once in the bad-lands, but this is not a
favourable time to creep up, as many are on the ledges of high buttes
commanding the entire country, except to windward. Rather when they
are feeding over ridges, and moving incessantly, can the coveted chance be
obtained. As may be inferred from the above, these sheep are not so rare
as generally supposed, and in out-of-the-way places they may still be seen
in considerable numbers.

In November 1895, o" ^^^ bad-lands above the Missouri river,
Montana, I saw a larger liock than I had imagined could be found in this
region. Signs of their presence had been noticed, when a large flock
moved slowly over a small ridge about 300 yards distant, and passed out of
sight, being immediately followed by a procession of twenty-five others in
single file, among which were some enormous rams. As the first division
was densely massed, they could not be counted, but there must have been
at least fifty individuals in the entire flock.

c. Liard River Race — Ovis canadensis liardensis

Characters. — Stature about equal to that of the Rocky Mountain race.
Horns of adult male slender, with a sharp keel on the outer front edge, and
their tips pointed, entire, and directed largely outwards. Ears small, short.

2l6

Sheep

and bluntly pointed. In winter a thick mane of long hairs on the crown of
the head and nape of neck. At this season the face and sides of the head
dirtv white, forming a marked contrast with the dark of the upper-parts of
the body ; the mane grayish-brown ; hair of rest ot neck mingled gray and

'-**^ ^'"'^^f^'

''■:^

V]c;. 41. — I.iard River Bighorn. From the tvpe male in the British Museum.

bnnvn, gradually passing into the dark brown ot the body ; no distinct
dorsal streak ; caudal disk very large and pure white, with a narrow dark
line crossing it to join the dark tail ; a darker streak on the flanks, below
which the under-parts are pure white and sharply defined from the dark
area ; front and part of sides of legs very dark blackish-brown, and the
remainder white.

North-Western Bighorn 217

This race is typified by an adult mounted male from the Liard river in
the British Museum, partially described by CoL }. Biddulph on pp. 679
and 680 of the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1885. It is in the
winter pelage, and appears to be nearly allied to the north-western race,
but is as large as the typical representative of the species. Unfortunately
the north-western race is described from specimens believed to be in the
summer pelage, and it is therefore by no means improbable that in winter
they might develop a similar mane, and display equal lightness in the
colour ol the tace as compared with that of the body. Even, however, if
such were the case, the present form would apparently be differentiated by
its larger size, and since it inhabits an area lying between that ot typica and
sfoih'l, it may at least provisionally be allowed to rank as a separate race.

Distrihiitiou. — Typically the neighbourhood of Liard river, near the
northern extremity of the Rocky Mountains, in about latitude 59" N.

d. North-Western Rack — Ovis canadensis stonei

Ovis stonei, J. A. Allen, Bull. Amer. Mi/s. vol. ix. p. i i i, pis. ii. and iii.
(1897); Nelson, Nat. Geographic Mag. vol. ix. p. 12S (1898).

Characters. — The original description of the adult male, apparently in
the summer pelage, runs as follows : — " Above gray, formed by an
intimate mixture of whitish and blackish-brown ; face, ears, and sides of
neck lighter and more whitish, being much less varied with blackish-
brown ; whole posterior area and lower-parts from hinder part ot back
downward and forward, including the posterior aspect of thighs, and the
abdomen, white, the white area narrowing anteriorly and terminating in
a \'-shaped point on the middle of the chest ; also a broad sharply-defined
band of white on the posterior surface of both fore- and hind-limbs,
extending from the body to the hoofs, and above including also the inner
surface ; front of neck, from base of lower jaw posteriorly to the white

2 F

21 8 Sheep

of the ventral surface, including the breast and greater part of the chest,
and thence along the sides to the thighs, nearly black ; the lateral
extension along the Hanks becomes narrower posteriorly, and the neck is
somewhat grizzled with white ; outer surface of both fore- and hind-limbs
blackish-brown, either uniform or in some specimens varied with a slight
mixture of whitish ; back of head with a broad area of black, narrowing
posteriorly and continued to the tail as a well-defined dorsal stripe;
tail wholly deep black, except a few white hairs on the middle oi its
lower surface ; a narrow blackish chin-bar, varying in breadth and
distinctness in different individuals ; hoots black ; horns light brown."

In its relatively small size this sheep agrees with the Alaskan race,
as it does in the form of its horns. It differs in that its prevailing
coloration is either dark gray or blackish-brown, according to the area in
question, instead of being a nearly uniform dirty white colour. With
the typical race it agrees in a general way as regards its pattern of
coloration, hut the umber or wood-brown ot the former is everywhere
replaced in the present animal by blackish-brown, or black. The stature
in the present race is, moreover, considerably inferior, and the horns are
less massive, with a more outward curvature at the tips.

Distribution.- — The upper part of the Stikin \'alley, British North-West
Territory, near the Alaskan frontier, at an elevation of between 6000 and
7000 feet above sea-level, and about 2^0 miles south of the area known to
be inhabited by the Alaskan race.

Mr. Stone, the discoverer of tliis apparently well-marked race of
bighorn, writes as f)llows to Dr. Allen, its describer : — "The only
specimens of this sheep I had the opportunity of discovering were the
males which I found during the months of August and September in the
most rugged parts of the mountains, entirely above the timber-line. I
often found them singly, and at no time did I discover more than five in
one bunch, though one of my party reported having seen eleven together.

Alaskan Bighorn 219

I saw perhaps fifty head, and secured twelve specimens. I was very
careful in my study ot these interesting animals, and I found them to be
unitormly marked, both in colour and general characteristics.

" The youngest ot the three now in the museum was secured August
8th 1896, in a very deep and rocky caiion, just at the base of one of the
highest peaks in this part of the mountains. At the time I discovered
him he was all alone, carefully making his way down the canon, and trom
what I afterwards learned I am very much inclined to believe he was then
in quest of the ewes, lambs, and yearlings in the edge of the timber farther
down the mountain side, and it is quite likely that he had not yet
regularly taken up the company of the older rams. The two older
specimens were taken on August loth, about five miles distant from
the first, and were the only ones in the bunch. I watched them an
entire afternoon before killing them. They passed the time alternately
nibbling at tiny bits of grass occasionally seen peeping from crevices
in the rocks, and playing or lying down on patches of snow and ice.
They were very fat. Specimens taken two months later possessed
the same markings."

c. Alaskan Race — Ovis can.adensis dalli

Ovis moutaua Ju//i, Nelson, Proc. U.S. Mas. vol. vii. p. 13 (1884).

Ovis dalli^ J. A. Allen, Bull. Aiuer. Mas. vol. i.\. p. 112 (1897);
Merriam, Proc. Soc. JVasliiiigtoii, vol. xi. p. 217 (1897) ' Nelson, Nat.
Geographic Mag. vol. ix. p. 128 (1898).

Characters. — Stature not ascertained. Ears short and thickly haired.
Horns of adult male apparently generally similar to these of the Liard
river and North-Western races. In summer the coloration nearly uniform
dirty white, so that the caudal disk is invisible ; the dinginess of the white
over the entire body and limbs being apparently due to the tips of the

220 Sheep

hairs being dull rusty, thus making the fur look as though it had been
slightly singed. In winter pure white.

Distribution. — Typically trom the Upper Yukon \^illey, Alaska, near
where it crosses the British boundary, and extending as tar north as
about latitude 70 . The following passage occurs in Mr. Nelson's original
description : — " From Mr. iVI'Ouesten, and various other tur-traders along
the Yukon and elsewhere, I learned that the range ot this form covers
nearlv all the mainland of Alaska where there are mountains, excepting
the vicinity of the Bering Sea coast. It is limited strictly to the main-
land, and occurs only among the higher parts of the mountains south of
about 68 of latitude, but north ot this it is found on lower ground, and
as the mountains give place to low hills and rolling plains near the Arctic
coast, it descends nearly or quite to the sea-level.

'•'■ Among the natives I have seen typical skins trom tlie mountains
south ot the I pper Kuskoquim rixer ; trom the headwaters of the
Tanana ; trom the Kadiak Peninsula near Bering Strait ; also from the
mountains east and north-east ot Kotzebue Sound, and, during the summer
of 1 88 1, while cruising between Kotzebue Sound and Point Barrow, we
saw hundreds of skins among the Eskimos, who iinariably pointed to
the low range of mountains a few miles back from the coast, when asked
where the sheep were found.

" While hunting near Cape Thompson, on the .Xrctic coast, in the
middle of July 1881, I sav\' a pair of these animals within about five miles
ot the coast, at an elevation ot not oxer 300 feet above the sea. They
were feeding on an open grassy plain at the foot of a series of low hills,
over which they ran the moment they caught wind of me, as I tried to
approach along the bed of a small gully."

In a later paper Mr. Nelson writes as follows concerning this sheep : —
"Two species ot mountain sheep, quite different from one another and
from the Rocky Mountain bighorn, are known in North-Western America.

Kamschatkan Biorhorn 221

The first of these, a superb snow-white animal, was described by the writer
some years ago as Ovis dalli in honour ot Prot. W. H. Dall, the pioneer
scientific explorer on the ^'ukon. The specimens upon which my de-
scription was based were obtained trom the Fort Reliance country by
Mr. L. N. M'Ouesten. DalTs mountain sheep is found over a wide area,
from the low hills beyond the tree limit near the Arctic coast south across
the Yukon and Kuskoquim to the Alaskan range."

From this it would appear at first sight that the animal is pure white
at all seasons, but the original description shows that this is not the
case ; and a mounted specimen in bad condition in the British Museum
has traces of pale tawny on the neck and fore-limbs. Hence it would
seem probable that the pure white is assumed only in winter, and not
always then, since the British Museum example is apparently in the
winter coat. Mr. Walter Rothschild has a pure white head from Alaska
in the Museum at Tring Park.

/.' Kamschatkan Race — Ovis canadensis nivicola

Ovis nivicola^ Eschscholtz, Zool. Atlas, p. i. pi. i. (1H29) ; Brooke, Proc.
Zoo/. Soc. 1875, p. 521 ; Guillemard, ibid. 1885, p. 675; Biddulph, //?/V.
p. 679 ; Tscherski, Mciii. Acad. St. Peter sboiirg, vol. xl. art. i, p. 187 (189 1) ;
Ward, Records of Big Game., p. 249 (1896).

Ovis montaniis, Middendorff, Reise Zool. p. 116 (1851), nee Cuvier,
1817.

(?) Ovis borealis, Severtzoff, Trans. Soc. Moscou., vol. viii. p. 153
(1873); Peters, Monatsberichte Akad. Berlin, 1876, p. 180; Bunge and
Tt)ll, Exped. Neusibii-. I/iseln iind Jena-Lande, p. 34 (1H86) ; Nehring,
'I'l/ndren and Step pen, p. :;6 (1890).

222

eei

Plate XVIIA.

CJiaractcrs. — Size large, the height at the shoulder reaching to about
3 feet 2 inches. Ears very small, abruptly truncated, and very thickly
haired ; no distinct mane on the nape ot the neck ; hair much longer and
finer than in either ol' the foregoing races ; and the white caudal disk
unusually small and not extending on to the upper surface ot the hind-

Fk;. 4.2. — Skull and horns ot Kaniscluukan Bighorn. (Rowland Ward, Rtcoriis of Big Game.)

quarters. Skull very short and broad, with the orbits much more prominent
than in the Rocky Mountain race, and the pits below them almost obsolete.
Horns ot adult male generally similar to those of the Liard river and
Alaskan races, being slender, very smooth, with a distinct keel on the
front outer angle, and the spiral comparatively open, so that the tips,
which are generally sharp and entire, are directed largely outwards.
General colour of upper-parts (both in summer and autumn) grizzled
grayish-brown, becoming more distinctly gray on the head and neck than
elsewhere ; an ill-dehned patch on the forehead below the eyes, and the
front of the legs rich uniform dark brown, as is the very broad stripe

Kamschatkan Bighorn 223

extending from the dark of the back through the caudal disk to the tail ;
upper and under lip grayish-white ; caudal disk, middle of under-parts,
and a narrow line down the hinder surface of each leg white, there being
also some white on the lower part of the inner surface of the metatarsal
segment of the hind-legs. The white on the under-parts and posterior
surface of the legs is tairly well defined from the adjacent brown areas,
hut not so sharply as in /iiirJcnsis, the amount of white on the limbs
being much less than in the two preceding races. In winter apparently
turning white, either in some districts or invariably. A full-grown ram
in good condition will weigh about i^i^o lbs.

The following dimensions of horns of this race are given by Mr.
Rowland Ward : —

Uiigth along Basal . ^^ ,j,.

Front Curve. Circumference. 'f ^'

38 13^ 26

35i 14 26I

34i 11^ I?!

34 i3i 23^

32f i3i 23

3i|- 14 26

3ii i3f 21

3ig 135 24

275 i3h -S-i

Not having had the opportunity of seeing skulls of the three northern
races of American bighorns, I am unable to say how far these differ from
that of the present form. The race is, however, sufficiently characterised
by the absence of a mane on the nape of the neck, the long and woolly
hair, the small size of the white caudal disk, the great width of the
median dark streak by which it is traversed, and the narrowness of the
white area on the legs.

At the present time the British Museum possesses the mounted skin
of an immature male, which from the great length of the hair is evidently

224 Sheep

in the winter coat, although of the usual dark colour. And examples
shot by Dr. Guillemard in September, which had likewise assumed their
winter dress, were also dark coloured. In the Museum at Tring Park
there is, however, the head of a white bighorn killed in Kamschatka
during winter. From this it would seem that these sheep are dark-
coloured on the first assumption ot the winter coat in autumn, but that
as winter advances the hairs of this coat turn pure white, precisely in the
manner of those of the common stoat in many parts of its habitat.
Whether, however, all the individuals of the race thus whiten, or whether
the change is restricted to those inhabiting the coldest districts, remains
to be determined.

Distrihiitloii. — -Typically the countries forming the northern shores of
the Sea of Okhotsk, namely the peninsula of Kamschatka on the east
and the Stanovoi Mountains on the west, and apparently also the Chukchi
country to the north, so that the distributional area not improbably
includes the districts bordering on Bering Strait. There is also con-
siderable evidence that the range probably extends eastwards through
Northern Siberia near to, it not to, the valley of the Yenisei. Middendorff,
for example, convinced himself of the existence of a wild sheep eastward
from the Yenisei in about latitude 67° N., in the Sywerma Mountains, near
the sources of the river Cheta. And it is probably the present or a closely
allied race that Severtzoff described under the name ot O. horcal'is. The
sheep in question was first obtained trom the Chalunga and Pjasina valleys
in Northern Siberia, and was said to be intermediate between ammon and
nivico/d, although much nearer the latter, ot which it might turn out
to be only a variety. Subsequently the same naturalist wrote ot it as
follows : —

" Very near to Ovis nhicola is another, as yet not properly identified
sheep from North Siberia, from the mountains which separate the basins
of the rivers Nyjnaya and Tungasca, tributaries of the Yenesei, from that

Kamschatkan Bighorn 225

of the Chalunga and Pjasina. Several perfect specimens of this animal
were obtained by Mr. Schmidt's expedition for, the Zoological Museum
of the Academy of Sciences at Moscow." More recently the same sheep
has been recorded by Messrs. Bunge and Toll, in the account of their
journey to the New Siberian Islands, from the Upper Lena districts. No
specimens are available in England for comparison with the typical
Kamschatkan form of this race. It the Siberian form should prove to be
distinct, it would have to be known as O. canadensis borealis. A point of
special interest to determine is whether it really shows any resemblance
to the amnion type, as suggested in Severtzoff's original description, since,
on distributional grounds, such an approximation might reasonably be
expected to occur.

Habits. — In the peninsula of Kamschatka, according to Dr. Guillemard,
the bighorn, although not vuiknown in the interior, exhibit a preference for
the slopes of the sea-cliffs, where they are found in small flocks of trom three
to five individuals. Somewhat curiously, all those met with by his party
were adult rams, so that the ewes and younger rams evidently herd by
themselves for some portion of the year, perhaps keeping to the more
inland districts. Some idea of the rugged nature of the ground affected
by the rams may be gleaned from the following account given by Dr.
Guillemard in the Cruise of the Marchesa : —

" Passing beneath the cliff at the entrance to the bay we witnessed the
death of a bighorn under unusual circumstances, for these animals are in
general as sure-footed as a chamois. A couple of them had been driven
into a corner by some members of our party at the top of the cliff, but one
broke back almost immediately. The other, perched on a little pinnacle
at the edge of the precipice, seemed about to follow its comrade, but
hesitated, turned, and ran back. As it did so its foot slipped. It checked
itself for a moment, slipped again, made one desperate effort to regain its
footing, and was over in an instant. The creature never moved a muscle

2 G

226 Sheep

as it fell, and hit the rocks 400 feet below with a dull scrunching thud,
breaking one of the massive horns short off, and converting the hind-
quarters into a shapeless, bleeding pulp."

In the course of about a day and a halTs shooting no less than nine
adult bighorn rams were bagged by Dr. Guillemard's party.

ii. Ammotragine Group — Sub-Genus Ammotragus

Amiiiotragiis, Blyth, Pi-oc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 13; Gray, Knoics/ey
Menagerie, p. 40 (1850), Cat. Vngulata Brit. Miis. p. 179 (1852).

Characters. — Horns of males of the same general type as in the next
group, but transversely wrinkled when immature ; those of females large.
No face-glands, and no pits in the skull tor their reception. Colour
uniformly tawny throughout. A fringe of long hair on the throat, chest,
and upper portion of fore-legs. Tail much longer than in any other
member of the genus, and with long hair on its lower halt.

Distribution . — Northern Africa.

The Arui or African Sheep — Ovis lervia

Antilope lervia., Pallas, Spicil Zool. fasc. xii. p. 12 [ijjj).

Ovis tragelaplufs, Cuvier, Regne Animal, vol. i. p. 268 (18 17);
Desmarest, Manunalogie., vol. ii. p. 486 (1822); H. Smith, in Griffith's
Animal Kingdom., vol. iv. p. 319, v. p. 3^9 (1827) ; Gray, L/V/ Mamni. Brit.
Mils. p. 169 (1843) ; Lataste, Act. Soc. Linn. Bordeaux, vol. xxxix. p. 288
(1885) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. hid. Mas. pt. ii. p. 141 (1891) ;
Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 257 (1896).

Ovis ornata, I. Geoffroy, Descrip. Egypte — Hist. Nat. vol. ii. p. 742, pi.
vii. (1833).

Ovis {Ammotragus) tragelaplius, Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, pp. 13
and 76.

Wild Oxen., Sheep,^. Goats. Plate XVIII.

ARUI, OR AFRICAN SHEEP.

PaihishecL hy Huwlcuwi Ward Lid, .

Arui

227

Ammotragiis tragelaphus^ Gray, Knows ley Menagerie, p. 40 (1850), Cat.
Ungu/ata Brit. Mas. p. 179 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 134 (1872).
Musimon tragelaphus, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mamm. p. 192 (1855).

Plate XVIII.

Characters. — Size comparatively large, the height at the shoulder
being about 3 feet 3 inches. Withers relatively tall, and hind-quarters

Fig. 43. — Head of male Ami. (Rowland Ward, Records of Big Giime.)

low. Head rather long, without face-glands below the eyes, and no pits
in the skull for their reception ; ears relatively large. A short upright
mane extending from the nape of the neck to the middle of the back. In
males a fringe of very long and perfectly straight hair commencing on the
throat and continued down the middle line to split on the chest and
terminate at the orisjin of each fore-leg ; after a short interval continued
on the front and outer surface of the leg to a short distance above the knee,
below which the hairs depend. Tail long, tufted in its terminal halt, and

228 Sheep

reaching to within ahout 5 inches of the hocks. In females the hair
shorter. Horns of adult males generally similar in form and curvature
to those of the bharal {infra, p. 232), but with a distinct keel in the middle
of the front surface at the base, and with the tips directed inwards, or
inwards and downwards, without any upward tendency ; in young
specimens the whole horn is marked with prominent sinuous transverse
wrinkles, which are often retained at the tips of adult specimens ; these
wrinkles are wanting in young horns of the bharal, although adult horns
of both species show the same sinuous lines ot growth. Horns of females
only slightly smaller than those of males. General colour ot head, upper-
parts, outer surface of limbs, and tail unitt)rm rufous tawnv, becoming
rather darker on the mane ; ears, chin, middle ot under-parts and inner
surfaces of limbs whitish ; a tew dark bars on the long hair ot the throat.
Horns yellowish-brown, becoming darker in old animals.

The plate is drawn from an adult mounted male in the British
Museum presented by Sir E. G. Loder. This specimen exhibits the
average amount ot long hair developed on the fore-quarters in the wild
state. Menagerie specimens show a much greater profusion of hair. In
the characters of the skull and horns the arui is almost as much a goat as
is the bharal, although the retention of the transverse wrinklings in the
horns for a considerable portion of life is an ovine character. The length
of the tail is a feature unknown in the goats, and at first sight might seem
to affiliate the species with the domesticated breeds of sheep ; from which
the arui is, however, widely separated by the absence of face-glands and
the form and structure of the horns. In the large size of the horns in
the female the species is unlike any other sheep or goat. As regards the
elongated hair on the fore-quarters, the present animal comes nearer to
the markhor than to any other member of the group, although lacking
the long beard growing on the chin of that species. In respect to
coloration the arui is nearest to the West Caucasian tur amontr the

Arui 229

goats, whereas in the same feature the bharal approximates to the Persian
wild goat.

By the Arabs the present species is termed either arui, udad, or fechstal.

The following measurements of arui horns are recorded in Mr. Rowland
Ward's book : —

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

Locality.

Ili

I8|

Algeria

28i

Ilf

i8i

27f

Ili

26I

lOf

i5i

North Africa

I I

i7f

„

25!

i7i

Algeria

25i

North Africa

II?

134

24^

loi

i9i

„

I9I

loi

i5i

Atlas

i9f

i5i

i9i

i6f

Djobel MatHli

i8i

North Africa

i7f

i3f

Atlas

In this list the last and antepenultimate specimens are those of
females.

Distribution. — The mountains of North Africa, from near the Atlantic
seaboard to ligypt. In the Atlas confined to the arid southern slopes,
within sight of the desert, and unknown in the interior of the range in the
neighbourhood of the coast.

Habits. — The uniform tawny coloration of the arui is of itself sufficient
to proclaim that the animal is an inhabitant of comparatively bare sandy or
rocky districts ; and this we find confirmed by the accounts of those who
have seen it in its native haunts. Among recent observers, Mr. E. N.

230 Sheep

Buxton has put on record some excellent notes on the habits of the
animal, from which the following is paraphrased.

Arui inhabit districts where the cliffs are formed of reddish and
yellowish rocks, among which the rufous tawny of their coat renders them
so inconspicuous that, although by no means uncommon, they are extremely
difficult to detect. Throughout the district water is extremely scarce,
and, according to Arab reports, the sheep seldom, if ever, drink more than
once in four or five days, so that they are easily able to undertake long
journeys in search of liquid. They never enter the cedar forests, where
the climate is moister, and appear to inhabit much more broken and
precipitous ground than the majority of wild sheep ; this trait confirming
their affinity to the goats. As the Arabs have taken possession of all
situations in the mountains where water is to be met with, the arui have
been compelled to accustom themselves to the near presence of man and
the fiocks of domestic goats by which, in these districts, he is accompanied.
To avoid the nomads and their fiocks, the arui are constantly shifting their
quarters ; and they have by long use grown accustomed to selecting sites
tor repose where, while practically invisible themselves, they can obtain
a good view of their surroundings. Arui generally go about in small
parties ot four or five, not unfrequently a ewe being seen accompanied
only by a pair of yearling lambs. In captivity they thrive well and breed
freely ; the lambs, of which there may be either one or two at a birth,
being produced after a gestation of about one hundred and sixty davs. It
may be noted that the coloration of the arui is almost identical with that
of the bubaline hartebeest {Bubalis hoselaphiis) which inhabits the deserts
of Northern x^frica, although it has now retreated south of the Atlas. In
the edmi gazelle [Ga-zclla ci/vicri), which inhabits actually the same
districts as the arui, the colour of the upper-parts is rather paler, while the
under-parts and much of the legs are white, and the tail-tip black. Both
the edmi and the arui assimilate so closely to their surroundings as to be

Wild Oxen, Sheep, &;Goats Plate XIX.

BHARAL, OR, BLUE SHEEP.

PahUshed hfRoKiand, YlardLU

Bharal 231

very difficult of detection. A sub- fossil cannon-bone from one of the
French caverns has been referred to this species, but it seems extremely
doubtful it the determination is really correct.

Although the arui is undoubtedly very distinct from all other wild
sheep, perhaps even more so than the bharal, I cannot bring myself to
regard it as worthy ot generic distinction. Its most aberrant features are
the mane ot long hairs on the fore-quarters, the length of the tail, and the
relatively large size of the horns in the female.

iii. PsEUDoviNE Group — Sub-Genus Pseudois

Psei/ifois, Hodgson, youni. As. Soc. Bengdl, vol. xv. p. 343 (1846) ; Gray,
Cat. Vnguhita Brit. Mas. p. 177 (1852).

Characters. — Horns of males forming an S-shaped curve, rounded or
subquadrangular at the base, nearly smooth, without distinct transverse
wrinkles ; those of females small. No face-glands, or pits in the skull for
their reception. A clearly-defined black band between the fawn of the back
and the white of the under-parts, and distinct black markings down the
whole front of the legs. No fringe of hair on the throat and fore-legs.
Tail rather longer than in the caprovine group.

Distri/nitioii. — Tibet and adjacent districts of Central Asia.

The Bharal — Ovis nahura

Ovis nayaiir, Hodgson, Asiatic Researches., vol. xviii. pt. 2, p. 135 (1833),
in part ; Matschie, SB. Ges. natf. Berlin, 1896, p. 97, 1897, P- 7^-

Ovis nahoor, Hodgson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834, p. 107, Joar//. As. Soc.
Bengal, vol. x. pp. 231 and 293 (1840), xi. p. 283 (1842), P. L. Sclater,
Proc. Zool. Soc. i860, p. 129 ; Kinloch, Large Game Shooting, pt. i, p. 25
(1866) ; Milne-Edwards, Rech. Manini. p. 357, pis. Ixviii. and Ixix.
(1868-74) ; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mas. pt. ii. p. 140 (189 1).

2^2

Sheei

Ovis hiirr/h'/, Blyth, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, p. 67, Aiui. Mag. Nat. Hist.
ser. I, vol. vii. p. 248 (1841), Jouni. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. x. p. 868 (1841).

Ovis na/uira. Gray, List Ma mm. Brit. Mus. p. 170 (1843) '■< Jerdon,
Mamm. India, p. 296 (1867) ; Blanford, Joiirii. As. Soc. Bciiga/, vol. xli.
p. 40 (1872), Tarkand Miss. — Mamm. p. 85, pi. xiv. (1879), Fauna Brit.
India — Mamm. p. 499 (1891); Sterndale, M^/ww. India, p. 438 (1884);
Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 253 (1896).

Pseiidois na/ioor, Hodgson, Joiirn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xv. p. 343 (1846),
xvi. p. 702 (1847) ; Horsfield, Cat. E. Ind. Mus. p. 176 (1851) ; Gray,
Knoii's/ey Menagerie, p. 40 (1850), Cat. Ungu/ata Brit. Mus. p. 177 (1852),
Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 133 (1872) ; Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858,
p. 527; Lydekker, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xlix. p. 131 (1880);
Prezewalski, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 16 (1887).

Musimon nalioor, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mamm. vol. ii. p. 191 (1855).

Pseudois burrhel, Prezewalski, Cat. Zool. Coll. p. 16 (1887).

Pseudois naliura, Nathusius, Zool. Anzeiger, 1888, p. T^i,^ ; Langkavel,
Zool. Garten, vol. xxx. p. 298 (1889).

Plate XIX.

Characters. — Size medium, the height at the shoulder being about
3 feet. Head long and narrow ; hair ot uniform length throughout, show-
ing no trace of either mane or ruff; ears short; horns of adult males
rounded or subquadrangular at the base, nearly smooth, with the distinct
transverse wrinkles of the more typical sheep replaced by widely separated
sinuous lines of growth and also by fine stri;c, arising close together, curv-
ing outwards, at first upwards, then downwards, and finally backwards, so
that the tips, which are inclined inwards, are situated over the withers. In
females the horns are short, curved slightly upwards and outwards, and
suboval in section, with their longer diameter transverse to the head.

Bharal

O o o

General colour of upper-parts brownish-gray, with a tinge of slaty-blue,
becoming browner in summer, and more distinctly slaty-grav, washed with
brown, in winter ; under-parts, inside and back of limbs, and buttocks as
tar as the base of the tail white ; in adult rams the fice, chest, a stripe down
the whole front of the legs except the knees, which are white, a band along the
lower part of the flanks bordering the white of the under-parts, and the ter-
minal two-thirds of the tail white. In the females the black markings on the

Fig. 44. — Head of male Bharal. (Rowland Ward, Records of Big Game.)

face, chest, and flanks wanting. Colour of horns blackish-olive. The
weight of a full-grown male bharal is about i ^o pounds.

With regard to the systematic position of the bharal, Mr. Brian
Hodgson long ago pointed out that it differed from the more typical sheep
by the absence of face-glands and the pits for their reception in the skull ;
this being a feature in which it resembles the goats. He also pointed out
that the tail is more like that of a goat than of a sheep. In a paper com-
municated to the Journa/ of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1880, I pointed
out other features in which the bharal differs from the typical sheep and
approximates to the goats. It is there stated that an important caprine
feature is to be found in the form of the basioccipital bone, or that element
forming the hinder extremity of the base of the skull.

2 H

234 Sheep

In the true goats this bone is oblong in shape, with a pair of tubercles
at the posterior and anterior extremities ; of these, the posterior pair are
considerably the larger and more prominent, but both are situated in the
same antero- posterior line. In the true sheep, on tlie other hand, the
basioccipital is always considerably wider in iront than behind, while the
anterior tubercles are much larger than the posterior pair and are placed
further apart. The basioccipital of the bharal agrees exactly with that
of the goats, and is consequently widely different from this part in
the sheep.

In the structure ot its horns the bharal again presents caprine affinities.
In the true sheep the horns are always thrown into parallel transyerse
wrinkles extending completely roinid them ; the colour ot the horns is
light or greenish -brown, and the direction ot the extremity tit the first
curye is downwards and forwards. In the goats, on the other hand, the
horns are neyer throvyn into coarse and parallel transyerse wrinkles, but
are marked by finer stria-, and may or may not carry knobs anteriorly.
Their colour is olive- or blackish-brown ; they are generally more or less
angulated, and the extremity ot the first curye is directed backwards and
upwards. In the bharal the structure and colour of the horns are the
same as in the goats. It is true their angulation is less marked and their
direction is more outward than in ordinary goats, but in both respects they
are paralleled by the horns of the East Caucasian tur. Indeed, the re-
semblance between the horns of these t\yo animals is so striking, that the
one last-named is trequently spoken ot by sportsmen as the Caucasian
bharal. It may be added that the upward twist of the extremities of the
horns ot the bharal presents an approximation to the spiral horns of the
markhor, and is quite different from the curve of an ordinary sheep's horn.
As already mentioned, the Asiatic mutlon makes the nearest approach of
any member ot the caprovine group to the bharal in the curvature of
its horns.

Bharal 235

Externally, the bharal is distinguished from the goats by the absence
of any strong odour or of any trace of a beard in the males. There are
glands between the hoofs of all tour teet in the bharal ; and in this respect
the animal agrees with the sheep and differs from the goats, in which
these are either present in the tore-ieet alone or are wanting altogether.
The black markings on the head, body, and limbs are very like those
found in some of the goats.

In concluding the paper from which the above extracts have been
paraphrased, I considered that the bharal should be generically separated
from the sheep, and made the type of a distinct genus, for which Hodg-
son's name Pseiuiois should stand. The same view has been subsequently
urged by Dr. Matschie, who has recapitulated the foregoing observations,
and added that in its thick and clumsy legs and the form of the feet, the
bharal is decidedly more of a goat than a sheep.

So far as the structure of the skull and form ot the horns are concerned,
this must, I think, be admitted ; but, on the other hand, the absence of a
beard, as well as of the characteristic odour of the goats, in the males, and
the presence ot glands in all the four feet are essentially sheep-like
characters. And in some undoubted sheep, like the bighorn, the tace-
glands are so small, that it would only be what we might expect to find
them wanting in another species of the same genus. As to the characters
ot the legs and tail, on which Dr. Matschie lays considerable stress, I fail
to see that they afford any decisive evidence one way or the other. It is
urged that the tail ot the bharal is thinner and more pointed than in the
sheep ; but in the larger sheep like O. po/i and O. arnmon this appendage
when covered with the thick winter coat looks broad and blunt, while in
the summer pelage it appears thin and pointed.

That the bharal affords a connecting link between the more typical
sheep and the goats, must undoubtedly be admitted by all ; and if any
change in the generally accepted systematic arrangement were made, it

6 Sheep

appears to me that it would be desirable to include both groups in a single
genus. Without proceeding to this extreme course, the difficulties of the
case may be fairly met by regarding the bharal as the representative of a
separate sub-generic group of Ov/s, leading on from the caprovine group in
the direction ot the goats.

On this difficult point Mr. Blanford writes as follows : — " This animal
in structure is quite as much allied to Capra as to Ov/s, and is referred to
the latter genus mainly because it resembles sheep rather than goats in
general appearance, and hence has been generally classed with the former.
Hodgson distinguished it as PsciiJois, and there is much to be said in tavour
of the distinction, but the sheep and goats are so nearly allied that an inter-
mediate generic form can scarcely be admitted." The following are some
of the largest measurements of the horns of this species recorded by Mr.
Rowland Ward : —

Length along Basal

Front Curve-. Circumference. ^ 'P '" ^ '?•

34 I3i 22i

30S I2I 2 1^

304 II 1 5 ->

292 ii| 25.i

2 8i .? .?

28.1 12I 26i

28 I I 20|

27I iqI 10

27^ II 2li
27

? ?

27 II.\ 28

26f 11.^ 23

26^ 10.', 20

261 I if 23

26J 12 21J

26J 10^ 22

26 12 20|^

25I I2i 313

Basal

ircmiiference.

^^i

I^i

Bharal 237

25i

25I III 25Jf

24^ 12^ 26

24f io| 27I

24 II 22^

Distribution. — Tibet, from the neighbourhood of Shigar in Baltistan in
the west to Moupin in the east, and from the main axis of the Himalaya
in the south, or in places in the high country somewhat southwards, to the
Kuenlun and Altyn-tag in the north. Apparently never descending below
an elevation of about 10,000 feet above the sea-level, and in summer com-
monly met with at elevations of from about 14,000 to 16,000 feet, or even
higher.

Habits. — Bharal is the Hindustani title of this very aberrant and peculiar
sheep, but its proper Ladaki name is na or s'na. By Englishmen it is very
commonly known as the blue sheep, a name admirably denoting that peculi-
arity of coloration whereby it is so strikingly different from all its kindred.
As structure is intimately correlated with habits, it is not surprising to find
the blue sheep displaying in its habits features common to the goats on the
one hand and to the sheep on the other. For instance, while resembling
sheep in dwelling on open undulating ground, and in displaying a frequent
tendency to repose during the midday hours on its feeding- places, the
bharal rivals the goats in its climbing capabilities, being able to ascend
precipitous cliffs with facility, and when disturbed generally resorting to
ground which it would try the most skilled and active mountaineer
to ascend. Although these observations are not my own, I am able to
confirm their accuracy from the results of personal experience. On one
occasion, when travelling in Ladak, on the southern side ot the great
mountain-barrier bordering the south side of the Indus opposite the town
of Leh, I came suddenly and unexpectedly on a large tiock of bharal, the

238 Sheep

members of which were lying on the grass of an open valley, and on being
disturbed immediately took to the precipitous hills on each side. Although
it was late in summer, the herd consisted both of rams and ewes ; male
bharal at this season sometimes herding by themselves, but in other in-
stances remaining with the flock. Before taking to flight, some of the
adult rams turned round to look, as is so generally the custom with both
sheep and goats ; and the skulls of two are now in the British Museum.
The number of individuals in a flock usually varies from ten or less to about
fifty, although sometimes as many as a hundred may be seen together. In
much of the bharal-ground in Ladak there is no covert of any description,
but some ot the valleys are clothed along the bottom with thick E/ecig/i/zs
jungle, the resort ot numerous hares. The bharal, however, always avoid
covert of any description, keeping entirely to the open. The slaty-blue ot
their hair harmonises so exactly with the general tint of the slaty and
gneiss rocks so common in Ladak, that a flock of bharal lying down in a
grassy valley where masses of rock protrude through the turf are very
ditficult to distinguish ; and on the occasion referred to above, it is doubttul
if I should haye recognised the presence of the bharal in time to shoot had
it not been tor my Tatar guide. In Ladak, at least, these sheep do not
appear to have any particular feeding-times, but graze and repose alternately
during the day as the inclination takes them. In some districts on the
Upper Indus not only do the rams separate themselves from the rest ot the
flock, but actually betake themselves to dii^erent valleys during the summer.
Bharal and ibex have been seen on the same ground but not actually feeding
together, although bharal and tahr have been observed grazing in company
to the south of the Niti Pass.

The pairing season and the length of the period of gestation do not
seem to have been accurately determined. Bharal thrive well in confine-
ment, and have bred freely in the London Zoological Gardens. They show
no tendency to cross with domesticated sheep.

Goats

2-39

Where bharal occur at all, they are usually met with in abundance, and
in undisturbed districts are perhaps the easiest of all Tibetan big game to
stalk. General Kinloch states, however, that in places where they have
been much hunted they soon become extremely shy and wary, and require
great care in stalking, as they are frequently in the habit of stationing
sentries in commanding positions while the other members of the flock are
grazing. The flesh of all the wild sheep of Central Asia is of excellent
quality, and in this respect that of the bharal stands second to none.

I am informed by a correspondent that, unlike domesticated rams, the
male bharal in the London Zoological Gardens, when charging each other,
rise on their hind-legs after the manner of goats previous to the impact.

IV. The Goats — Genus Capra

Capra^ Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 94 (1766) ; H. Smith, in
Griffith's Animal Kingdom., vol. iv. p. :^oo, v. p. 356 (1827).

Hirci/s^ Boddaert, E/cnchits Animal, p. 147 (1785) ; Gray, Cat. JJngulata
Brit. Mils. p. 153 (1852).

JEgoceros, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 224 (181 i).

Ibex., Hodgson, "Joi/rn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. p. 700 (1847) ; Gray,
List Osteol. Brit. Mas. p. 59 (1847).

Mgoceros, Gray, Cat. Ungiilata Brit. Mas. p. 148 (1852), Cat. Ruminants
Brit. Mils. p. 52 (1872), ncc Pallas, 181 1.

Characters. — Closely allied to Ovis, with vs'hich this genus agrees in
almost all essential characters. Size medium and build rather stout. Tail
short. No glands either on the face or in the groin, and foot-glands either
wanting or confined to the tore-feet. Muzzle hairy ; a more or less distinct
beard on the chin ot the males. Female with two teats. Hard callosities
present on the knees and sometimes also on the chest. Males with a strong
unpleasant odour. Horns present in both sexes ; in the adult males arising

240 Goats

close together on the head and of great length, more or less compressed
and angulated, and rising above the plane ot the forehead either in a
scimitar-like curve or a spiral ; those of females much smaller and placed
further apart at the base.

Skull without gland-pits below the eyes ; broad across the sockets of
the latter, and narrowing somewhat suddenly below ; the planes of the
occiput and of the forehead meeting one another at an obtuse angle ;
occipital and parietal region much rounded ; profile ot face concave.

Comparing the above definition with that ot the genus Ovis given
on p. 149, it will be found that the points ot difference of the goats
are the absence of glands in the hind-feet, the presence of a beard in the
males, the strong odour exhaled by the latter sex, and certain details in
regard to the conformation of the skull. The horns form no criterion,
since those of the bharal are very like those of the East Caucasian tur,
in which also the beard is but verv slightly developed. Had we only
the sheep of the caprovine group on the one hand and the more typical
goats on the other to deal with, there would be hesitation in admitting the
propriety of assigning the two groups to separate genera. But the arui,
the bharal, and the tur form such a connecting chain that the advisability
of the distinction appears to me doubtful.

This was recognised as tar back as the year 181 i by the Russian
naturalist and traveller Pallas, who referred all these animals to his genus
JEgoceros^ although of course Capra ought to have been employed in the
same sense, as coming in the Linnean system before Ovis. Similarly
Bennett^ in 1835 wrote as follows : — "There are two principal difficulties
in the natural history of the sheep, each involving questions of considerable
importance, but neither of them admitting, in the present state of our
knowledge, of a perfectly satisfactory solution. The first relates to the
propriety of the generic distinction between the sheep and goats, which

' The Gitrdcns and Mohigerie of the Zookgien/ Society Delineated^ \<>1. i. pp. 259 and 261.

Distribution 241

naturalists have borrowed troni the vulgar classification, adopting it in many
instances against their better judgment. . . . The horns, too, vary so ex-
tensively in both cases, and the convexity of the line of profile is subject
to so many modifications, as to render the distinctions drawn from their
characters ot no practical value. On the presence or absence of the beard
it would be absurd to dwell as ofi'ering the seniblance of a generic character,
to distinguish between animals which actually produce together a mixed
breed capable ot continuing their race. From all these conclusions we are
led to infer that the sheep and the goat cannot properly be said to form the
types of separate genera."

With this judgment I am very much inclined to agree, although, in
order to avoid complicating matters by a change of names which may not
meet with acceptation, I have thought it advisable to retain the ordinary
scheme of classification.

By Dr. Gray the goats here included under the heading Capra were
divided into (i) Mgoccros, (2) Capra, and (3) Hircits ; the first division
including the tur, the second the ibex, and the third the common goat
and markhor. This, however, is obviously incorrect. It such divisions,
whether generic or subgeneric, are adopted at all, Capra obviously belongs
to the common goat. In Pallas's description of his genus JEgoceros the
species first mentioned is /E. ihcx, so that this generic term must stand
for the ibex group, thus superseding the later Ibex of Hodgson, and
leaving the tur without a separate designation at all.

Bearing in mind, therefore, that if sub-generic divisions ot Capra are
adopted, a new term would be required for the tur group, and seeing that
the various groups of goats intergrade to a very great degree, I have
considered it advisable to make no such divisions at all.

Distribution. — At the present day the mountainous districts of the
Eastern Holarctic region, impinging on the Oriental region in the
Himalaya, and with one outlying species in the mountains of the north-

242 Goats

eastern quarter of the Ethiopian region. Goats do not range so far north
as sheep, which may be one reason why they have never succeeded in
obtaining an entrance into North America via Bering Strait. During
the cold conditions which obtained in part of the Plistocene epoch they
appear to have been able to exist in Europe near the sea-level. Geologically
they seem an essentially modern group, scarcely any well-defined extinct
species having been described. The earliest appears to have been a species
allied to the markhor from the Pliocene deposits at the foot of the
Himalaya ; this species, like the existing Suleman markhor, having evidently
lived at a comparatively low elevation above the sea, and probably therefore
having been capable ot bearing a high temperature.

Habits. — All living goats are dwellers on steep cliffs and display
remarkable powers of climbing. In this respect they differ markedly from
most of the larger sheep of the caprovine group, which, as mentioned
above, prefer open rolling valleys and plateaux. The bharal, the arui,
and apparently also the Kamschatkan bighorn, form, ht)wever, to a great
extent a transition in this respect between the other sheep and the goats,
so that no argument drawn from their habits can be urged as a confirmation
of the need of genericallv separating the two groups. All the various
species of goats associate in herds, although in many cases the old males
keep apart from the females during the greater part of the vear. When
they live in regions where trees or bushes flourish, goats are fond of
browsing ; and they are all notable for their wariness and difficulty of
approach. In tame goats the period of gestation, according to Hodgson,
is about 160 days.

I. The East Caucasian Tur — Capra cvlindricornis

Ovis cylindricornis, Blyth, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1840, p. 68.

/Egocerospallasi, Rouiller, BiilL Soc. Moscoti., vol. xiv. p. 908, pi. xi. (i 841).

"Wild OxEN,SHEEP.(k.GoATs. Plate XX.

EAST CAUCASIAN TUR.

Pvihsheil hy Bjmhtntl Wetrd Ltd. ■

East Caucasian Tur 243

Capra caiicasicd, Keyserling and Blasius, Wirhclth. Europ. p. 28 (1840) ;
Bhisius, Sciugcth. Dciitschlands, p. 479 (1857); f- ^- Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc.
1886, p. 315, fh'c Pallas, 1783.

Ov/s pallcisi^ Reichenbach, Naturgeschichtc Wicdcrkaucr, pi. xlix.
(1846).

/Egoceros Cducusica^ Gray, Cat. Lhigulata Brit. Mas. p. 148 (1852), nee

Capia caucasica., Pallas, 178^.

Capra pa/lasi, Radde, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887, p. 553 ; Ward, Records of
Big; Game, p. 235 (1896).

Capra cyliiulricoriiis, Biichner, Mem. Acad. St. Peter sboiirg., vol. xxxv.
No. 8, p. 21 (1887) ; Menzbier, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887, p. 618 ; Satunin,
Zool. "Jalirh. Syst. vol. ix. p. 312 (1896) ; Ward, Records of Big Game,
p. 235 (1896).

Plate XX.

Characters. — Build heavy and clumsy, with the head rather short and
blunt ; heio;ht at shoulder about ^8 inches ; horns lartre and massive,
widely separated at the base, nearly cylindrical in section, with more or less
indistinct transverse ribs, but no knots ; their direction at first outwards
and slightly upwards, and then backwards, downwards, and inwards.
Beard confined to the chin ; in the form of a short, broad fringe, curling
distinctly forwards. Pelage (.? in winter) moderately long and thick ; its
general colour uniform dull brown, except on the chin, the tip of the tail,
the front and inner sides of the hind-legs, and the front of the fore-legs
below the knees, which are blackish-brown or black ; no white on
the legs. Beard similar in colour to the rest of the pelage ; horns dark
blackish-olive.

Although typical specimens of the present species are so widely different
from the next, there has been an extraordinary amount of confusion between
the two animals ; and certain specimens of horns occur which are in some

244

Goats

respects intermediate between the typical form of each. Dr. Radde, for
instance, remarks that he has seen very old horns referred to the present
species, which curve almost in a single plane, with the points turned in
a half-crescent shape towards one another, and thus very like those of the
western species. These horns not improbably belong to the presumed
hybrid form referred to under the heading of the latter.

In common with the following, this species is known locally as the

Fig. 4,. — Head of male East Caucasian Tiir. (Rowland Ward, Records of Big Game.)

tur, a name which may be well adopted in English. By sportsmen it is
frequently termed the Caucasian bharal, and its horns are certainly very like
those of the true bharal. But it is very doubtful if there is any specially
close relationship between the two animals ; the similarity in the form of
the horns being a character which might readily be acquired quite indepen-
dently. The bharal has no beard, and its coloration is totally different
from that of either of the Caucasian tur, which are remarkable among the
goats for the uniformly brown tint of their pelage.

The following horn - dimensions are recorded by Mr. Rowland
Ward :—

East Caucasian Tur 245

Length along Basal

Front Curve.

„. r Tip to Tip.

Circumrerence. '^ ^

3H 14 ^ ?

34i i°f i3i

33f 12 19I

31 II 28

29^ 12 20

28I II i6i

26^ lof 18

22i lof 19!

20:i 10 11^

Distribution. — The Eastern Caucasus, from Daghestan to Kasbeg.

Habits. — Few English sportsmen have followed this tur in its native
haunts, and accounts of its habits are therefore scant and imperfect. Accord-
ing to Mr. C. Phillipps-WoUey, who has given some brief notes on it in the
Badminton Library^ this tur inhabits the higher mountain crags in situations
where either large springs of iron-impregnated water, or "licks" of the
same occur. To such springs or licks the tur, if possible, descend at least
once during the twenty-four hours, and it is then that so many of them fall
victims to the concealed watcher. At least during the summer months,
from the beginning of June till the end of August, the tur during the day-
time keep to the bare crags well above the snow-line, free from attack by
either man or insects, and in a situation where the sun's rays do not strike
with the force they exert in the valleys below. With the approach of night
the rattling of stones from the moraines of the glacier proclaims to the hunter
that the tur are descending to feed upon the patches of upland pasture ;
their presence in the gathering gloom being revealed by the shrill bleat
from which they gain their local name of djik-vi. According, however,
to native reports, it is only the younger rams and ewes, which associate in
large herds, that come down to the licks and pastures during the summer,
the old rams keeping themselves apart, and living entirely above the snow-
line among almost inaccessible fastnesses. It is there that the sportsman
must penetrate if he desire to bag trophies worthy of his reputation during

246 Goats

the summer months. Like ibex and other goats which live where ava-
lanches are constantly falling and stones are dislodged from glacier moraines
at every movement, the tur is very indifferent to noises of all descriptions,
and relies for safetv on the keenness of its senses ot scent and vision.

2. The West Caucasian Tur — Capra caucasica

Capra caucasica^ Pallas, Acta Acad. Pctrop. vol. iii. pt. 2, p. 273, pis.
xviiA. xviin. (178^) ; Dinnik, yfw/. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 5, vol. xix. p. 450,
pi. xiv. (1887) ; Biichner, Mem. Acad. St. Peter sboiirg., vol. xxxv. No. 8, p. 16,
pi. ii. (1887); Menzbier, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887, p. 618; Satunin, Zoo/.
"Jahrb. Syst. vol. ix. p. 3 i i ( i 896) ; Ward, Records of Big Game., p. 227 ( i 896).

Mgoceros amnion, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 221 (181 i), nee
Capra anunon, Linn. 1766.

Capra severtxo-xci., Menzbier, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887, p. 619.

Capra severzoici, Satunin, Zoo/. "Ja/ir/). Syst. vol. ix. p. 312 (1896).

P/ate XXI.

C/iaracters. — Build heavv and massive, with the tace short and blunt,
the height at the shoulder being about 37r> inches. Horns large and
massive in adult male, widely separated on the torehead, nearly quad-
rangular in section ; the broad anterior surface bearing in its basal half low
riat ribs, and its terminal half bold knots or knobs ; trom the skull the
horns diverge at an angle of about 45 degrees, and curve upwards, outwards,
and backwards nearly in the same plane, except near the tips, where they
are inclined somewhat inwards. In the young male they are shorter, with
knots along the whole length of the front surface. Beard confined to the
chin ; long and narrow in summer ; broader in winter, when in young males
it forms only a short fringe. Summer pelage short and close, of a uniform
bright chestnut-brown colour, with the lower lip, chin, the root of the
beard, the tip of the tail, and the front of the legs below the knees and hocks

Wild Oxen.Sheep A Goats. Plate XXI.

WEST CAUCASIAN TUR.

PuiU^heci b/ Rowland Woa-dbUd/ .

West Caucasian Tur

247

black or blackish ; a more or less distinct light stripe on the back of the
lower portion of the legs, and a white spot on the fore-pasterns above the
cleft ot the hoots ; no dark line on back. In winter the hair much longer and
coarser. In young males at this season the general colour is light yellowish-
brown, with the same dark markin^js on the chin, tail, and lea;s, and also an

Fig. ^6. — West Caucasian Tur. (From Prince Deniidoft"'s Ihuit'tng Trips to the Cauciuus.)

ill-defined dark line down the middle of the back ; the margins of the lips
being whitish, and the white spot above the front hoofs wanting. In young
females more white is shown on the muzzle. Beard, except at the roots,
similar in colour to the rest of the pelage ; horns and hoofs deep black.
The form of the horns, their wide separation at the base, the uniform
chestnut hue of the summer pelage on the upper-parts, the white spot

248 Goats

on the front pasterns, and the simihirity between the colour of the long
narrow beard and the back are characters amply sufficient to distinguish
this species from all its kindred.

This splendid goat was originally described by Pallas from specimens
collected by Giildenstadt, near the head-waters ot the rivers Terek and
Kuban, which rise in the Central Caucasus on the north side of the chain
between Elbruz and Dych-tau. The figured specimens comprise a female
(plate xviiA.) and the head of an adult male (plate xviiB. fig. i). In
the male head the beard is long and narrow ; and the horns, which appear
to curve in a single plane, are boldly knotted on the front surface of their
terminal half As thev are not those of a verv old animal, thev are
separated by a considerable interval at their tips.

In the Proceedings ot the Zoological Society for 1886 Mr. Sclater
believed Capra cylindriconiis to be inseparable from this species, and de-
scribed it from specimens of the former. But in 1887 Herr Dinnik
described and figured characteristic horns from the Western Caucasus,
while others were figured bv Dr. Biichner in the same year. None of
these specimens belong, however, to very old animals, so that the interval
between the tips of the horns is relatively large.

In the latter part of 1887 Dr. M. Menzbier communicated a paper to
the Zoological Society in which he restricted Capra caiicasica to the
Central Caucasus (the typical locality), and referred all the specimens from
the Western Caucasus (including those described by Messrs. Dinnik and
Biichner) to a new species, under the name Capra severtzoici. Unfortu-
nately no figures accompanied this communication. It is stated, however,
that the goat regarded as the true C. caucasica has horns somewhat inter-
mediate between those of C. cy/indricornis and the goat of the Western
Caucasus ; and that these horns always have the tips approximated, the
distance between them being only about 20 inches. The horns are further
stated to show eight or nine small ribs on the basal half of the front surface.

West Caucasian Tur 249

and about ten more conspicuous nodules in the terminal half. Further-
more, the beard is described as being short and broad, like that of the
East Caucasian tur.

On the other hand, in the western form described as C. severt-zowi the
horns, which bear more or less conspicuous nodules on the front surface,
are stated to curve in one plane, and to be widely separated at the tips, the
distance between which is given at from 32 to 36 inches. The beard is
described as long and narrow. Certain diiFerences in colour and the form
of the incisor teeth are also mentioned ; but as I believe these to be entirely
due to season and age, attention will be restricted to the horns and beard.
The following specimens from the Central and Western Caucasus have
come under my personal notice. Firstly, two young mounted males in the
British Museum from Mount Elbruz, showing the long winter pelage. In
the larger of these two the short horns are knotted in front throughout
their length ; and the beard in both is of the short, broad type, character-
istic of the East Caucasian tur. Secondly, an adult male in the summer
pelage obtained by Mr. St. George Littledale from the Western Caucasus,
and presented by him to the British Museum ; this specimen forming the
subject of plate xxi. In this specimen, which from its locality must be
referred to the so-called C. scvertzoiv/^ the horns curve backwards in one
plane, are faintly ridged in front in the basal, and strongly knotted in the
terminal half; the interval between the tips being 16 inches. The reddish
beard is long and narrow, and occupies only the middle of the chin.

The third specimen is the splendid skull and horns shown in tig. 47,
which is in the possession of Mr. Littledale, and was likewise obtained
from the Western Caucasus, so that this belongs also to C. severt-zowi.
Now, whereas the length ot these horns is just over 40 inches, the interval
between their tips is only 15^ inches, or less than that which Dr.
Menzbier gives as distinctive oi C cylindricorms ! In form these horns are
precisely similar to those of the mounted specimen ; their approximation

250

Goats

being solely due to their greater age. Lastly, I have had an opportunity
of seeing several mounted heads of various ages in the collection ot Prince
Demidoff.

Comparing the horns of the two adult males obtained trom the
Western Caucasus by Mr. Littledale with the figure of the adult male

Fig. 47. — Skull and Horns of male West Caucasian Tiir. From a specimen shot by
Mr. St. George Littledale.

head from the Central Caucasus figured by Pallas, I can detect no variation
except such as is due to difference of age, the beard in the original figure
being ot the long and narrow type. And since I have shown the alleged
wide interval between the tips of its horns to be solely due to immaturity,
the so-called C sfvcrtznc/', so fir as its horns are concerned, is evidently
inseparable from C. cdiicdsica of Pallas.

With regard to the beard, it is first necessarv to show that the

West Caucasian Tur 25 i

immature specimens in the Britisli Museum from the Central Caucasus,
in which the beard is short and wide, are inseparable, so tar as their horns
are concerned, from the adult males. I have compared the horns ot the
larger of these immature males, which, as already said, are knotted in
front throughout their length, with the tips of those of the adult specimen
shown in hg. 47, and have found that the two correspond in every respect.
This indicates that the short horns, knotted in front throughout their
length, belong to young animals ; while long horns with such knotting
restricted to the terminal third or half characterise the adult. In respect
to the beard, specimens in early winter pelage belonging to Prince
DemidofFhave this appendage consisting of a broad and short basal fringe
extending the whole width of the chin, in the centre of which is a long
narrow tuft like that of the adult male in the British Museum. And it
accordingly seems that whereas in immature animals the winter beard
consists merely of the broad short fringe (fig. 48), in older individuals at
the same season the long central tuft is superadded. On the other hand,
adult individuals in the summer entirely lose the basal fringe and retain
only the long central tuft.

All the alleged points of difference between the so-called C. severtzowi
and C. caucasica being now shown to be inconstant, the evidence tor the
specific separation of the latter must be regarded as valueless. In this view
I am confirmed by Dr. Biichner, who has written to me that, in his opinion,
there are but two species of Caucasian tur, namely, C cylindricornis trom the
eastern, and C caucasica from the western half ot the range.

Mr. St. George Littledale has, however, in his possession a skull with
horns of a very remarkable type obtained by himself from the neighbourhood
of Elbruz, which at first sight might seem to suggest a third form.
Although belonging to an adult male, the horns are considerably shorter
than those of the typical C. caucasica ; and in their curvature and the
direction of their tips, as well as in the total absence ot knots trom the

252

Goats

anterior surface, are in some respects intermediate between the former and
those of C. cylindricornh. It was suggested to their present owner by the
natives of the district that they indicated a hybrid between the two well-
estabHshed species ; and I am at present unable to suggest any more
probable explanation ot the ditiiculty. That analogous hybrids do now and

Fig. \%. — Head ot male West Caucasian Tur. (From Prince DemidotJ"'s
Hunting Trips in the Cuiiciisus).

again occur naturally is proved by the well-known case of Ovis brookci in
Zanskar.

The circumstance that these peculiar horns are in some degree inter-
mediate between those of C. cylimlricornis and the typical citucasica, together
with the fact that they come from the same locality, suggests that they
belong to the same kind of animal as the one to which the latter name is
restricted by Dr. Menzbier. It is true that Dr. Menzbier speaks of knots
on the front of his specimens, which are wanting in Mr. Littledale's

Wild Oxen, 5heep,&cGoats Plate XXII.

SPANISH TUR.

PtihU^hed bySmlaJui WarilU

Spanish Tur 253

example ; but if, as may be possible, a race of hybrids is from time to time
developed on the frontiers ot the two valid species, such variations would
naturally be expected to occur. In any case, it is clear that the specimen
under consideration is not the typical C. cai/casicd^ and if (probably together
with Dr. Menzbier's specimens) it should indicate a new form, such
species or sub-species will require a tresh name. I may add that Prince
Demidoff, in his Hunting Trips to the Cai/casiis, firmly believes in the
existence of hybrids of the above type between the East and the West
Caucasian tur.

The following dimensions ot horns are recorded by Mr. Rowland
Ward :—

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basal
Circumferei

40*

I2g

36I

II§

3°!

lit

22f

I Or

I9r

I of

Tip to Tip.

Locality.

i5i

W. Caucasus.

27§

164

Caucasus.

22I

Elbruz.

1 61

Number four in this list is the abnormal specimen.

Distribution. — The western halt ot the main chain of the Caucasus,
from the neighbourhood of Dych-tau and Elbruz westwards.

In habits this species is probably very similar to the preceding.

3. The Spanish Tur — Capka pvrenaica

CJcipri! /)yrcnii/cc/,Sch[nz, Ncne De/ikschr. sc/nvciz. Gcs. vol. ii. p. 9, pis. ii.
and iii. (1838) ; Gray, Knoii'sAy Menagerie., p. t,t^ (1850) ; Blasius, Siiiiget/i.
Dentse/ilnnds, p. 480 (1857); I^'-'^k, Tnins. Zoo/. Soc. vol. x. p. 118
(1877); Lydekker, Cat. Foss. Mamm. Brit. Mas. pt. ii. p. 41 (1885);
P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1886, p. 315; Nathusius, Zool. Anzeiger,
1888, p. 333; Chapman and Buck, Wild Spain^ p. 129 (1893) ; Ward,
Records of Big Game, p. 228 (1896)

^54

Goats

Mgoceros pyreimica^ Gray, Cat. Ungiilata Brit. Miis. p. 147 (1852),
Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 52 (1872).

lih'x pyrcnaieiis, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mamni. vol. ii. p. 188 (1855);
Graells, Mem. Ac. Madrid., vol. xvii. p. 353 (1897).

Ammotragiis ij) pyrenaicus, Nathusius, Zoo/. Anzeigcr., 1888, p. t^-},]^.

Plate XXII.
Characters. — Build lighter and face larger and narrower than in either

Fi(.. 4.9. — Side view of licad of adult male Spanish Tiir with the beard tully developed.

of the Caucasian species ; the height at the shoulder reaching to :?2 inches.
Horns rising close together on the skull ; triangular, with a sharp inner
edge, and the front surface irregularly knobbed towards the extremity
(where it becomes posterior in position), at base ridged ; the form an
open semi-spiral, the direction being at first upwards and outwards, but

Spanish Tur 255

afterwards backwards and inwards, frequently with an upward and slightly
outward terminal flexure, although, as in the other tur, the tips are
generally turned inwards. Beard confined to the chin ; long and narrow
in old males in the winter pelage (fig. 49) ; in the summer pelage, and
in young males at all seasons, reduced to an insignificant tutt (fig. 50).
Summer pelage fine and short ; winter dress longer and more shaggy.
In the fiarmer the general colour dark grayish-brown, with the nape of
the neck, a line down the middle of the back, a band on the flanks, and
the greater portion of the limbs black or blackish-brown ; sides of face
brownish-white. In winter the upper-parts light brownish -gray, with
the nape of the neck, a line down the back, a broad collar on the chest,
the shoulders, flanks, tail, the outer sides of the thighs, and the greater
portion of the legs blackish ; inner sides of thighs and back ot legs whitish.
Beard and horns black.

The above description is taken from mounted specimens in the British
Museum, one of which is evidently an adult male in the summer dress,
while the other, judging from the slight development of the beard and the
length of hair on the head and body, seems to be an immature male in the
winter pelage. Heads of males with the full winter beard are figured by
Messrs. Chapman and Buck in Wild Spain.

In the form and character of the horns the Spanish wild goat is clearly
intermediate between the tur of the Caucasus and the true ibex, although
nearer to the former than to the latter. In its parti-coloured coat the
species is, however, more like the Persian wild goat and some of the ibex ;
but it may best be called a tur rather than an ibex.

The under-mentioned are some of the largest horn-measurements oi the
Spanish tur given in Mr. Rowland Ward's book: —

256

Goats

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to
Tip.

Locality.

Pyrenees

3oi

Spain

29I

23i

Almeira

23|

Spain

27I

27i

I of

i9i

Pyrenees

25f

i6§

Spain

24i

\^il d'Arras

Spain

Hdbits. — The habits of this tur, the cabra montes of the Spaniards,

Fig. 50. — Side view of Head ot' male Spanish Tur with the heard reduced to a tutt.
(Rowland Ward, Rccoiuis of Big, Cir/ic.)

have been well described by Messrs Chapman and Buck in IJ'iU Spain, and
by Mr. E. N. Buxton in Short Stalks, although in one respect there is an
apparent discrepancy between the two accounts. Mr. Buxton, for instance,
states that the Spanish tur, unlike the ibex of the Alps, takes full advantage
of the covert afforded by dense scrub, and suggests that to this habit is due
the incurving of the points of the horns which torms such a characteristic
feature of the present species. On the other hand, Messrs. Chapman and
Buck, in the passage cited under the heading of the Andalusian race, speak
of the rams frequenting the highest mountain peaks at elevations of some

Pyrenean Tur 257

10,000 feet. Possibly the apparent discrepancy is due to the different
seasons at which the observations were made. According to the generally
received account the old rams keep apart from the ewes and younger rams
throughout the year, except during the pairing season, which takes place in
the month of November. The flocks may be very large, comprising often
from 100 to 150 head each. During the spring and summer months,
when the old rams are said to be on the highest peaks, the younger
members of the same sex and the ewes frequent the warm southern slopes
of the mountains. And in winter, under the pressure of cold and hunger,
these latter will descend at times even to the near neio-hbourhood of the

higher villages. The kids are born in the latter half of April or the early
part of May, after a gestation of about twenty weeks, or perhaps rather more.
Very soon after birth they are able to trot after the ewes, which at this
season resort to the southern slopes to avoid the cold winds prevailing
in other situations.

When among bush-covered country, Mr. Buxton states that it is im-
possible to bag adult males ot this tur without resorting to driving, the
hollows in the rocks, and the abundant vegetation by which they are
covered, rendering it almost impossible to detect the game with a glass.

a. Pyrenean Race — Capra pyrenaica typica

Characters. — Generally those given above, the horns ot old males being
large and massive, with the ridges tending to disappear. Mr. Busk
gives the following description : — "The horns are thick, rounded in front
and on the outer side, internally flattened, and behind compressed into an
acute angle, whence the transverse section is pyriform. They diverge at
first abruptly, and afterwards are twisted spirally inwards and downwards ;
so that eventually the inner surface comes to look outwards, and the anterior

2 L

258 Goats

inwards and downwards. In the female the horns are short and simply
curved, flattened before and behind."

Sir Victor Brooke, in a note to Mr. Abel Chapman, published in the
Badminton Library, makes the following observations : — "■ The Pyrenean ibex
are much larger beasts than those of the Southern Spanish Sierras. In the
Pyrenees they are scarce, and live on the worst precipices I ever saw an
animal in ; they go into far worse ground than the chamois, and are very
nocturnal, never seen except in the dark or early dawn unless disturbed."

Distribution. — The Spanish side of the Pyrenees.

h. Andalusian Race — Capra pyrenaica hispanica

Capra hispanica, Schimper, CR. Ac. Paris, vol. xxvi. p. 318 (1848) ;
Rosenhauer's Thieve Andalusicns, p. 4 (1856) ; Busk, Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. x.
p. 118 (1877) ; Chapman and Buck, JVild Spain, p. 129 (1893).

Ibex hispanicus, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Manini. vol. ii. p. 189 (1855);
Graells, Mem. Acad. Madrid, vol. xvii. p. T^^j (1897).

Characters. — Very similar to the typical race, from which it is distin-
guished by its smaller size, and by the horns of old males being thinner
and more compressed, with the basal tranverse ridges well developed.
The short beard, which has been regarded as distinctive, does not appear
to be a character.

Distribution. — The Sierras Nevada and Morena, together with the hill-
ranges of Andalusia and Estremadura. Although found throughout the
elevated cordillera of Central Spain, this race has its stronghold in the
Sierra de Credos. '■'■ This elevated point," write Messrs. Chapman and
Buck, " is the apex of the long Carpeto-Vetonico range, which extends
from Moncayo through the Castiles and Estremadura, forming the water-
shed of the Tagus and Douro ; it separates the two Castiles, and passing the
frontier of Portugal, is there known as the Sierra da Estrella, which (with

Common Goat 259

the Cintra Hills) extends to the Atlantic seaboard. Along all this extensive
Cordillera there is no more favourite ground for the ibex than its highest
peak, the Plaza de Almanzor, 10,000 feet above sea-level. During the
winter and early spring the wild goats have a predilection for the southern
slopes towards Estremadura ; but in summer and autumn large herds make
their home in the environs of Almanzor, and the lonely Alpine lakes of
Gredos."

In the Plistocene epoch this race appears to have extended as far south
as Gibraltar ; the goat remains from caverns there described by Mr. Busk
being tentatively assigned to the present form.

4. The Common Goat — Capra hircus

Capra hircus, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 94 (1766).

Characters. — Generally those of the wild races, as given below, the
beard being confined to the chin, and the horns, which are dark olive-
brown, or blackish, sweeping backwards in a bold scimitar-like curve,
with a sharp front edge, quite unlike the broad and knotted front surface
distinctive ot those of the true ibex.

The domestic race of this goat is the type of the genus Capra as well
as ot the present species ; and the reasons for the adoption of the name
hircus for both the domesticated and wild races are the same as those given
above under the heading of the common ox.

Distribution. — In a domesticated or feral condition, the greater part of
the habitable globe ; in a wild state, as detailed below. Although domes-
ticated, and frequently hornless, breeds are widely spread through Africa,
I am not aware of the existence of any feral race in that continent, although
such may occur on its northern confines.

260 Goats

a. Persian Wild Race, or Pasang — Capra hircus ^gagrus

Capra agagrus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 193 (1788) ; Desmarest,
Mamtnalogie, vol. ii. p. 483 (1822) ; Hutton, Calcutta Joiirfi. Nat. Hist.
vol. ii. p. 521, pi. xix. (1842), Joi/ni. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xv. p. 161
(1846) ; Blasius, Saugctli. Dciitschlands, p. 485 (1857) ; P- L. Sclater, Proc.
Zool. Soc. 1874, p. 89, 1886, p. 315, pi. xxi. ; Blanford, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874,
p. 248, Joum. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xliv. p. 15 (1875), Eastern Persia, vol. ii.
p. 89 (1876), Fauna Brit. Ind — Mamni. p. 502 (1891) ; Danford, Proc. Zool.
Soc. 1875, p. 458 ; Danford and Alston, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1877, p. 276 ;
Sterndale, Mamm. India, p. 486 (1884) ; Radde, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887,
p. 552 ; \V. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mas. pt. ii. p. 142 (1891) ; Satunin,
Zool. 'Jalirh. Syst. vol. ix. p. 311 (1896) ; Ward, Records of Big Game,
p. 229 (1896).

Antilope gazella, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 190 (1788), nee Capra
gazella, Linn. 1796.

Mgoceros agagrus, Pallas, Zool. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 266 (181 i) ;
Kotschy, F(7-/;. Ver. Wien, vol. iv. p. 201 (1854).

Capra caucasica. Gray, List Mamm. Brit. AIus. p. 167 (1843), "'''^
Pallas, 1783 ; Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 525.

Mgoceros pictits, Erhardt, Fauna Cyc laden, p. 29 (1858).

Capra picta, P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874, p. 689, pi. Iviii.

Hircus gazella. Gray, Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. ^t^ (1872).

Capra liirciis, var. tegagrns, F"lo\\'er and Garson, Cat. Osteol. Mas. Coll.
Si/rg. pt. ii. p. 251 (1884).

Plate XXIII.

Characters. — Build relatively slender ; height at shoulder reaching to
37 inches. Horns of male scimitar-shaped, curving backwards, much

H
<

P-.

w
w

X
CO

Persian Wild Goat 261

compressed, with the inner front edge (which is the only one developed)
sharp, keeled for some distance above the base^ and above this bearing
several bold widely-separated knobs ; on the inside nearly flat, externally
convex, behind rounded ; tips generally convergent, but occasionally
divergent ; throughout faintly striated ; in colour nearly black. Beard
of male restricted to the chin, very long, and in old males occupying
the whole width of the chin, but in younger animals only the middle ;
together with the hair on the neck and shoulders, longest in winter, at
which season a soft under-tur is developed in the colder parts of the
animal's habitat. General ground-colour of upper-parts brownish-gray
in winter, reddish -brown in summer, becoming paler in old males ;
under-parts and inner sides of buttocks and thighs white or whitish ;
in adult and subadult males the face, a broad streak from the nape of
the neck to the root of the tail, the entire tail, a collar on the neck,
expanding to form a breast-plate below, the throat, chin, beard, the front
of the limbs, except the knees, and a stripe along the flanks separating
the brown of the back from the white ot the under-parts and joining
the dark streak on the front of the thi2;hs, dark blackish-brown, becoming-
in some cases nearly black on the beard, face, and some other parts ; knee
(carpus), the hinder and inner surface of the fore-leg below this, the hock
(tarsus), and the inner and hinder surface of the hind-leg below the same,
white or whitish.

Some amount of individual variation is displayed in regard to the
extent of the black and white markings. Of several mounted specimens
in the British Museum, two old males, the one from Erzerum and the
other from Mount Ararat, are of very large size, and have the beard
extending the whole width of the chin. On the other hand, in a pair
ot males from the Cilician Taurus the size is considerably less, and the
beard occupies only the middle of the chin. It is doubtful if these
difterences are due to anything more than disparity of age. The dift'erence

262

Goats

in the size of the beard does not appear due to season, since one of the
larger males seems to be in the winter and the other in the summer dress.
An immature male from the Caucasus living in the London Zoological
Gardens in 1898 presented no appreciable points of difference from the
Taurus examples.

In the female the horns are much smaller and placed farther apart,
rising for some distance erect, and then curving slightly backwards ; their
transverse section being oval. The beard is wanting, and the coloration
paler than in the male.

Mr. Rowland Ward records the following horn-measurements of this
and the next race ot the wild tjoat : —

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basal
Circumference.

48i

46^

464

45i

44i

43^

Tip to Ti]
83

i3s
•4

I4r

•5l

Locality.
Sllld

Caucasus
Sind

Asia Minor
Sind

Caucasus
(.?) Sind

Taurus Mountains
Asia Minor

In the Asian newspaper of 2nd August 1898, Mr. J. Strip, of the
Customs Department in Sind, gives the following account of a living
specimen whose horns are reported to exceed all the foregoing in length.
The animal was seen at Karachi on board ship, in charge of an agent of
Mr. C. Hagenbeck, and had been obtained from Luristan, in Persia. " My
measurement," writes Mr. Strip, "with the aid of Mr. Judd and the
owner, who helped me in holding the animal and placing the tape

Persian Wild Goat 263

carefully over the curve, showed the left horn to be 552^ inches, and the
right, which was broken, 500 inches, and between the tips 24 inches."

Distribution. — The islands of South-Eastern Europe (from most of which
it is now exterminated), and the mountains of South-Eastern Europe and
South- Western Asia, from the Caucasus through Persia to the confines of
Baluchistan, where it probably intergrades with the Sind race. Although
exterminated in the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, where it was
formerly abundant, the wild goat is stated by Dr. Forsyth Major still to
survive in the island of Tavolara, situated off the north-east coast of
Sardinia, where its fossilised remains also occur. According to Dr. Radde,
in the Caucasus this species is found in the Little Caucasus, or Armenian
Highlands, from the sea-level to heights of 12,000 feet, and on Mount
Ararat up to 14,000 feet. He also records it from the Upper Ardon, Western
Daghestan, forming the western extremity of the Great Caucasus.

Habits. — In Asia Minor, according to Mr. C. G. Danford, the wild
goat is found either solitary or in small parties or herds varying in number
from ten to twenty up to as many as one hundred head. During summer
the old bucks keep to the higher mountains, being often met with on the
snow, while the does and kids frequent lower elevations. In winter both
sexes keep much more together, living at elevations of from 2000 to 3000
feet on rocky ground among bushes or scattered pines. In certain districts
they may even descend almost to the sea-level. Although at other times
extremely shy and wary, during the pairing season they can be approached
with ease, and may be attracted within range by a concealed hunter rolling
a few stones down the hillside. If surprised, they utter a kind of short
snort, and immediately make off' in a canter. Their agility among rocks is
little short of marvellous, but if driven down to the lowlands they can be
easily caught by dogs, as is done in Afghanistan. When danger threatens,
the oldest male takes command of the herd, and carefully surveys the line
of advance or retreat before permitting the others to follow. Grass, the

264 Goats

young shoots of dwarf oaks and cedars, and berries constitute their staple
food in these districts. The kids, which are usually either one or two in
number, are born in May.

/;. SiND Wild Race — Capra hircus blythi

Capra blythi, Hume, Froc. As. Soc. Bengal, 1874, p. 240, no description.

Characters. — Size smaller than in the Persian race ; the front edge of the
horns of the males either totally devoid of knots, or with only a very few
and these very small ; and the ground-colour of the pelage very much
paler, but the face-markings darker and more sharply defined. From the
table on p. 262 it will be seen that, length for length, the Sind race has
the tips of the horns closer together than in specimens from other districts.

The name C. hlythi was applied by Mr. Hume to the Sind wild goat in
order to distinguish it from C. caucasica, with wdiich it had been confounded,
but as no description was given, the name must date from the present use.
A skull and horns presented by Mr. Hume to the British Museum (No.
91, 8, 7, 160) may be taken as the type, their place of origin being Sind.

Distribution. — Sind and Baluchistan ; in the eastern districts ot the
latter country probably intergrading with the Persian race.

c. Domesticated Breeds — Capra hircus tvpica

JEgoceros hircus, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 227 (181 1).

Hircus agagrus. Gray, Cat. Ungulata Brit. Mus. p. 152 (1852), nee
Capra agagrus, Gmelin, 1788.

Capra dorcas, Reichenow, Zool. Jahrb. Syst. vol. iii. p. 591, pi. xv.
(1888), Zool. Garten, vol. xxix. p. 29 (1888).

The domesticated goat of Sweden, which is the typical representative
of the species, is certainly the descendant of the wild cegagrus, as are also

Domesticated Breeds 265

probably most other domesticated breeds, whether still kept in captivity
or reverted to the wild state, as they have in many countries and islands.
To describe any of these breeds would be beyond the province of this
work, as they do not come under the title of wild animals, in the proper
sense of the word. Many of them have received distinct technical
names, although none are entitled to rank as separate species, or even
sub-species. The goat of the Island of Joura, near Eubcea, has been
regarded as truly wild and described as C. Jorcas, but I am informed by
Prof. E. Biichner, who has seen living specimens in Berlin, that it is
nothino; more than a domesticated breed run wild. A distinction between
most, if not all, domesticated goats and the wild races is to be found in
the presence of a beard on the chins of the females of the former, but this
is evidently an acquired character. Although, as already mentioned, at
least the majority of the domesticated breeds trace their ancestry to the
wild agcignis and hlyfhi, many appear to have been crossed with other wild
species, such as ibex and markhor, both of which will readily breed in
confinement with tame goats. In the Himalaya and Tibet it is by no
means uncommon to meet with domesticated goats having spiral horns of
the markhor type, and it is not impossible that some ot the breeds with
such horns may be descended from the markhor. As a rule, however, the
spiral in tame goats runs in the reverse direction to that obtaining in the
markhor, the first turn of the front ridge of the horns inclining inwards.
But Mr. Blanford states that he has seen exceptions, one being a Nepalese
head in the British Museum.

It may be added that the Kashmir shawl-goat develops a considerable
amount of under-fur, or pashm, at the base of the longer hairs, which is
the material employed in weaving. Since similar pashm occurs in the
wild goat, and is wanting in the markhor, an additional argument is pre-
sented in favour of the origin of the domesticated breeds from the former
species. Mr. Schreiner, the author of an interesting little volume on

2 M

266 Goats

The Angora Goat} is of opinion that the long silky hair of that breed
— the mohair of commerce — represents an exxessive development of the
pashm of the Kashmir and wild goats, the so-called " kemp " of the
Angora being the remnant of the ordinary hair ot the original outer coat
of the former.

5. The Arabian Ibex — Capra nubiana

Capra niihiana^ F. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Maiiiiii. lasc. vii. pi. 397 (1H25) ;
Gray, Kuows/cy Me/iagerie, p. 32 (1850), Cat. Uiigulata Brit. Mas. p. 151
(1852), Cat. Ruwi)iants Brit. Mas. p. 53 (1872) ; Ward, Records of Big
Game, p. 230 (1896) ; Pousargues, Ann. Sci. Nat. Zool. vol. iv. p. 85
(1897).

Capra sinaitica, Hemprich and Ehrenberg, Sy/iih. Phys. Zool. vol. i.
pi. xviii. (1828) ; P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1886, p. 316, pi. xxxii. ;
W. L. Sclater, Cat. Ma//////. L/d. Mas. pt. ii. p. 144 (1891) ; Ward, Records
of Big Ga///e, p. 229 (1896).

Capra arak'ca, Ruppell, Ne//e IVirhelth. Ahyssi//. p. 17 (1835) ; Flower
and Garson, Cat. Osteol. Mas. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 249 (1884).

/Egoceros hede//., Wagner, Schreber's Sdiigethiei e, vol. v. p. 1303 (1836).

Capra hede//., Blasius, Saugeth. De//tschh///ds, p. 482 (1857) ; Tristram,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1866, p. 85, Fai///a Palesti//e^ p. 6, pi. ii. (1884).

Capra /iiengesi, Noack, Zool. A/rzeiger, 1896, p. l^l; see P. L. Sclater,
Proc. Zool. Soc. 1897, P- 9°°-

Characters. — Build moderately stout ; height at shoulder about :^ ^ inches.
Horns scimitar-like, very long, slender, and highly curved ; the outer front
angle bevelled off and the front surface relatively narrow, with a large
number of rather closely approximated transverse knot-like ridges of some-
what large size. Ears relatively long, margined with white. Beard long,
pointed, and occupying the full width of the chin. A little longish hair below

' London, 1898, 8vo.

Arabian Ibex

267

the middle of the nape of the neck, and the hair on the middle line of the
back also somewhat elongated, elsewhere the pelage short and close.
General colour of upper-parts brownish or yellowish-fawn, probably varying

Fig. 51. — Head ot male Arabian Ibex from Hadramut, South-Eastern Arabia.
(From Sclater, Proceedings Zoo/. See. 1897, p. 900.)

somewhat according to the season of the year ; muzzle, chin, beard,
flanks, chest, nape-tuft, dorsal line, sides of tail, and outer side and front
of legs (except knees and pasterns) blackish-brown or black; inner sides
of thighs and buttocks, a streak on the abdomen, the inner sides and back of
hind-legs below the hocks, most of the corresponding surfaces of the fore-legs.

268 Goats

the knees, and a band above each hoof, white or whitish ; horns
blackish.

The most distinctive features of this species are the length and narrow
front surface of the horns, and the long beard. In the former respect the
animal stands in some degree intermediate between the wild goat and the
Asiatic ibex, being broadly distinguished trom the European ibex by the
much greater length of the beard.

Mr. Rowland Ward records the following dimensions of horns of this
goat :—

Length along
Outer Curve.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

Loc.ility.

North Africa

46*

South Arabia

42i

i5i

North- West of Suakin

4i|

i7f

North Africa

38I

I2i

Upper Egypt

^7i

Suakin

„

35i

i5f

Sinaitic Peninsula

35*

North- West of Suakin

3i|

^3h

Sinaitic Peninsula

3i|

^3i

Arabia

20i

Sinaitic Peninsula

This and the three following species may properly be recognised as
ibex, although that name is often also applied to the Spanish tur. They
are all characterised by the scimitar-shaped horns, of which the front
surface is more or less broad and carries a series of knot-like widely-
separated transverse ridges. In the relative narrowness of this front surfice
the present species approximates, however, to the wild goat ; and all the
members of the genus are so closely connected that, as already mentioned,
it appears impossible to divide them into sub-generic groups distinguished
by well-marked and sharply-defined characters.

Arabian Ibex 269

Distribution. — The mountains of Southern Arabia, Palestine, the Sinaitic
Peninsula, Upper Egypt, and thence apparently, into those of Morocco
and the interior of Senegambia. The type specimen is a pair of horns
preserved in the Museum at Paris. In the same collection are two other
pairs stated to have been obtained from Senegal. With regard to these
latter, Mons. Pousargues considers that we should await further evidence
before definitely adding North-Western Africa to the distributional area
of the species. Additional evidence in favour of such western extension is
afforded by a small but characteristic pair of horns in the possession of Dr.
Guillemard, which was obtained by him some years ago at Tangier, where
it was stated by the former owner to have come from the Atlas. It was
scarcely likely to have been exported from Egypt to Tangier ; and, taken
together with the Paris specimens, seems to indicate that the species is
really an inhabitant of the little known mountainous districts of the interior
of North-Western Africa.

Habits. — The general mode of life of the Arabian ibex is probably very
similar to that of the European and Asiatic species. In Arabia Petr^a the
animal is stated by Canon Tristram to be very common, while even in
Palestine it is less rare than is often supposed. Like other ibex, they are very
shy and wary, keeping to the upper regions of the mountains, where their
colour renders them very difficult to distinguish from the rocks among which
they dwell. An observer, quoted by Canon Tristram, states that the kids,
before they are able to accompany the old ones, are concealed by the mother
under some rock, and apparently are only visited at night. He once
caught a young one which ran from under a rock as he was climbing a
mountain. The little creature had evidently heard the intruder approach-
ing, and ran out under the impression that he was its mother.

270 Goats

6. The Abyssinian Ibex — Capra vali

Capra UHilh\ Riippell, Ncue Wirbclthicre Abyssin. — Siiiigeth. vol. i. p. i 6,
pi. vi. (1835) ; P- L. Sclater, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1886, p. 316.

Capra valie, Sundevall, K. Svcnska Vet. Akad. Handl. tor 1844, p. 95
(1846); Gray, Kmix'sley Menagerie, p. 32 (1850), Cat. Uiigii/ata Brit.
Mas. p. 152 (1852).

Capra wa/i, Richters, Big Game Shooting (Badminton Library), vol. ii.
p. 325 (1894).

Characters. — Distinguished from the other species of ibex bv the presence
of a bony prominence on the forehead ; the horns being ot the general
type of those of C. sihirica, but the beard small and rudimentarv, as in the
Alpine species.

Dr. Richters, of the Frankfort Museum, as quoted bv Col. Percy
in the volumes of the Badminton Library on big game shooting, writes as
follows of this ibex : — " The horns of Capra %i-a/i differ from those of C.
sibirica in the following points ; the outer surtace in li-ali is curved,
while in sibirica it is corrugated ; the under side in ica/i being sharper
than in sibirica. The inner side in iva/i has between every two knobs
(on the top of the horn) five or six grooves, which correspond with
a similar number of notches of equal depth on the under side. C.
sibirica, on the other hand, has a fairly smooth inner surface, and on
the under side has under every two knobs (on the top of the horn)
a deep notch, and between every two deep notches a shallower one.
The tip of sibirica is more curved than that of iva/i. The horn of
our specimen of icali has eight knobs on it, that of sibirica (horns i^6\
inches in length, girth or base 9^ inches, cord from base to tip 22
inches) 17 knobs."

This species, which is represented only by specimens preserved in the

Alpine Ibex 271

Senckenberg Museum at Frankfort, is known to me solely from Riippell's
description and figure and the above notes.

Distribution. — The high mountain ranges of Abyssinia.

7. The Alpine Ibex — Capra ibex

Capra ihex, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12, vol. i. p. 95 (1766) ; Desmarest,
Mammalogic^ vol. ii. p. 480 (1822); H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal
Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 300, v. p. 357 (1827) ; Gray, List Mamm. Brit. Miis.
p. 167 (1843), ^iJO-wslcy Menagerie, p. 32 (1850), Cat. Ungu/ata Brit. Miis.
p. 142 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 52 (1872); Blasius, Saugeth.
Deutschlands, p. 475 (1857) ; P- L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1886, p. 315 ;
Reichenau, A^. Jahrb. Min. 1896, vol. i. p. 221 ; Ward, Records of Big
Game, p. 227 (1896).

Capra alpina, Girtanner, "Journ. Physique, vol. xxviii. p. 224 (1786).

/Egoceros ibex, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso- Asiat. vol. i. p. 224 (181 i), in part.

Ibex alpiuus. Gray, List Osteol. Brit. Mus. p. 59 (1847) ^ Nehring,
Tundren und Steppen, p. 206 (1890).

Ibex europcva, Hodgson, "Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. p. 700 (1847).

Characters. — Size and build generally similar to that of the Arabian
ibex, the height at the shoulder reaching to about 40 inches. Ears
relatively small ; beard of males, which is confined to the chin, short and
small. Horns ot male long, scimitar-shaped, sweeping backwards in the
usual curve ; their front surface wide, with a slight bevelling of the outer
angle, the transverse knots more or less strongly developed, but usually
thinner than in the next species, with their outer portion sloping away
towards the margin of the front surface of the horn. Horns of females
small and upright, the usual length being from 6 to 8 inches. Pelage
coarse and thick, but varying according to the season ; in summer shorter,
finer, and more shining ; in winter longer, rougher, and duller, with a

272 Goats

short thick under-fur ; at all seasons longer on the back of the neck, where
it forms a kind of short mane in the old bucks. In summer the general
colour of the upper-parts reddish-gray, in winter yellowish-grav ; under-
parts paler, and separated from the dark ot the back by a chocolate-brown
streak ; a light brown stripe down the middle of the back ; forehead,
cheeks, nose, throat, beard, upper surface of tail, and the lower portion of
the legs dark brown ; on the chin, in front ot the eyes, beneath the ears
the colour tending to rusty ; ears fawn-brown externally, whitish intern-
ally ; hinder part of abdomen nearly white. With advancing age the
coloration tends to become more and more uniform. Horns yellowish or
olive-brown.

At the present day it is difficult to be certain that specimens of the
ibex have not some intermixture of the common goat in their pedigree ;
and it is probable that to such crossings are due certain deviations from
the coloration described. For example, a mounted specimen purchased
by the British Museum in 1S97 shows a whitish ring round each eye,
and a spot ot the same colour on each side ot the upper jaw behind the
lip, and another on the lower jaw ; the middle portion ot the hinder
surface of the cannon-bones has also whitish hair, as in the Himalayan
race of the Asiatic ibex. In other specimens in the Museum, procured
many years ago, these light markings are wanting, and they are accordingly
regarded as aberrant.

The distinctive features of this species, to which the names ibex and
steinbok are properly restricted, appear to be the broad front surface of
the horns and the small size of the beard of the males, together with the
relatively short ears. All three features readily serve to differentiate the
species from the Arabian ibex; while the shortness of the beard dis-
tinguishes it from the Asiatic species, to which, however, it is much more
closely allied. The horns are, indeed, very difficult to distinguish from
those of the latter ; but they never appear to attain such large dimensions ;

Alpine Ibex 27

Length along

Basal

Tip tn T

Front Curve.

Circumference.

35l

26|

34i

33i

39l

3if

i8f

3oh

29I

26|

22i

21I

and, so far as my own observations go, they show a distinct tendency to
bevelling of the outer angle of the front surface, while the transverse knots
are generally thinner and tend to have the outer half less developed than
the inner portion.

Mr. Rowland Ward gives the following measurements of horns ot the
Alpine ibex : —

Locality.

Aosta
Styria
Aosta

Savoy
Aosta

Aosta

In former days it is not improbable that somewhat longer specimens
might have been obtained, and Brehm gives the maximum known length
as about 40 inches.

Distribution. — The Alps of Switzerland, Savoy, and the Tyrol, where
the species is now practically exterminated, although small herds are
preserved in a few valleys on the Italian side ot Monte Rosa. The
extermination of the ibex, or steinbok, as it is called in the German-speaking
cantons, appears to have been brought about at a very early date. Even
in the sixteenth century it seems to have become very rare and local.
In the valley of Martinswand the last individual is stated to have been
killed in the year i 540,' while from the canton Glarus it was exterminated
in 1550, and in 1574 it was difficult to find a buck in Graubiinden.
At the commencement of the seventeenth century it had become very
scarce in Bergell and the Upper Engadine, where in 161 2 its destruction

' Klar, Zeitiihrift dcr Furdinandcums fur Tirol, etc. scr. 3, vol. xli. p. 302 (1S97).

2 N

274 Goats

was prohibited under a fine of fifty gold crowns, and twenty-one years
later by a still heavier penalty. At the close of the seventeenth century it
was still found in the mountains around Bagnethal, and at the commence-
ment of the eighteenth century in Wallis, since which date it has completely
disappeared from Switzerland. Its date of extermination from one ot
the valleys of the Tyrol has been alreadv mentioned; in the year 1666
a few head still survived in the Zillerthal. In 1694 there were known
to be 72 bucks, 83 does, and 24 fawns living in the Tyrol ; but
by 1706 the number had diminished to 5 bucks and 7 does, since
which date none have been seen. On the Piedmontese side of Monte
Rosa, thanks to Government protection, the ibex has been more fortu-
nate, and, as already said, herds exist in several valleys, although it is
doubtful whether all these are pure bred. In 1865 Tschudi reported
them to be comparatively numerous, since which date several fine speci-
mens have, by special permission, been shot. In earlier days ibex must
have been very abundant, since it is stated that between one and two
hundred head were on more than a single occasion exhibited alive in
the Roman amphitheatre.

In Prehistoric and Plistocene times the distribution of the animal was
much more extensive than at a later date. A horn has been found in
one of the Swiss pile-villages, but this, of course, might have been brought
from the mountains by some early hunter. Heer, in his Ancient
Sivitzcrliind, states that horn-cores have been found in the gravel of Oberried
in the Rhine valley, and a skull in a glacial moraine at Pontegana. And
Nehring also mentions the occurrence of similar remains here and there
in the superficial deposits of various districts in Central and Western Europe.
He is, however, of opinion that the ibex remains discovered in Bohemia
belong to the Asiatic rather than to the European species. Heer likewise
states that fossilised ibex bones have been obtained from many parts of
Italy, even as far south as Naples. And it may accordingly be considered

Wild Ojcen, SHEEP,<ly-GoATs Plate XXJY.

ASIATIC (THIAN SHAN) IBEX.

PulU.'ihed. hyRcv/iand y^cu-cLltd

Asiatic Ibex 275

certain that the animal was formerly able to exist at comparatively low
elevations, and that its restriction to the high Alps is a relatively modern
event in its history.

Habits. — In the days of its abundance the Alpine ibex was probably so
similar in its general mode of life to the Asiatic species that one account
will in the main serve for both. There is, however, some difference
between the two in respect to the times of reproduction. In the Alpine
ibex the pairing time is January, and the kids are born five months later,
about the end of June or beginning of July. Either one or two kids are
produced at a birth, and in size they are nearly the same as those of the
ordinary domesticated goat. In the Alps the old buck ibex, which keep
apart from the does at all times except the pairing season, ascend far
above the snow-line, and are thus denizens of a region to which the chamois
does not properly belong. The cry or bleat of the ibex is very similar to
that of the chamois, but more prolonged.

8. The Asiatic Ibex — Capra sibirica

Capra sibirica, Meyer, Zoo/. Anna/, vol. i. p. 397 (1794) ! Gray, List
Manini. Brit. Miis. p. 52 (1843), <^^'^- Vngidata Brit. Mas. p. 150 (1852),
Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 52 (1872) ; Blasius, ^'w^f///. Dciitschiani/s,p. 481
(1851) ; Radde, Reise Ost-Si/)crien, vol. i. p. 243, pi. x. (1862) ; SevertzojfF,
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xviii. p. 333 (1878) ; Blanford, Scie?it.
Results Second Tar/cam/ Expcd. — Manim. p. 86 (1879) ; Fauna Brit. Ind. —
Mamm. p. 503 (1891) ; Scully, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1881, p. 208 ; P. L. Sclater.
Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1886, p. 316 ; Prezewalski, Cat. Zoo/. Co//, p. 15 (1887) ;
W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. pt. ii. p. 143 (1891) ; True, Proc,
U. S. Mus. vol. xvii. p. 6 (1894); Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 224
(1896).

276

Goats

/E^oceros ibex, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. vol. i. p. 224 (iSii), in
part.

Capra pa/Iasi, Schinz, Nciie Deiikschr. schxceiz. Gcs. vol. ii. p. 9
[i^^i'^) ^ ntc Mgoceros pallasi^'KomWxQV , 1841, vide Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887,

P- 553-

I/h'x sibirka, Hodgson, Joiirn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xvi. p. 700 (1847).
Ibex sibiriciis, Nehring, Tiindren uiid Steppeii, p. iii (1890).

Fig. 52. — Oblique view of Head of male Himalayan Ibex. (From Darrah's Sport in the Higklmids of

Kashmir.')

Plate XXIV.

Characters. — Height at shoulder reaching to from 40 to 42 inches.
Build and general appearance very similar to the Arabian ibex, the beard
of the males, which is confined to the chin, being long and pointed, the
ears relatively large, and the horns scimitar-shaped and very long. The
front surface of the latter very broad, with no bevelling of the outer edge,
and bearing very prominent and thick transverse knots, of which the outer

Asiatic Ibex 277

side is almost as much developed as the inner ; the section completely
triangular, with the hinder angle compressed. Horns of female much
smaller, placed wider apart on the head, coarsely rugose, or ringed, with an
oval section at the base, but compressed above, and inclining slightly back-
wards. Hair coarse and brittle, forming a rather elongated ridge along the
back in the male, and in winter underlain by a dense, soft, woolly under-
fur or pashm. General colour of upper-parts in summer some shade of
brown, becoming chocolate in old males, with a more or less distinctly
defined dirty white saddle on the middle of the back, scarcely paler on the
under-parts ; in late winter the general colour yellowish- white, more or
less tinged with brownish or grayish, but in the early part ot the season
old males much darker, being frequently full brown with a large, dirty
white saddle-shaped patch on the back ; generally a dark line down the
middle of the back at all seasons ; beard and tail dark brown at certain times
of year, as are the legs, which may or may not have a large white streak
on the hinder surface of both cannon-bones. Horns yellowish- or olive-
brown.

There is no difficulty in distinguishing the horns of this species, the
linest of the group, from those of the Arabian ibex. They attain much
larger dimensions than those of any examples of the Alpine species now
extant ; and it is probable that the latter, even in its prime, never attained
similar dimensions. Alpine ibex horns, judging from such examples as
have come under my own notice, seem always distinguishable by the slight,
although distinct, bevelling of the outer external angle ; and by the trans-
verse knots being either altogether smaller, or by having a less development
of their outer portion. The smaller ears and slight development of the
beard are also distinctive differences in the Alpine species.

The following are some of the largest dimensions of the horns of this
species recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward : —

278

Length along
Front Curve.

Basnl
Circumferenc

54^

loi

53i

104

5ii

loi

lOl

1 1

49^

io|

49i

I°i

loi

48i

48A

47^

i°i

loi

46.^

1 1

45i

!Oi

loi

44&

>o|

44.',

>'•].

44i

I I

44i

43iJ

±ik

loi

Goats

43.;
43.;

9^
9i

Tip to Tip.

25
'4

20+

281,
2 1

3oi
25i
42

9
30
34
20

24^

24:5

29$

24'
25
24:-
26

29
30
26

34
16.1

24^
19

Locality.

Gllgit

Kashmir

p
Kashmir
Baltistan

Gilgit
?

Kashni

Baltistan
Astor

Ladak

Kashmir

Himalaya
Kashmir

Female horns generally measure about 12 inches in length.

Mr. Blanford, who derived his information from General Kinloch,
gives the height at the shoulder at about 40 inches ; but Mr. Rowland
Ward records measurements ranging from 40 to 42 inches. The speci-
mens in the British Museum, as mounted, stand about 38 inches, but the
skins of these have probably shrunk.

Distribution. — The mountain ran<j;es of Central Asia, from the Altai to
the Himalaya, and from the neighbourhood of Herat to Kumaun ; in

Asiatic Ibex

279

Kashmir unknown in the Pir-Panjal, and, I beheve, the Kajnag ranges ;
in Central Asia, ranging as far east as Lake Baikal, and in the Himalaya at
least as far as the source of the Ganges.

Habits. — For the last forty or fifty years the Himalayan race of this
handsome species has formed such a favourite object of pursuit to English
sportsmen that naturalists, from their writings, have become thoroughly

V/^

Fig. 53. — Front view of head of male Himalayan Ibex. (From Darrah's Sporl hi the
Highliinds of Kashmir.)

acquainted with its life history. The usual result of such pursuit is,
however, making itself severely felt in the neighbourhood of the Kashmir
valley, even if not also in districts still more remote. And whereas Colonel
F. Markham, whose Shooting in the Hinialayas was published in the year
1854, speaks of herds of ibex numbering a hundred or more individuals,
very much smaller parties are now the rule. The thick coat of pashm,
or under-fur at the base of the longer hairs of the coat renders the kel, as
this ibex is called in Kashmiri, practically independent of cold, and there-

280 Goats

fore a hardier animal than its longer-coated relative the markhor. And it
is stated that, as a rule, even in winter they do not descend to very low
levels, although I have seen a tiock driven down by a sudden blizzard to
the level of the Indus valley in Ladak during summer, and the villagers of
Tilel and Maru-Wardwan report killing them at no great height above
their habitations during the depth of winter. When they keep at con-
siderable elevations during the long winter season they are stated to select
positions where the steepness of the ground prevents heavy accumulations
of snow, and where consequently a precarious subsistence is to be picked
up at all seasons. About October the old males descend from the high
uplands where they have spent the summer to consort with the females ;
the pairing season taking place in winter, and the young are born during
May and June. Previous to the latter event the males have once more
separated themselves to seek the mountain peaks. When on these eleva-
tions they otten spend the day in slumber tar above the limits of vegetation
among wastes of snow and ice, descending regularly every morning and
evening to graze on the Alpine pastures at lower levels. Such descents
are the sportsman's opportunity ; and the most wearying thing about
ibex-shooting is the long midday wait when the game are reposing on
the almost inaccessible crags. In spite ot their excessive wariness, ibex are
not excessively difficult to approach on account of the broken and rugged
nature of the ground they frequent, which affords abundant means of
concealment for the stalker. To protect themselves they rely both upon
sight and smell, although it has been stated that the former sense is
considerably the more acute of the two.

Their chief natural enemies are the wild dog and the snow-leopard, or
ounce, and since these probably in most cases approach them from below,
it is to that direction their vigilance is directed, as they either have no
fear of avalanches, or are sufficiently warned by the noise these make in
descending. Accordingly, the object of the sportsman should be to get

Thian Shan Ibex 281

well above his game, from which point of vantage he may stalk them with
comparative ease. Where ibex are much harassed they acquire the habit
ot posting two or three of their number to act as sentinels, while the rest
of the herd are grazing ; the alarm-signal being a loud kind of whistle, on
hearing which the whole company immediately take to thght. And there
are few finer sights than to see a herd of male ibex making their way
at headlong speed across apparently impassable crags, glaciers, and gorges.
When in flight they invariably make for higher grounds.

In parts of the Himalaya ibex are hunted by the natives with dogs, and
where they have been thus harried, or after they have been pursued by
packs ot wild dogs, they are almost impossible to approach. They are,
however, by no means always scared by the sound of shooting in their
neighbourhood ; the rifle-report being apparently mistaken for the crash of
the avalanche. Moreover, like other mountain game, they are frequently
unable to ascertain the direction whence the first report proceeds, and being
thus in a state of bewilderment, afford easy opportunity for a second or even
third shot before making up their minds as to their best line of retreat.

Many ibex are killed during the long winter in the remote Himalayan
valleys, not only for the sake of their flesh, but likewise for the valuable
pashm, or under-wool, which, like that of the domesticated goat of
Kashmir, is woven into the fine soft cloth locally termed pasbmina.

The Balti name of the ibex is skin, or iskin, which has been Latinised
into the scientific title of the Himalayan race.

a. Thian Shan Race — Capra sibirica typica

Characters. — A dark blackish -brown streak down the middle ot the
back ; front of fore- and hind-legs dark brown, the brown extending round
the leg at the tetlock ; below and above this band the hinder and part ot
the inner surface white to the hocks in the hind-legs ; hinder surface of

2 o

282 Goats

fore -legs also white between the lateral hoofs and the knees ; under-
parts whitish.

This ibex is represented, in addition to skulls and unmounted skins, by
three mounted males in the British Museum, two of which are from the
Thian Shan, while the third is from the Altai, the latter locality being
apparently the one from which the species was first described. They are
all in the winter pelage, which is of the yellowish-white colour tinged
with brown or grayish usually seen in specimens shot by English sports-
men, most or all of which are killed in the late spring.

From Baltistan a very dark-coloured ibex has been reported, but was
considered by Dr. Scully to be merely the old male in winter pelage.
Two skins from the same locality haye been subsequently described by
Mr. F. W. True, who writes as follows: — "They are in winter pelage
and yery dark. The colours of the two skins are almost identical, and the
markings are very sharply defined, in which latter feature they appear to
difter from ordinary specimens of C .f/'/wvtv/." The following is a description
of one of these skins : — " Face, neck, breast, fore-legs, shoulders, the lovyer
part of the flanks, the thighs, a line along the spine, and the tail, strong
umber-brown. The hind-legs are also brown, but haye a sharply-defined,
large, oblong, white (or cream-coloured) mark on the postero-external
part of the metatarsus, extending from the hock to the outer false hoof,
and prolonged betvyeen the latter and the true hoof. A white mane
(tinged with brown at the extremities of the hairs) extends along the
spine from the middle of the nape to the shoulders. The brovyn of the
shoulders follows, and behind this the whole back is occupied by a large
elliptical white mark, or saddle (somewhat washed with brown), which is
bisected longitudinally by a dark brown spinal line, as already stated.
Belly whitish ; ears white at the base anteriorly, brown elsewhere. The
beard is blackish-brown, with a few soiled white hairs at its base. A
narrow white area surrounds the anal retrion. All the hairs are \yhite or

Thian Shan Ibex 283

whitish at the base — purest where the extremities are merely tinged
brown, and less so where they are dark."

In the white on the lower part of the hind -legs, as well as in the
whitish under -parts, these specimens agree with the British Museum
examples from the Thian Shan and Altai, but differ by the much darker
upper-parts, on which the whitish saddle alone accords with the general
coloration of the latter. They agree, however, in their general darkness
with Dr. Radde's description of an ibex in the winter pelage from the
Sajan Mountains of Eastern Siberia, which is undoubtedly the typical
C. sibirica.

The explanation of the difference appears to be as follows : — The
specimens described by Mr. True were shot, respectively, on the 19th and
2 1st of December, and were thus in the comparatively early winter pelage.
There is no record of the season at which the Altai and Thian Shan
specimens in the British Museum were killed ; but, as already said, practi-
cally all the ibex shot by English sportsmen in the Himalaya and Baltistan
are killed in the late spring. Now it is a well -ascertained fact that the
lighter-coloured portions of the winter pelage of the wapiti bleach con-
siderably as the season advances ; and it appears highly probable that a
similar fading takes place in the case of all the races of the present species.
In Mr. True's description it is stated that the hairs of many parts of the
body are merely tipped with brown ; and nothing is more likelv than that
such tips should bleach to a dirty white after exposure to the storms of
winter. Dr. Scully's explanation that the dark individuals are old males
in the winter pelage, although true to a certain extent, is insufficient,
because the majority ot specimens shot by English sportsmen are likewise
old males in the winter pelage, and yet are light-coloured.

Distribution. — From the Altai and Sajan ranges through the Thian Shan
to the Trans-Indus districts of Gilgit and Baltistan, not extending east of
Lake Baikal. The ibex obtained by the English Boundary Commission

284 Goats

from the Parapomisus Mountains of Afghanistan is doubtless this race,
whose southern and south-eastern limits are probably defined by the
Indus.

/;. Himalayan Race — Capra sibirica sacin

Capra ihex, Hodgson, Joiirn. As. Soc. Bengal., vol. x. p. 913 (1841), xi.
p. 283 (1841), nee Linn. 1766.

Capra sakeen., Blyth, Joi/rn. As. Soc. Bengal., vol. xi. p. 283 (1841).

Capra ibex hemalayanus., Hodgson, Calcutta 'Joitrn. Nat. Hist. vol. ii.
p. 414 (1842).

/Egoceros skyn., Wagner, Schreber's Sangethiere, vol. iv. p. 491 (1844).

Capra himalayana, Schinz, Synop. Mamm. vol. ii. p. 463 (1845) ; Gray,
Knowsley Menagerie., p. T,i, (1850), Cat. Ungiilata Brit. Mas. p. 150 (1852) ;
Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 523.

IIh'x sakin., Hodgson, "Journ. As. Soc. Bengal., vol. xvi. p. 700 (1847).

Capra sihirica, Jerdon, Mamm. India., p. 292 (1867) ; Kinloch, Large
Game Shooting, pt. i. p. 30 (1869) ; Sterndale, Mamm. India, p. 444 (1884) ;
Thomas, Trans. Linn. Soc. ser. 2, vol. v. p. 64 (1889).

Capra skyn, Severtzoff, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xviii. p. 334
(1878) ; Prezewalski, Peters. Mittli. Erzb. vol. xii. p. 5 (1878).

Capra sakin, Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. — Mamm. p. 504 (1891).

Characters. — Apparently distinguished from the typical race by the
legs being uniformly dark brown throughout, and also by the darker
under-parts.

With the hundreds of Himalayan ibex yearly shot by English sports-
men, it is somewhat surprising to find Mr. Blanford remarking that he had
only been able to examine one undoubted skin trom the Himalaya, and
was therefore unable to decide whether the dilference in the coloration of
the legs formed a constant distinction between the Piimalayan and Thian
Shan forms. Although years ago I have seen scores of skins, I am at the

Himalayan Ibex 285

present time in no better position to decide the question, which must
consequently await turther evidence. From the analogy of the Tibetan
and Siberian argalis, and the difference between the markhor of Baltistan
and that of the Pir-Panjal, I am, however, of opinion that the Himalayan
ibex is probably sub-specifically distinct from the Thian Shan and Altai
form, and therefore retain the name which has been proposed for it.

Distribution. — The higher elevations of the Himalaya, exclusive of the
Pir-Panjal, from the bend of the Indus above Gilgit eastwards, at least as
far as the source of the Ganges. Mr. Blanford remarks that this ibex "is
not known to occur farther east in the Himalayas nor in Eastern Tibet,
and although it is included in Hodgson's lists of Nepal mammals, there
are no specimens in his collection ; but when in Northern Sikhim I heard
from Tibetans of an animal, probably this species, inhabiting the mountains
north of Shigatze, and Hodgson obtained similar information as to its
occurrence north of Lhassa and Digarchi." Mr. Rowland Ward has,
however, recorded ibex heads from Ladak, and I believe that I myself
have heard of the existence of the animal in the southern parts of
that district.

c. Dauvergne's Race — Capra sibirica dauvergnei

Capra dauvergnei., Sterndale, "Journ. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. i. p. 24
(1886); Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. — Mamm. p. 504 (1891).

Characters. — A provisional race founded on a head purchased in Kashmir,
which it is suggested may have come from the districts to the west of
that country. The horns are very dark-coloured, much more curved
round than is ordinarily the case in the Himalayan race, and are devoid
of knobs except near the tips. The latter peculiarity is strongly suggestive
of an abnormality. Three specimens are recorded, in the longest of which
the horns measure 52 inches along the curve.

286 Goats

9. The Markhor — Capra falconeri
Mgoceros [Capra) falconeri^ Wagner, Munch, gelehrt. Anzciger. vol. ix.

P- 430 (1839)-

Mgoceros falconeri, Wagner, Schreber's Sanget/i/ere, vol. iv. p. 499 (1844).

Capra fa /coneri, Wagner, in Hiigel's Kasc/iniir, vol. iv. p. 579 (1848) ;
Blanford, Jonrn. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xliv. p. 17 (1875), Fauna Brit. Ind. —
Manini. p. 505 (1891); Scully, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1881, p. 209; P. L.
Sclater, ihiJ. 1886, p. 317; W. L. Sclater, Cat. Manini. Ind. Mus. part ii.
p. 145 (1891).

Hircus megaceros, Adams, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 525 ; nee C. niegaceros,
Hutton, sensu strictu.

Capra niegaceros, Jerdon, Manini. Ind. p. 291 (1867) ; Kinloch, Large
Game Shooting, part i. p. 37 (1869) ; Sterndale, Manini. Ind. p. 441 (1884).

Hircus falconeri. Gray, Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 53 (1872), Hand-
list Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 126 (1873).

Plate XXV.

Characters. — Build heavv and massive, height at shoulder varying from
"^5 to 41 inches. Hair on the body and legs short in summer, long and
silky in winter, with little or no under-fur ; in old males at all seasons a
profuse beard, extending from the chin down the throat to the chest, and
upwards along the sides of the neck to the base of the ears and nape ; in
young males and females the beard short and restricted to the chin. Horns
of males much compressed, situated close together, and twisted into a spiral,
with the front keel turning at first in an outward direction ; in young indi-
viduals sharply angulated both in front and behind, but the front of the
base becoming rounded with increasing age; the form ol the spiral varying
from that of a very open corkscrew to that of an ordinary screw, of which

Wild Oxen, Sheep,&Goats .Plate XXY.

ASTOR MARKHOR.

Fuhllshed, hy Rowland' 'WardLU

Markhor 287

the two keels form the worm ; in females the horns short, compressed, and
spiral. General colour in winter gray, in summer rich reddish-brown, but
in old males whitish throughout ; the long hairs of the winter pelage white
at the base, with brown tips ; the under-parts lighter than the back, in
some cases whitish ; a dark stripe on the front of the legs from the knees
and hocks to the fetlocks ; beard of males black in front, light gray behind ;
tail dark brown ; and in young animals the general colour uniformly grayish-
brown, with a dark stripe down the middle of the back, and, it is said, the
beard wholly black. Horns deep black.

The markhor (literally snake-eater) is entitled to rank as one of the
handsomest, if not actually the handsomest, of all the wild goats. The
horns indicate four more or less distinct types, the extreme modifications of
which differ much more widely from one another than do the horns of
many species ; but since all the four types more or less completely inter-
grade, it is evident they must be ranked as geographical races, and can have
no claim to specific rank. There is also an extinct form from the Siwalik
Hills, which likewise seems best regarded as a race, although specimens less
imperfect than those known might show specific characters.

The form of the horns and the nature of the beard are amply sufficient
to prove that the markhor has no close affinity with any of the other Asiatic
wild goats. Its occurrence in the Pliocene deposits of the Siwaliks indi-
cates that it is evidently an ancient type. And although its beard is
different, the shape and contour of the horns, together with their black
colour, so different from that of the true ibex, are strongly suggestive that
its closest affinities are with the Spanish tur.

Its connection with the parentage of the wild goat has been already
referred to under the heading of Capra hircus. With regard to its alleged
snake-killing propensities, it may be mentioned that, while there is no
definite information available as to their truth or otherwise, precisely the
same attribute is assigned to the common goat in Scotland.

288 Goats

The habits of this noble species may be best considered under the
heading of the different races. Information is much needed whether these
show any difference in the coloration of the pelage, or whether they differ
solely in respect of the horns and size.

Distrilnit'io)i. — The Kajnag and Pir-Panjal ranges south of Kashmir to
as far east as the valley of the Chinab ; the ranges of Baltistan, Astor, and
Gilgit to the north ; Hazara and several of the hill-ranges of Afghanistan,
such as the Suleman range as far south as Gendari Hill near Mithankot,
and likewise Takatu and Chehiltan near Ouetta. In the Pliocene epoch
the plains of the Punjab.

The weight of specimens of the larger races ot the markhor ranges
from 1 80 to 240 lbs.; the actual records being 1S4, 204, and 240 lbs.

a. Astor Race — Capra falconeri tvpka

Capra falconeri. Ward, Records of Big Gc/wt\ p. 236 (1896).

Characters. — Size large, probably fully equal to that of the next
race. Horns of males forming an extremely open spiral, apparently never
exceeding one and a halt turns.

Distribution. — Astor and Baltistan ; apparently intergrading with the
next race on the confines of Hazara and Gilgit.

Habits. — Like the other races of the species, the Astor markhor
frequents the most difficult and precipitous ground, where, in spite of its
size and weight, its agility is fully equal to that of any other member of
the genus. So precipitous, indeed, is the country where it is found,
that a considerable proportion of the heads shot are irretrievably ruined by
falling from the cliffs into the valleys below. Congregating for a consider-
able part of the year in herds, from which, however, the old bucks separate
themselves in summer, they live almost entirely in the open, resorting to

Astor Markhor

289

the patches of forest only when driven thereto in order to escape the
torments inflicted by the swarms of gadflies during the hot months of the
year. In the winter, especially after heavy falls of snow, they are driven
down by the cold from the higher grounds to the cliffs overhanging the
main streams, or occasionally to even still lower levels, Colonel J. Biddulph

Fig. 54. — Front view of Head of male Astor Markhor. (From Darrah's Sport in the
Highlands of Kashmir.)

relating that he once captured an adult buck in the Residency garden at
Gilgit. The absence of the coat of under-fur, or pashm, is doubtless the
reason that the markhor is so much more susceptible of cold than its
relative the ibex. In May these animals once more ascend to join the
ibex, which in this district appear never to leave the higher pastures; and
in June both ibex and markhor may be seen feeding together — a somewhat

290

Goats

remarkable association, when it is remembered that the former species is
unknown in the typical habitat of the Pir-Panjal race of the latter. In
Astor and Gilgit the young, which may be either one or two in number,
are born in May and June.

Markhor, probably of the Pir-Panjal race, hav^e repeatedly bred in
captivity with the domestic goat.

Fig. 55. — Oblique view of Head of male .Astor Markhor. (From Darrah's Sport in the
Uighlandi of Kashmir.')

h. Pir-Panjal Race — Capra fai.coneri cashmiriensis

Characters. — Size large, the height reaching to 40 or 41 inches at the
shoulder. Horns of males with the spiral less open than in the typical
race, and showing in fine examples from one to two complete turns. As
observed by Mr. Blanford, the horns of this race pass into those of the last
and the next by every conceivable gradation, probably on the confines of
their respective distributional areas.

The following are some of the largest dimensions of horns of this and
the preceding race recorded by Mr. Rowland Ward : —

Pir-Panjal Markhor

291

Length along
Outer Curve.

Length in
Straight Line.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

Locality.

Pir-Panjal

58*

4oi

38i

Gilgit

Astor

13*

54i

lOi

26I

I of

33|

Astor

53i

42i

53
53

?
38f

9i
9f

35i

p
Gilgit

52|

39I

12*

33|

Astor

424

Gilgit

5i|
514

37i

10
iif

33
49|

Pir-Panjal

Astor

1 1

„

36i

Chilas

49i

Kajnag

32i

loi

Gilgit

1 1

Haramosh

Astor

484
48i

47i
47

?
?

I if

29I
?

p
Pir-Panjal

Distribution. — The Pir-Panjal and Kajnag ranges on the south side of
the valley of Kashmir, unknown on the northern side of that valley, and
not extending farther east than the Chinab ; to the north-west in Hazara
and Gilgit. In not extending to the northward of the vale of Kashmir,
the distribution of this race is similar to that of the Himalayan tahr,
although it is more extended to the north-west in that it crosses the
Jhelam valley to include the Kajnag range.

Habits. — The Pir-Panjal markhor is one of the animals in imminent
danger of extermination in its typical habitat, unless the new forest laws
of the Kashmir Government are sufficiently stringent to enable it to

292

Goats

recover its numbers. At the time that I knew the district, markhor were
nearly always to be met with at the head of a small valley flowing into
the Jhelam near its bend below Naoshera ; but of late years, I am
informed, they have become extremely scarce there.

Unlike the Astor race, the Pir-Panjal markhor is a thoroughly forest-
dwelling goat, its true home being the precipitous cliffs in the thick
forests ot its native range, from which it sallies forth at times to graze on

Fic. 56. — Horns of male Pir-Panjal Markhor.

the higher slopes of the mountains. After the storms which are so
frequent at many seasons of the year in the Panial and Kajnag ranges,
markhor are almost sure to show themselves in the open glades at the
first gleam of sunshine ; and it is consequently at such times that they
should be most carefully looked for by the sportsman.

The forests in which the markhor dwell are chiefly of pines and
birch, and these alternate with steep grassy slopes and precipitous cliffs
of slaty or trappean rock. During the day the markhor remain con-
cealed in the most secluded depths of the forest, issuing forth to feed only

Cabul Markhor 293

in the mornings and evenings. In the spring individuals of all sizes and
ages are to be seen together in the herds, but as the summer advances
the does usually retire to the more open ground above the forest belt,
while the old males restrict themselves still more exclusively to the latter,
and are consequently almost impossible to discover. And here it may be
remarked that by the shikaris of the Pir-Panjal the name markhor is
applied exclusively to the hoary old bucks, the younger males being
termed rind, and the temales bakri, or she-goat. According to General
M'Intyre, the does appear generally to produce only a single kid at a
birth, as none were observed by him with twins.

Owing to the badness ot the ground these animals frequent, markhor-
shooting is one of the most dangerous of Himalayan sports. As General
Kinloch observes, they " must be followed over steep inclines of short grass,
which the melting snow has left with all the blades tiattened downwards ;
and amid pine-trees, whose needle-like spines strew the ground and render
it more slippery and treacherous than ice. If one falls on such ground one
instantly begins to slide down the incline with rapidly increasing velocity, and
unless some friendly bush or stone arrests one's progress, the chances are that
one is carried over some precipice, and either killed or severely injured."

c. Cabul Race — Capra falconeri megaceros

Capra megaceros, Hutton, Calcutta yoi/rn. Nat. Hist. vol. ii. p. ^^^,
pi. XX. (1842), Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xv. p. i6i (1846) ; Ward, Records
of Big Game, p. 236 (1896).

Characters. — Size apparently medium. Horns of male nearly straight,
but still showing a slightly open spiral, being in fact intermediate between
those of the Pir-Panjal and Suleman races, with both of which they inter-
grade.

Distribution. — The Trans-Indus districts in the neighbourhood of Cabul,
and perhaps farther south ; thus forming the extreme north-westerly limits

294 Goats

of the species. Nothing seems to have been recorded with regard to the
habits of this race.

d. SuLEMAN Race — Capra falconeri jerdoni

Cdprajt'rcloni, Hume, Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, 1874, p. 240; Kinloch, Large
Game Shooting, pt. ii. p. i 5 (i 876) ; Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 239 (i 896).

Characters. — Size relatively small, the height at the shoulder not
exceeding 38 inches. Horns of male comparatively short, and forming a
perfectly straight cone, upon which the front and hind keels are wound in
a sharp spiral, so as to show in fine specimens two or three complete turns.
Beard said to be less developed than in the two first races.

The above are the characters of the horns of this race from the Suleman
range, but many of those from neighbouring districts show a complete
passage into those of the Cabul race.

The following are the measurements of the horns of the present and
preceding races given in Mr. Rowland W^ard's book : —

Length in a
Straight Line.

Basal
Circumference.

Tip to Tip.

Locality.

38i

I 0.1

23§

Afghanistan

34^

.oji

Baluchistan

i?>

•9^;

Afghanistan

324

22.1

Biinu

32i

9^^

314

Suleman Range

2,0%

2li

29?

23^^

Baluchistan

27i

Sheik Budin

i8i

Sheik Budin

22-^

loi

i5f

E. Afghanistan

Suleman Markhor

^95

Distribution. — The Trans-Indus hill-ranges of the Punjab frontier,
Afghanistan, and Baluchistan, extending in the Suleman range as far south
as the neighbourhood of Mithankot, and also found in the Ouetta district.
Colonel Percy, in the Badminton Library, remarks that the straight-horned
markhor, as he terms the present race, " is found all over the low ranges
that run parallel to the right bank of the Indus
below Attock ; it used to be found in fair numbers
near Sheik Budin, a small station near Dera Ismail
Khan, and in the hills, or rather the steep ravines,
in the plateau behind Dera Ghazi Khan."

I have never seen a skin of this race, which is
known to me only by the skull and horns, of which
there are several good examples in the British
Museum.

Habits. — As the greater part of the distributional
area of this race is more or less inaccessible to
European sportsmen, very little is known as to its
habits. The hills on which it is found are, however, for the most
part at least, bare and desolate, with a summer climate of great heat. In
this respect the present race is analogous to the Punjab urial ; and, as with
that race, its relatively small size is probably due to the hot climate, both
sheep and goats apparently attaining their maximum size, both of body and
horns, in regions where the temperature is comparatively low.

Fig. ;7

Horns of male
Suleman Markhor.
(Rowland Ward, Re-
cords of Big Game.)

e. SiwALiK Race — Capra falconeri punjabiensis [Extinct)

Capra, sp., Lydekker, Palaontologia Indica {Mem. Geo/. Sitrv. Ind.) ser.
lo, vol. i. p. 171, pi. xxviii. fig. 3 (1880), Cat. Siwa/ik Vert. Ind. Mas.
pt. i. p. 17 (1885).

Characters. — Known only by three broken horn-cores in the Indian

296 Tahr

Museum, Calcutta, which appear to have belonged to immature individuals
most nearly related to the Cabul race.

Distribution. — The Potwar, and probably other districts of the Punjab.

V. The Tahr — Genus Hemitragus

Hc/nitragits, Hodgson, 'Joiirn. As. Soc. Bengal., no\. x. p. 913 (1841) ;
Gray, Cat. Ungiilata Brit. Mas. p. 144 (1852), Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mus.
p. 51 (1872) ; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Imi. — Mamm. p. 508 (1891).

Kcmas., Gray, Cat. Ungu/ata Brit. Mus. p. 146 (1852), ncc Ogilby 1836.

Characters. — Nearly allied to Capra, but the males without a beard, and
the horns, which are placed close together at the base, comparatively short,
not greatly exceeding the head in length, and those of the females not very
much smaller than those of the males. A small naked area on the
extremity of muzzle. Males odoriferous. No glands on the face, in the
groin, or between the hoofs. Females with either two or four teats. The
horns, which rise from the skull in the same plane as the forehead, curve
backward, and are angulated in front and compressed. The skull is
characterised by its long and narrow form and the slight prominence of the
rims of the sockets of the eyes ; the plane of the occiput being Hat and
meeting that of the forehead at a right angle, or somev\^hat less. Horns
always black.

Distribution. — The Himalaya, the Nilgiri, Anamalai, and some of the
other ranges of Southern India, and the mountains of South-Eastern Arabia ;
in the outer Himalaya dating from the Pliocene epoch. The distribution
of this genus is decidedly remarkable. Its earliest known occurrence is in
Northern India ; and in former times it would appear to have existed at or
near the sea-level, at an epoch when there was a freer land communication
with Arabia than is at present the case. With an increase in temperature,
one species would appear to have taken refuge in the Himalaya, a second

p.
w
w

I?
w
HI
o

^0^

Himalayan Tahr 297

in the mountains of Southern India, and the third in those of South-Eastern
Arabia.

In habits tahr are very similar to the true goats.

I. The Himalayan Tahr — Hemitragus jemlaicus

Capra jciii/anica, H. Smith, in Griffith's Animal K/)/g(/ow, vo\. iv. p. 308
(1827) ; P. L. Sdater, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1886, p. 317.

Capra jeiNldhica, H. Smith, op. cit. vol. v. p. ^58 (1827) ; Jardine,
NaturaUsf s Library — Mamin. vol. iv. p. 117 (1836).

Capra j/uva/, Hodgson, Asiatic Researches., vol. xviii. pt. ii. p. 129
(1833), Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1834, p. 106, Journ. As. Soc. Beiiga/, vol. iv.
p. 491 (1835).

Capra quai/rimammis, Hodgson, 'Journ. As. Soc. Benga/., vol. iv. p. 710
(1835), V. p. 254 (1836).

Hemitragus quac/rimammis, vel j/iara/., Hodgson, op. cit. vol. x.
p. 913 (1841).

Hemitragus jem/aiciis. Gray, Cat. Osteo/. Brit. Mas. p. 60 (1847),
Knows/ey Menagerie, p. 32 (1850), Cat. Ungu/ata Brit. Mas. p. 144 (1852),
Cat. Ruminants Brit. Mas. p. 51 (1872); Adams, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1858,
p. 532; Jerdon, Mamm. Ind. p. 286 (1867) ; Blanford, Journ. As. Soc.
Benga/, vol. xli. p. 40 (1872), Fauna Brit. Ind. — Mamm. p. 509 (1891) ;
Kinloch, Large Game S/woting, pt. ii. p. 11 (1876); Lydekker, Journ.
As. Soc. Benga/, vol. xlvi. p. 286 (1877) ; Ward, Records of' Big Game,
p. 233 (1896).

Kemas jem/aicus, Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mamm. vol. ii. p. 188 (1855).

Capra {Hemitragus) jem/aicus, Sterndale, Mamm. Ind. p. 449 (1884).

Capra jem/aica. Flower and Garson, Cat. Osteo/. Mas. Co//. Surg. pt.
ii. p. 250 (1884); W. L. Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. pt. ii. p. 146

(1891).

2 c^

298

Tahr

Plate XXVI.

Characters. — Size large, the height at the shoulder ranging between
36 and 40 inches. Build somewhat heavy and clumsy, with the face
long, narrow, and straight. Horns almost or quite touching at the base,
greatly compressed, flattened on each side from a short distance above the
base, the sides distinctly ridged transversely, and the front inner angle
forming a sharp nodular keel, diverging from the base and curving
backwards sharply, but somewhat convergent at
the tips. Head covered with short hair ; the
hair on the body soft and much longer, and on
the neck, shoulders, and chest elongated so as in
old males to form a shaggy mane reaching at
least as low as the knees. General coloui' rich
dark or reddish-brown, darkest in old males, hut
in some cases paler, and the tore part oi the
mane in old males generally whitish or hoary ;
the intiividual hairs pale at their bases and dark
brown towards tlie tips ; tace and front surface
of the legs very dark brown, sometimes almost
Fk;. -8.— Head of male Hima- black ; a dark Streak down the middle of the
layanTahr. {V^z,^, Records \^^^^^ which is. however, very indistinct in old

of Big Game.)

males ; hinder surfaces of the limbs pale or rusty
red in the males ; immature individuals grayish-brown, and kids very pale-
coloured. Tail short, flattened, and naked on the under surface ; knees
and chest furnished with callous pads ; and the females with four teats.
An adult male will weigh about 200 lbs.

The distinctive features of this, the typical, species are the large size,
the sharply-keeled nodose, compressed horns, the long soft mane of the
males, and the four teats of the females.

Himalayan Tahr 299

Mr. Blanford records a maximum horn-length of i6{, inches, but the
following are some of the largest measurement? given in Mr. Rowland
Ward's book : —

Length along Basal t,- , r^.-

Front Curve. Circumference. '^ '

13I 9

13? 9 115

i3f 8 61

i3i 81 6f

Distribution. — The forest districts of the middle Himalaya, from the
Pir-Panjal to Sikhim ; abundant in the lower Wardwan, Kistwar, and
Chamba districts, as it is in Gahrwal. Apparently unknown in the
Kajnag range, and not occurring in the ranges to the north ot the valley
of Kashmir, its limits in these districts being thus bounded to the north
and north-west by the valley of the Jhelam river.

Habits. — In the Simla district the name of this species is tahr or tehr,
but in Kistwar it is known as kras, and in Kashmir as jagla. Although I
have hunted tahr in the valley of the Chinab, I have had but little oppor-
tunity of studying their habits in detail, and am therefore compelled to
quote from the writings of those who have been more favoured. Among
these accounts that of General A. A. Kinloch is one of the best : — " The
tahr," he writes, " is, like the markhor, a forest-loving animal, and although
it sometimes resorts to the rocky summits of the hills, it generally prefers
the steep slopes which are more or less clothed with trees. Female tahr
may frequently be found on open ground ; but old males hide a great deal
in the thickest jungle. Nearly perpendicular hills with dangerous preci-
pices, where the forest consists of oak and ringal cane, are the favourite

,oo

Tahr

haunts of the old tahr, who cUmb with ease over ground where one would
hardly imagine that any animal would find a footing." General Macintyre,^
whose account is likewise good, also bears testimony to the difficult nature
of the ground frequented by tahr : — " This ruminant," he writes, " is plenti-
tully distributed over the precipitous rocky slopes just below the snow-line,
and is occasionally found on some of the higher parts of the middle ranges,
where, however, it appears not to attain the same size as it does in the
higher regions below the snow-line. I have never seen a more truly wild-
looking animal in the Himalayas than an old buck tahr, with his long
frill-like mane and shaggy coat of dark grayish-brown, short sturdy legs,
and almost black face. . . . An old buck stands over 3 feet at the shoulder.
The doe, called ' tehrug,' is smaller, lighter in colour, and less shaggy,
with horns oi the same shape, but much smaller than those of the
buck. The great old bucks herd separately during the summer till
October, generally betaking themselves to the wildest and most un-
approachable places. Their colour is often so dark as, at a distance,
almost to look like black, more especially in the autumn. The flesh of
the tahr is considered by the hill-men to be a great medicine for fever and
rheumatism ; and shikaris often dry the flesh and sell it, and even the
bones, in places where fresh tahr-meat is not procurable."

So bad is much of the ground frequented by these animals, that
specimens when shot frequently smash themselves into a pulp in their fall
down the frightful precipices. The pairing season takes place in the
winter months, and the kids, of which usually only one is produced at a
birth, are born in the following June or July, so that the period of gesta-
tion would appear to be about six months.

In confinement tahr thrive well. They have been tried in the park at
Woburn Abbey, but some of the males developed the extraordinary habit
of ripping open the fallow deer with their sharp horns, and consequently

• HiriJii-Koh, Edinburgh and London, 1891.

Arabian Tahr 301

had to be destroyed. It is to this pernicious habit that the British Museum
owes the two handsome specimens now exhibited in the lower mammalian
gallery.

2. The Siwalik Tahr — Hemitragus sivalensis [Extinct)

Capra sivale/isis^ Lydekker, Palc^ontologia Iiuiica [Mem. Geol. Siirv. luJ.).,
ser. 10, vol. i. p. 169 (1878), Cat. Foss. Manini. Brit. Mi/s. pt. ii. p. 45
(1885).

Heinitragi/s siva/ciisis, Blantord, Fauna Brit. Ltd. — Manun. p. 509 (1891).

Characters. — Apparently very closely allied to the existing Himalayan
species, of which it may be merely the ancestral race. It is known by
two imperfect skulls with the horn-cores in the British Museum.

Distribution. — Northern India during the Pliocene epoch.

3. The Arabian Tahr- — Hemitragus javakeri

Hemitragus jayakeri, Thomas, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, vol. xiii.
p. 365 (1894), Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, p. 452, pi. xxxi.

Hemitragus jaykeri. Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 234 (1896).

Characters. — Size small, the height at the shoulder being only about
24^ inches ; build comparatively light and slender. Pelage coarse, shaggy,
and brittle, the texture of the hairs being much more like that ot some of
the larger species of sheep, or even the musk-deer, than that ot the
Himalayan thar ; on the greater part of the body the hair of medium
length, shorter than in the Himalayan, but longer than in the Nilgiri
species ; on the nape of the neck and the middle line of the fore part of
the back elongated into a mane, and the hair below the angles of the lower
jaw, as well as that on the upper part of the fore- and hind-legs likewise
long, so that more or less distinct tufts are formed at the knees and hocks.
General colour pale sandy or whitish-brown, the mane on the back being

,02

Tahr

broadly tipped with blackish-brown ; the face, the cheeks below the eyes,
the backs of the ears, the tail, and a mark on each fetlock black or blackish.
Horns of the general type of those of the Himalayan species, but relatively
longer, more slender, less ridged on the sides, and less knotted on the front
edge. In the male, at least, the teats are only two in number. Certain
differences in the form and proportions of the skull between this and the
Himalayan species are mentioned in the original description, among them
being the prominence on the forehead, which almost recalls the boss found
in the Abyssinian ibex, and the relative shortness of the nasal bones.
The distinctive features of this species are its small size, which is less

Fig. 59. — Skull and horns of male Arabian Tahr. (From Thomas, Proc. Zoo/. Soc. 1894.)

than in any other wild goat, the keeled, slightly nodose, compressed, slender
horns, the slight development of the mane and hrittlcness of the hair, and
the apparent presence ot only two teats.

The only examples at present known are two skins in the British
Museum, one of which is mounted and exhibited in the lower mammalian
gallery.

Distribution. — The mountains of Oman, South - Eastern Arabia;
definitely known from the Akhdar and neighbouring ranges.

Habits. — Although nothing has been ascertained with regard to the
habits of this tahr. Dr. fayakar, its discoverer, as quoted by Mr. Thomas,

Wild Oxen, She^pAGoats Plate XXM

NILGIRI TAHR,

PuhlLshtnL hy Rowland. Vcu-cLltd.

Nilgiri Tahr 303

writes as follows : — " I should think, from the description given to me,
that these goats were in all probability shot at a great height, between
I 500 and 2000 feet. I have no personal knowledge of the habits of the
animal, but I am informed by the Arabs that it does not go in large herds,
but in groups of a few individuals. As there appears to be a good deal of
vegetation above a certain height, it seems that they rarely, it ever, come
down into the valleys below. I believe the same species is to be found
throughout the whole of the hilly part of Oman ; it occurs in Jalan Shar-
keeyeh and the Jebel Akhdar range, and in all its olfshoots."

In both the British Museum specimens the horns are much worn, as
if by rubbing against rocks or trees.

4. The Nilgiri Tahr — Hemitragus hvlocrius

Kemas hylocriiis, Ogilby, Proc. Zorjl. Soc, 1837, p. 8 i ; Flower and Garson,
Cat. Ostt'ol. Mils. Coll. Surg. pt. ii. p. 254 (1884).

Capra {Uex) warryato. Gray, .<fw;. Mag. Nal. Hist. ser. i, vol. x. p. 267
(1842).

Capra warryato. Gray, List. Mamm. Brit. Miis. p. 168 (1843).

Hemitragus ^ivarryato. Gray, Knoivsley Menagerie^ p. 31 (1850).

Kemas mirryato. Gray, Cat. Uttgulata Brit. Mus. p. 146 (1852), Cat.
Ruminants Brit. Mus. p. 51 (1872).

Hemitragus hylocrius, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, vol. xxviii. p. 291
(1859) ; Jerdon, Mamm. Imi. p. 288 (1867) ; M'Master, Notes on Jerdons
Mamm. p. 117 (1870) ; Blanford, Fauna Brit. Imi. — Mamm. p. 5 i i (1891) ;
Ward, Records of Big Game, p. 231 (1896).

Capra (Hemitragus) hylocrius, Sterndale, Mamm. Ind. p. 45 i (1884).

Capra hylocrius, P. L. Sclater, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1886, p. 318 ; W. L.
Sclater, Cat. Mamm. Ind. Mus. pt. ii. p. 146 (1891).

304

Tahr

Plate XXVII.

Characters. — Build much the same as in the Himalayan tahr, but the
size rather larger, the height at the shoulder varying from 39 to 42 inches
in the males, although not exceeding 2>S ''iches in the females. Face
slightly concave on the forehead and a little convex on the lower part of
the nose. Hair short, thick, and coarse, forming a short stiff mane on the
back of the neck and shoulders in males. Horns nearly in contact at their

Fig. 60. — Side view of head of male Nilgiri Tahr. (Rowland Ward, Records of Big Giime.)

bases, from which thev run almost parallel tor some distance, then curving
rapidly backwards and gradually diverging ; transversely wrinkled through-
out their extent ; the inner surface flat, the outer highly convex, with a
low compressed keel on the front inner edge, the hinder aspect rounded.
General colour dark yellowish-brown, with a grayish tinge in the does
and kids ; a dark streak down the middle of the hack, and the under-parts
paler. In old males the general colour of the upper- parts dark sepia-
brown, passing into blackish on the face ; a fawn-coloured ring round each
eye, a patch behind the same and a streak down the sides ot the face
grizzled gray ; a large saddle-shaped patch on the loins grizzled white.

Nilgiri Tahr 305

becoming almost pure white in very aged individuals ; the legs also
grizzled with white, dark blackish-brown in front, paler behind ; knees
with thickened callous pads ; females with two teats.

The distinctive features of the warri-atu, as this tahr is locally called,
are the generally short and stiff hair, the strong convexity of the outer
sides ot the horns, and the presence of only two teats in the female.

The following are some of the largest horn-measurements recorded in
Mr. Rowland Ward's book : —

Length along Basal

Front Curve. Circumference. T ip to Tip.

i6i ? ?

iSl 81 6

15* 8| 4f

i5i 8| 4f

Hi 8| 54

Hi 8f 61

Hi '8| si

Hi 8 4f

Hi 81 4

Hi 8 4I

Hi 8f , 5i

H 7| 61

H 7f 6f

i2f yf 4f

The largest female horns on record have a length ot i ii inches, with a
basal circumference of 5f inches.

Distribution. — The mountain ranges of Southern India, namely the
Nilgiris and Anamalais, and the Western Ghats from the Anamalais
nearly to Cape Comorin ; generally at elevations between 4000 and 6000
feet above the sea-level, although occasionally considerably lower. With
the exception of the Arabian tahr and the Abyssinian ibex, the present

2 R

3o6 Tahr

is the only species of wild goat living southward ot the northern
tropic.

Habits. — The Nilgiri ibex, as it is commonly called by English sports-
men, has suffered much from incessant pursuit, in consequence ot which its
numbers have been greatly diminished. The Madras Government has,
however, recently enacted forest -laws for its protection, and a special
permit is necessary for shooting, so that there are hopes it will once more
increase. The best accounts of its habits are those given by Col. Douglas
Hamilton, "■ Hawkeye," and Mr. Blanford. From these it appears that the
Nilgiri tahr was formerly found in herds numbering trom 5 to 50 or 60
head, although occasionally, from tlie temporary amalgamation of different
herds, considerably more might be seen together. Their tav^ourite haunts
are the crags and precipices above the torest level, the interspersed slopes
of grass affording their feeding grounds ; but they occasionally \'enture on
to the open grassy tracts forming the plateau at the summit ot the hills.
Like other goats, thev feed during the mornings and evenings, reposing
beneath the shelter of rocks during the day. They are exceedingly difficult
to stalk, being as active and wary as their Himalayan relative, but, like that
species, suspecting danger from below rather than from above, and the old
does acting as sentinels to the herds. Their chief toes are leopards, though
a few fall victims to prowling tigers, and others doubtless tt) packs of wild
dogs. Two kids appear to be generally produced at a birth ; and as kids
may be seen with the herds throughout the greater part of the year, there
does not seem to be any definite breeding season.

The following extract from the pen of" Hawkeye " admirably describes
the wariness of the species : — " Usually before reposing, one of the herd,
generally an old doe, may be observed intently gazing below, apparently
scanning every spot in the range of her vision, sometimes for half an hour or
more before she is satisfied that all is well ; strange to say, seldom or ever
looking up to the rocks above. Then, being satisfied on the one side, she

Nilgiri Tahr

307

observes the same process on the other, eventually calmly lying down, con-
tented with the precautions she has taken that all is safe. Her post as
sentinel is generally a prominent one, on the edge and corner perhaps
of some ledge, well sheltered from the wind and warmed by the sun,
along which the rest ot the herd dispose themselves as inclined, fully
trustino; in the watchtul guardian whose manoeuvres I have been describino;.
Should the sentinel be joined by another, or her kid come and lie down by
her, they invariably place themselves back to back, or in such a manner
that they can keep a lookout on either side. A solitary male goes through
all this by himself, and wonderfully careful he is, but when with the herd
he reposes in security, leaving it to the females to take precautions for their
mutual safety."

From the conspicuous grizzled mark on the loins, the old males are
commonly termed by sportsmen " saddle-backs."

Fig. 61. — Front view of Head of male Nilgiri Tahr. From a specimen in the
possession of Mr. St. George Littledale.

APPENDIX

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WILD OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOATS

The following list, which makes no pretence to be complete, includes only works
and memoirs devoted exclusively, or almost so, to the groups described in the
present volume.

I. Oxen

Allen, J. A. The American Bisons, Living and Extinct. Metn. Mus. Harvard,

vol. iv. No. lo (1876).
AuLD, R. C. The Wild Cattle of Great Britain. Anier. Naturalist, vol. xxii.

pp. 498-509 (1888).

Blanford, W. T. On the Gaur [Bos gaurns) and its Allies. Proc. Zool. Soc.

1890, pp. 592-599, plate xlix.
Blvth, E. a Note on African Buffaloes. Op. cit. 1866, pp. 371-373.
BouviER, E. L. L'Externiination du Bison Americain. Le Naturaliste, 1890,

pp. 269-271, 285 and 286.
Brooke, Sir V. On African BuffiUoes. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1873, pp. 474-484,

plate xliii.
Supplemental Notes on African Buffaloes. Op. cit. 1875, pp. 454-457,

plate liv.
On the Dwarf Buffalo of Pennant. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xiii.

pp. 159 and 160 (1874).
BucHNER, E. Das allmahliche Aussterben des Wisents {Bison bonasHS, Linn.) im
Forste von Bjelewjesha. Mem. Acad. St. Petersboiirg, ser. 8, vol. iii. No. 2 (1896).

Davison, W. Note 011 the Sladang and the Sapio. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1889, pp. 447
and 448.

Evans, G. H. Notes on the Tsaing, or Banting {Bos sondaicus). Joiirn. Bombay
Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. x. pp. 78-82 (1895).

3io Appendix

Gray, J. E. On Bos brachyceros, the West African Buffiilo, and the Dwarf Buffalo

of Pennant. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 4, vol. xii. pp. 499 and 500 (1873).
On Bos piiniilits. Op. cit. vol. xiii. pp. 258 and 259 (1874).

Heller, K. M. Die Urbiiffel von Celebes, Anoa depressico7-nis, H. Smith. Dresden,

1889, 4to.
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Appendix 311

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724, plates xxvii. and xxviii. (1888).
PoLLOK, F. T. Indian Wild Cattle ; the Tsine and the Gaur (miscalled Bison).

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II. MuSK-OxEN

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III. Sheep and Goats

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I 2

Appendix

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PP- 361-363-

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On the Wild Goats and Wild Sheep of the 1 limalava, with remarks on the

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On the two Wild Species of Sheep {Ovis ammonoides, O. nahoor) inhabiting

the Himalayan Region, with some brief remarks on the Craniological Characters
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Appendix

n T O

Hodgson, B. H. On the Wild Sheep of Tibet (Ovis ammom'ides, mihi). Op. cit.

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Langkavel, B. Die Europaische Muflon, das Mahnenschaf, und der Cyprische

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Nathusius, W. Ueber die systematische Stellung von Capra (.?) pyrenaica, und
die massgebende Bedeutung der Hornwindung. Zool. Anzeiger, 1888,
PP- 333-338-

Nelson, E. W. A new Geographical Race of the Mountain Sheep [Ovis montana
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Reichenau, W. Die Alpensteinbok [Capra ibex, Linn.), ein Bewohner der
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Sclater, p. L. Note on Oris polii of Blyth. Proc. Zool. Soc. i860, pp. 443,

444-
Remarks on the various Species of Wild Goats. Op. cit. 1886, pp. 314-318,

plates xxxi. and xxxii.

314 Appendix

ScLATER, P. L. Note on the Wild Goats of the Caucasus. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1887,

pp. 552 and 553.
Sterndale, R. a. Hybridism between Ovis hodgsoni and O. v'lgnei. Op. cit.

1886, pp. 205, 206.
On a Hybrid, Ovis hodgsoni with vignei, discovered and shot by Mons. H.

Dauvergne. Jourii. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. i. pp. 35-37, pi- i. (1886).
Stoliczka, F\ Description of the Ovis poli of Blyth. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1874,

pp. 425-427, plate liii.

Thomas, O. Preliminary description of a new Goat of the genus Hemitragiis from
South - Eastern Arabia. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, vol. xiii. pp. 365
and 366 (1894).

INDEX

Abyssinian hiiftalo, loi
Abyssinian ibex, 270
acuticornis, Amphibos, I 37
acuticornis, Bos, i 37
acuticornis, Bubalus, 137
acuticornis, Hemibos, 137
acuticornis, Probubalus, 137
acutifrons. Bos, 20
sgagrus, ^goccros, 260
a;gagrus, Capra, 260
a;gagrus, Hircus, 26^
^goccros, 239
fequinoctialis, Bubalus, 101
requinoxialis, Bubalus, loi
African buffalo, 94
African ox, 14
Alaskan bighorn, 219
alaskensis, Bison, 61
Algerian buffalo, I I 5
alpina, Capra, 27 1
Alpine ibex, 271
alpinus, Ibex, 271
American bison, 79
americanus, Bison, 80
americanus, Bonasus, So
americanus. Bos, 79
americanus, Urus, 80
amnion, vEgoceros, 246
ammon hodgsoni, Ovis, 180
amnion jubata, Ovis, 180
animonoides, Ovis, 181
ammon, Ovis, 174, 181
ammon typica, Ovis, 177
Ammotragus, 226
Amphibos, 93
anatolica, Ovis, I 59
Andalusian tur, 258
Angora goat, 266
Anoa, 93, I 31
antiquus. Bison, 61
antiquus. Bos, i i 5
antiquus, Bubalus, 115
Arabian ibex, 266
Arabian tahr, 301
arabica, Capra, 266
Argali, I 54, 174
argali, ^goceros, 175

argali altaica, Ovis, 177
argali, Argali, 175
argali, Caprovis, 175, 181
Argali, Mongolian, 180
argali niongolica, Ovis, 177
argali, Musimon, 175
argali, Ovis, 174
Argali, Siberian, 177
Argali, Tibetan, 180
aries, Ovis, i 52
arkal, Caprovis, 172
arkal, Ovis, 172
Arkar, 195
arkar, Ovis, 188
Arna, 1 2 3
arna, Bubalus, 1 18
arnee, Bos, i 1 8
arnee, Bubalus, i i S
Arni, 123
arni, Bos, 1 18
arni, Bubalus, 120
Arui, 266
Asiatic ibex, 275
Asiatic muflon, 159
Assam buffalo, 126
asseel, Bibos, 24
Astor markhor, 288
Astor urial, 1 71
Aurochs, 10

baini, Bubalus, i i j

Banting, 36

banting, Bibos, 36

banting, Bos, 36

beden, ^goceros, 266

beden, Capra, 266

Bharal, 231

Bharal, Caucasian, 244
,bos, 22

Bibovine group, 22
ghorn, 204
ghorn, Alaskan, 219
ghorn, Kamschatkan, 221
ghorn, Liard river, 2 I 5
ghorn, North-Western, 2 I 7
ghorn. Rocky Mountain, 209
ghorn. Southern, 208

Bison, 50

Bison, American, 79

bison athabascs, Bison, 90

bison. Bison, 65, 80

bison. Bos, 65, 79

Bison, Central American, 92

Bison, European, 64

Bison, Harlan's, 92

Bison, Plistocene, 61

Bison, prairie, 84

Bison, Sivvallk, 60

Bisontine group, 50

bison typicus, Bos, 84

Bison, woodland, 90

blanfordi, Ovis, 174

Blue sheep, 237

blythi, Capra, 264

blythi, Ovis, 181

bombifrons, Bootherium, 148

Bonasus, 50

bonasus. Bison, 66

bonasus. Bos, 64

bonasus priscus. Bison, 61

Bootherium, 139

borealis, Ovis, 22 i

Bos, 5

brachicheros. Bos, 106

brachyceros. Bos, 106, 112

brachyceros, Bubalus, 107

brookei, Ovis, 181

Brown buffalo, 10 1

Bubaline group, 93

bubalis. Bos, I 18

bubalis fulvus. Bos, 126

bubalis hosci. Bos, 126

bubalis palreindicus. Bos, 127

bubalis pallasi, Bos, 127

bubalis typicus. Bos, 121

Bubalus, 93

bubalus. Bos, I 18

bubalus, Bubalus, 120

Buffalo, Abyssinian, 1 01

Buffalo, African, 94

Buffalo, Algerian, i 1 5

Buffalo, Assam, 126

Buffalo, black, 97

Buffalo, Bornean, 126

Index

Buffalo, brown, loi

Buffalo, Cape, 97

Buffalo, Celebes, 131

Buffalo, Congo, 106

Buffaloes, 94

Buffalo, European, 127

Buffalo, gray, i 13

Buffalo, Indian, 1 18

Buffalo, Lake Tchad, I 12

Buffalo, Mindoro, 128

Buffalo, Narbada, 127

Buffalo, red, 106

Buffalo, Senegambian, 103

Buffalo, Siwalik, i 16

Buffelus, 93

buffelus. Bos, 1 1 8

buffelus, Bubalus, 119

buffelus palsindicns, Bubalus, 127

Burmese banting, 41

burrhel, Ovis, 232

burrhel, Pseudois, 232

Cabra montes, 256

Cabul markhor, 293

caesaris. Bos, 11

caffer squinoctialis. Bos, 101

caffer squinoctialis, Bubalus, loi

caffer. Bos, 94.

caffer brachyceros. Bos, 112

caffer, Bubalus, 94

caffer, Buffelus, 94

caffer nanus. Bos, 106

caffer typicus. Bos, 97

calitorniana, Ovis, 205

canadensis, Argali, 205

canadensis, Caprovis, 205

canadensis dalli, Ovis, 219

canadensis liardensis, Ovis, 215

canadensis nelsoni, Ovis, 221

canadensis nivicola, Ovis, 221

canadensis, Ovis, 204

canadensis stonei, Ovis, 217

canadensis typica, Ovis, 209

canaliculatus. Bos, 143

Cape buffalo, 97

Capra, 239

Caprovis, I 54

Caucasian bharal, 244

Caucasian tur, 244

caucasica, ^goccros, 243

caucasica, Capra, 243, 246, 260

cavifrons, Bibos, 23

cavifrons, Bootherium, 148

cavifrons, Ovibos, 148

celebcnsis, Anoa, 132

celebcnsis, Probubalus, 132

Celebes buffalo, 131

Celtic short-horn, 15

Central American bison, 92

centralis. Bos, loi

centralis, Bubalus, 103

cervina, Ovis, 204
collium, Ovis, 197
colossus, Urus, 1 1
Common goat, 259
Common ox, 9
Congo buffalo, 106
crassicornis. Bison, 61
cycloceros, Caprovis, 172
cycloceros, Ovis, 172
cylindricornis, Capra, 242
cylindricornis, Ovis, 242
Cyprian muflon, 163
cyprius, Ovis, 163

dalai-lam.T, Ovis, 181
dalli, Ovis, 219
dante. Bos, 19
darwini, Ovis, 203
dauvergnei, Capra, 285
Dauvergnc's ibex, 285
depressicornis, Anoa, 131
depressicornis, Antilope, 131
depressicornis. Bos, I 3 I
depressicornis, Bubalus, 132
depressicornis, Taurotragus, 131
Domesticated goat, 264
Domesticated ox, I 5
Domestic sheep, 152
dorcas, Capra, 264

East Caucasian tur, 242
elatus, Bos, 48
elatus, Leptobos, 49
Etruscan ox, 48
etruscus, Bibos, 49
etruscus, Bos, 48
europsa. Ibex, 271
europaeus. Bison, 65
europsus. Bos, 65
European bison, 64
European buffalo, 127
European muflon, I 54
European wild ox, 10

falconeri, ^goceros, 286

falconeri. Bos, 50

talconcri, Capra, 286

falconeri cashmiriensis, Capra, 290

falconeri, Hircus, 286

falconeri jerdoni, Capra, 294

falconeri megaceros, Capra, 293

falconeri punjabiensis, Capra, 295

falconeri typica, Capra, 288

Falconer's ox, 50

Fechstal, 229

fossilis. Bos, I I

fossilis, Urus, I I

frontalis, Bibos, 32

frontalis. Bos, 31

frontalis, Gavsus, 32

frontosus. Bos, 1 5

Gaur, 23
gaur. Bos, 24
gaurus, Bibos, 24
gaurus. Bison, 23
gaurus, Bos, 23
gaurus, Gavccus, 24
Gavsus, 22
gavsus, Bibos, 32
gava;us. Bison, 32
gava;us. Bos, 3 i
gavxus, Urus, 32
gaysus. Bos, 23
Gayal, J I

gazella, Antilope, 260
gazella, Hircus, 260
gibbosus. Zebus, 19
giganteus, Bos, I I
gmelini, Ovis, i 59
Goat, Angora, 266
Goat, common, 259
Goat, domesticated, 264
Goat, Persian, 260
Goats, 239
Goat, shawl, 265
Goat, Sind, 264
gour, Bos, 23
Gray buffalo, 1 1 3
Greenland musk-ox, 142
grunniens. Bos, 5 I
grunniens, Poephagus, ~,2

Harlan's bison, 92
Harlan's musk-ox, 148
heinsii, Ovis, 197
Hemibos, 93
Hemitragus, 296
himalayana, Capra, 284
Himalayan ibex, 284
Himalayan tahr, 297
Hircus, 239

hircus aegagrus, Capra, 260
hircus blythi, Capra, 264
hircus, Capra, 259
hircus typica, Capra, 264
hispanica, Capra, 258
hispanicus. Ibex, 258
hodgsoni, Ovis, 180
Humped ox, 19
hylocrius, Capra, 303
hylocrius, Hemitragus, 303
hylocrius, Keraas, 303

Ibex, 239

Ibex, Abyssinian, 270
ibex, ^goceros, 271
Ibex, Alpine, 271
Ibex, Arabian, 266
Ibex, Asiatic, 275
ibex, Capra, 271
Ibex, Dauvergne's, 285
Ibex, Himalayan, 284

Index

3 V

ibex himalayanus, Capra, 2S4
Ibex, Nilgiri, 303
Ibex, Spanish, 255
Ibex, Thian Shan, 281
Indian buftalo, i 1 8
indicus, Bibos, 19
indicus. Bos, ig
indicus, Bubalus, i ig
indicus, Buftclus, 119
Iskin, 281

Jagla, 2gg
Javan banting, 3g
jayakeri, Hcmitragus, 301
jemlahica, Capra, zgj
jemlaica, Capra, 2g7
jemlaicus, Hemitragus, 2g7
jcmlaicus, Kemas, 297
jcmlanica, Capra, 297
jerdoni, Capra, 294
jharal, Capra, 297
jharal, Hcmitragus, 297
jubata, 0\is, 180

Kamschatkan bighorn, 221
karelini, Ovis, 197
Kelat urial, 174
Kemas, 296
kcrabau. Bos, I 19
kerabau, Bubalus, 120
Kras, 299

Lake Tchad buffalo, 112
lati irons. Bison, 92
latitrons, Bos, 10, 92
Lcptobos, 48
Leptobovinc group, 48
Icrvia, Antilope, 226
lervia, Ovis, 226
leucoprymnus. Bos, 36
Liard River bighorn, 2 I •;
Littledalc's sheep, 185
longifrons. Bos, i 5

Manipur banting, 43
Marco Polo's sheep, 188
Markhor, 286
Markhor, Astor, 288
Markhor, Cabul, 293
Markhor, Pir-Panjal, 290
Markhor, Sivvalik, 295
Markhor, straight-horned, 295
Markhor, Suleman, 294
megaccros, Capra, 286, 293
mcgaceros, Hircus, 286
mengesi, Capra, 266
mindorensis, Anoa, 128
mindorensis. Bos, 128
mindorensis, Bubalus, 128
mindorensis, Probubalus, 128
Mindoro buftalo, 128

Mithan, 33
Mongolian argali, 180
montana dalli, Ovis, 219
montana, Ovis, 166, 204
montanus, Musimon, 205
montanus, Ovis, 221
moschatus. Bos, 142
moschatus, Bubalus, 143
moschatus, Ovibos, 142
Muflon, Asiatic, 159
Muflon, European, i 54
Muflon, Plistoccne, 163
Musimon, 154
musimon, ^goceros, 154
musimon, Caprovis, I 5 5
musimon occidcntalis, Ovis, 154
musimon orientalis, Ovis, I 59
musimon, Ovis, 1 54
Musk-oxen, 137
Musk-ox, Greenland, 142
Musk-ox, Harlan's, 148
musmon, Capra, I 54
musmon, Musimon, 155
musmon, Ovis, I 54
mutus, Poephagus, 52

nahoor, Musimon, 232
nahoor, Ovis, 23 i
nahoor, Pseudois, 232
nahura, Ovis, 23 I
nahura, Pseudois, 232
namadicus. Bos, 18
namadicus, Bubalus, 127
namadicus, Urus, 18
nanus. Bos, 106
Narbada buffalo, 127
Narbada ox, 1 8
nayaur, Ovis, 23 i
nelsoni, Ovis, 208
nigrimontana, Ovis, 202
Nilgiri ibex, 306
Nilgiri tahr, 303
nivicola, Ovis, 22 i
North-Westcrn bighorn, 2 I 7
nostras, Urus, 65
nubiana, Capra, 266

occipitalis. Bos, 136
occipitalis, Pcribos, 136
ophion, Ovis, 163
opisthonomus. Bos, 14
orientalis, Caprovis, 159
orientalis, Musimon, 159
orientalis ophion, Ovis, 163
orientalis, Ovis, 1 59
ornata, Ovis, 226
Ovibos, 139
Ovis, 149

Ox, African wild, 14
Ox, common, 9
Ox, domesticated, I 5

Oxen, 5

Ox, Etruscan, 48

Ox, European wild, 10

Ox, Falconer's, 50

Ox, humped, 19

Ox, Narbada, 18

Ox, Siwalik, 20

palsindicus, Bos, 127

palaindicus, Bubalus, 127

pala'indicus, Buffelus, 127

pallantis, Ovibos, 142

pallasi, ^goceros, 242

pallasi. Bos, 143

pallasi, Capra, 243, 276

pallasi, Ovis, 243

pallasii, Bos, 127

pallasii, Bubalus, 127

Pamir sheep, 192

Pasang, 260

Peribos, 93

Persian goat, 260

picta, Capra, 260

Pir-Panjal markhor, 290

planiceros, Bubalus, 103

platyccros. Bos, I 16

platyceros, Bubalus, 116

Plistocene bison, 61

Plistocene muflon, 163

Poiiphagus, 50

poephagus. Bison, 52

poephagus. Bos, 5 I

poli karelini, Ovis, 197

poli, Ovis, 188, 197

poli typica, Ovis, 192

Prairie bison, 84

primigenius. Bos, 10

primigenius mauritanicus. Bos,

priscus. Bison, 61
prise us. Bos, 61
priscus, Urus, 61
Probubalus, 93
Pseudois, 23 i
pumilus, Bos, 106
pumilus, Bubalus, 106, 113
pumilus occidcntalis, Bubalus, 107
pumilus orientalis, Bubalus, loi
Punjab urial, 172
pusio. Bos, 19
pygargus, Ovis, 205
pyrenaica, ^goceros, 254
pyrenaica, Capra, 253
pyrenaica hispanica, Capra, 258
pyrenaica typica, Capra, 257
pyrenaicus, Ammotragus, 254
pyrenaicus. Ibex, 254
Pyrenean tur, 257

quadrimammis, Capra, 297
quadrimammis, Hcmitragus, 297

3i8

Ind

reclinis, Bubalus, lo6

Red buffalo, io6

Rocky Mountain bighorn, 2og

sairensis, Ovis, 185

sakeen, Capra, 284

sakin, Capra, 284

sakin. Ibex, 284

santeng, Anoa, i 39

Sapio, 39

Sapi-utan, 37

savini, Caprovis, 163

savini, Ovis, 163

scaphoceros. Bison, 92

scaphoceros. Bos, 92

scoticus, Bos, 15

scoticus, Urus, i ,

sculptoruni, Ovis, 197

Senegambian buffalo, 103

severtzowi, Capra, 246

severzowi, Capra, 246

Sha, 166

Shawl-goat, 265

Sheep, 149

Sheep, blue, 237

Sheep, domestic, 1 52

Sheep, Littledale's, 185

Sheep, Marco Polo's, 188

Sheep, Pamir, 192

Sheep, Thiaii Shan, 197

Siberian argali, I 77

sibirica, Capra, 27J;

sibirica dauvergnei, Capra, 2S5

sibirica, Ibex, 276

sibirica sacin, Capra, 284

sibirica typica, Capra, 2K1

sinaitica, Capra, 266

Sind goat, 264

sivalensis, Bison, 60

sivalensis, Bos, 60

sivalensis, BubaUis, 117

sivalensis, Capra, 301

sivalensis, Hcmitragus, 301

sivalensis, Probubalus, 136

Siwalik bison, 60

Siwalik buffalo, i 16

Siwalik markhor, 295
Siwalik ox, 20
Siwalik tahr, 301
Siwalik tamarau, 136
Skin, 281

skyn, JEgoccTOi, 284
skyn, Capra, 284
Sladang, 27
sondaicus, Bibos, 36
sondaicus birmanicus. Bos, 41
sondaicus. Bos, 36
sondaicus, Buffehis, 119
sondaicus, Gavxus, 36
sondaicus typicus. Bos, 39
Southern bighorn, 208
Spanish ibex, 254
Spanish tur, 253
stonei, Ovis, 2 17
Straight-horned markhor, 295
strozzii, Leptobos, 49
subhcmachclus, Bibos, 23
Sulenian markhor, 294
sylhetanus. Bison, 32
sylhetanus. Bos, 32
Syncerus, 22

Tahr, 296

Tahr, Arabian, 30 1

Tahr, Himalayan, 297

Tahr, Nilgiri, 303

Tahr, Siwalik, 301

Tamarau, 128

Tamarau, Falconer's, 137

Tamarau, Siwalik, 136

Taurine group, 8

Taurus, 8

taurus, Bos, 9

taurus giganteus. Bos, 1 1

taurus mauritanicus. Bos, 14

taurus primigenius, Bos, 1 1

taurus priscus. Bos, i i

taurus typicus. Bos, I 5

Thian Shan ibex, 281

Thian Shan sheep, 197

Tibetan argali, 180

tragelaphus, Amraotragus, 227

tragelaphus, Musimon, 227

tragelaphus, Ovis, 226

triquctriceros, Hcmibos, I 36

triquetricornis, Bos, 136

triquetricornis, Bubalus, 136

triquetricornis, Hemibos, 136

triquetricornis, Probubalus, 136

Tsaing, 37

Tur, Andalusian, 2j8

Tur, East Caucasian, 242

Tur, Pyrenean, 257

Tur, Spanish, 253

Tur, West Caucasian, 246

Udad, 226
Urial, 166
Urial, Astor, i 7 1
Urial, Kclat, 174
Urial, Punjab, 172
Urus, 8, 50
urus. Bos, 10, 64
urus, Taurus, 10

vali, Capra, 270
vignei blanfordi, Ovis, 174
vignei, Caprovis, 166
vignei, Musimon, 166
vignei, Ovis, 166
vignei typica, Ovis, 171

wali, Capra, 270
Warri-atu, 306
warryato, Capra, 303
warryato. Ibex, 303
warryato, Kemas, 303
West Caucasian tur, 246
Woodland bison, 90

Yak, 51

Zebu, 19
zebu, Bos, 19
Zebus, 8
Zubr, 69

Ptiitted hy R. & R. Clakk, Limited, Edinburf^h.

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