THE OX.[23]
It being quite unnecessary to describe the general form and proportions of this animal, as seen among us in a domesticated state—Shorthorns, Alderney, Highland, &c.—we will at once proceed to notice the famous cattle of Chillingham Park, in Northumberland, which are known to have been in existence in the thirteenth century. The wild cattle there are all cream white, with a brown muzzle, with the insides and tips of the ears reddish-brown, at the same time that the horns are white tipped with black, of which latter colour are the hoofs. Calves more or less coloured are occasionally born, but these are promptly destroyed by the keepers. Some of the bulls have a thin, short mane. Their habit, on strangers approaching them, is to “set off in a full gallop, and at a distance of about two hundred yards make a wheel round and come boldly up again, tossing their heads in a menacing manner. On a sudden they make a full stop at the distance of forty or fifty yards, looking wildly at the object of their surprise; but upon the least motion being made, they all again turn round and fly off with equal speed, but not to the same distance, forming a shorter circle; and again returning with a bolder and more threatening aspect than before, they approach much nearer, probably within thirty yards, when they again make another stand, and then fly off. This they do several times, shortening their distance, and advancing nearer and nearer, till they come within such a short distance that most people think it proper to leave them, not choosing to provoke them further.” They differ from domestic cattle in that they feed at night, and generally sleep during the day. They also hide their calves.
CHILLINGHAM CATTLE.
CHILLINGHAM CATTLE.
In all the so-called wild cattle of Great Britain the forehead is flat or slightly concave, the head is small, the back is straight, and the legs are short.
It is now almost universally agreed that domestic cattle are descended from two or three species of the genus Bos, which existed in late geologic or prehistoric times, the remains being found in Switzerland, Ireland, and other parts of Europe. The Zebu, Yak, Gayal, and Arni, to be referred to immediately, have also been domesticated.
Cattle have been so distributed and mixed in breeding that any precise arrangement of the breeds according to their ancestral affinities can scarcely be tabulated. Most important of the heavy breeds are the well-known Shorthorns of the north of England, so carefully and successfully developed by Charles and Robert Colling between 1780 and 1818, at Ketton and Barmpton, close to Darlington, in Durham, by a process of in-and-in breeding—“Hubback,”the“Duchess,” “Lady Maynard,” “Young Strawberry,” “Foljambe,” and “Comet,” the last bull of which, at Charles Colling’s sale in 1810, fetched a thousand guineas.
HUNGARIAN BULL.
HUNGARIAN BULL.
Following close upon the Collings came the Booths—Richard, Thomas, and J. Booth—between 1814 and 1864, at Studley, Killerby, and Warlaby, where “Isabella,” the twin sisters “Necklace” and “Bracelet,” were parents of goodly herds, “Commander-in-Chief” being one of the latest gems. On one occasion, it is stated, Mr. Richard Booth, of Warlaby, refused the unique offer of fifteen hundred guineas for a cow named “Queen of the May.”
In 1810 Thomas Bates, of Ridley Hall, and afterwards of Kirkleavington, then a well-known breeder of cattle, purchased at Charles Colling’s sale “Young Duchess,” daughter of “Comet,” a granddaughter of “Duchess” by “Daisy” bull, and she became the founder of the famous “Duchess” tribe. In 1831, with the accession of the bull “Belvidere,” a descendant of Robert Colling’s “Princess” tribe, the “Duchess” breed produced “Short Tail” and the renowned “Duke of Northumberland.” The “Matchem” cow, purchased at the same date, did much to improve the stock. Mr. Bates died in 1849.
Several enterprising American breeders have, since 1817, introduced Shorthorns into the UnitedStates and Canada, Colonel Lewis Sanders, of Kentucky, being the first who did so on anything like thorough principles. Others followed his example with success, especially about the year 1852, when a fresh impulse was given to their production because of the rise of price in meat, as well as the foreign demand for it. The Booth and Bates bloods predominate in these animals, and form the basis of much of the beef now re-shipped to England.
The great advantage of the Shorthorn breed is that they, together with a good temper, combine the advantages of great size and aptitude to fatten, rapidly reaching maturity. For dairy purposes they are excelled by the Suffolk Duns and Ayrshire cattle, the latter, with their enormous udders, broad hips, and deep flanks, being the best as milkers. Hereford, North Devon, and Scottish black Shorthorns are inferior to those of the northern counties in their slowness of growth and power of filling out. Those of North Devon are particularly symmetrical in form. The mountain cattle of the western Highlands, otherwise known as the Kyloe breed, are best known from the hardiness of their constitutions, protected as they are by their thick hides and shaggy coats. The Welsh and Shetland cattle resemble them in many respects.
In Hungary, Turkey, and Western Asia there is a breed of large cattle with peculiarly long and slender outward-spreading horns, black-tipped, and greyish throughout the rest of their length.
In India, the Sacred Cattle, or ZEBUS, with convex forehead, short horns, large drooping ears, and a short head, possess a high hump upon the withers, as well as an ample dewlap falling in undulating folds along the whole length of the neck. Their disposition is mild, as is indicated by their expression, and the liberty they are allowed in India is wonderful. They vary greatly in size, some being not bigger than an average month-old calf. The breed has extended in times gone by through Persia into Eastern Africa, where it is found with a narrower and flatter face, at the same time that the hump is smaller.
The introduction of steam, as well as the extension in the employment of the Horse, has almost entirely superseded the use of cattle as beasts of burden or draught in highly civilised nations.
The GOUR, the GAYAL, and the BANTINGare three species of wild cattle found in the Oriental world from India to Java, peculiar in possessing a ridge running along the middle of the back, and horns which, after running outwards from the head, are directed upwards and not backwards. Of these the Gour of Central India is the largest, measuring six feet at the withers, having also a convex profile, very high withers, and an arched back, which makes the line from the nose to the root of the tail, along the spine, a fairly continuous curve. Its colour is a deep brown glossy black, excepting a ring of white encircling the base of each hoof, and a white tuft on the forehead. There is not any trace of a dewlap in either sex. The horns are not more than two feet in length, strong, and curved boldly upwards at their tips. The Gour is found abundantly in herds of twenty or so around the tablelands, especially of South Bahar, feeding on the young leaves of the trees and shrubs. It appears to have resisted all attempts at domestication. The Gayal is found in the hill-region east of the Brahmaputra. It is much the size of English cattle. The bull is bold, and the cow easily domesticated. Its home is the deep jungle, where it can obtain the young leaves and shoots of the brushwood. According to Mr. Macrae the following is the method employed by the Kookies of the Chittagong hill-region to catch the animal:—“On discovering a herd of wild Gayals in the jungle, they prepare a number of balls, of the size of a man’s head, composed of a particular kind of earth, salt, and cotton. They then drive their tame Gayals towards the wild ones, when the two herds soon meet and assimilate into one; the males of the one attaching themselves to the females of the other, andvice versâ. The Kookies now scatter their balls over such parts of the jungle as they think the herd most likely to pass, and watch its motions. The Gayals, on meeting these balls as they pass along, are attracted by their appearance and smell, and begin to lick them with their tongues; and relishing the taste of the salt, and the particular earth composing them, they never quit the place until all the balls are consumed. The Kookies, having observed the Gayals to have once tasted their balls, prepare a sufficient supply of them to answer the intended purpose, and as the Gayals lick them up they throw down more; and it is to prevent their being so readily destroyed that the cotton is mixed with the earth and the salt. This process generally goes on for three changes of the moon, or for a month and a half, during which time the tame and the wild Gayals are always together, licking the decoy balls, and the Kookie, after the first day or two of their being so, makes his appearance at such a distance as not to alarm the wildones. By degrees he approaches nearer and nearer, until at length the sight of him has become so familiar that he can advance to stroke his tame Gayals on the back and neck without frightening the wild ones. He next extends his hand to them, and caresses them also, at the same time giving them plenty of his decoy balls to lick. Thus, in the short space of time mentioned, he is able to drive them, along with the tame ones, to his parrah, or village, without the least exertion of force; and so attached do the Gayals become to the parrah, that when the Kookies migrate from one place to another, they always find it necessary to set fire to the huts they are about to abandon, lest the Gayals should return to them from the new grounds.”
The Gayal carries its nose forwards, as a rule, like a Buffalo. Its ears are longer than those of the Ox. It possesses a dewlap smaller than in the Zebu. The tail is short, not descending below the hock. Its general colour is a varying and generally dark brown, the abdomen and the legs being white in parts. Its cry is a shrill, insignificant lowing. Its horns are conical, turned directly outwards, and a little upwards at their tips, not exceeding one foot and a half in length.
The Banting extends from Cochin China, through the Indo-Malay archipelago, to the islands of Bali and Lombok. Its colour and proportions are almost exactly those of the Gour.