The Zebu
The Zebu
Themost common of the Indian breeds of the ox kind, is the zebu, a humped variety, the smallest specimens of which are not bigger than a full-grown mastiff, while others are found almost as large as the finest of our English cows. The zebu has been considered by naturalists as not a distinct species, but only a degenerate kind of bison, diminished in size by scantiness of food, which has a decided effect upon the bulk of all horned cattle. We see that the horse dwindles into a pony in the Shetland Isles, and why not the ox shrink into a zebu?
The zebu, like the bison, is extremely gentle when tamed, and very useful to mankind, both as affording food and serving for a beast of draught or burden. These animals are employed in pairs to draw a two-wheeled vehicle, calledgadee, which holds but one person, and is used by the wealthy Hindoos. When destined for this purpose, their horns, when young, are bent so as to grow nearly upright, inclining backwards a little toward the top. They are often covered with rich carpets; adorned with rings and chains of gold and other metal, and their legs and chests painted with various colors. The women of the lower classes, in India, frequently travel on bullocks, which they ride astride upon a very large saddle. The animals have bells hung round their necks, and are guided by means of a cord passed through the nostrils.
“My dear friend, that woman has been talking about you so again! She has been telling the awfullest lies you ever heard; why, she railed away about you for a whole hour!”
“And you heard it all, did you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, after this, just bear in mind that it takes two to make a slander; one to tell it and one to listen to it.”