Part 4 (1/2)
The following interesting and circ.u.mstantial account of this curious species of Ox, is from the pen of Lieut. Samuel Turner. (_Asiatic Researches_, vol. iv.)
”The Yak of Tartary, called Soora-Goy in Hindostan, and which I term the Bushy-tailed Bull of Tibet, is about the height of an English Bull, which he resembles in the figure of the body, head, and legs. I could distinguish between them no essential difference, except only that the Yak is covered all over with a thick coat of long hair. The head is rather short, crowned with two smooth round horns, that, tapering from the setting on, terminate in sharp points, arch inwardly, and near the extremities are a little turned back. The ears are small; the forehead appears prominent, being adorned with much curling hair; the eyes are full and large; the nose smooth and convex; the nostrils small. The neck is short, describing a curvature nearly equal both above and below; the withers high and arched; the rump low. Over the shoulders rises a bunch, which at first sight would seem to be the same kind of exuberance peculiar to the cattle of Hindostan; but in reality it consists in the superior length of the hair only, which, as well as that along the ridge of the back to the setting on of the tail, grows long and erect, but not harsh. The tail is composed of a prodigious quant.i.ty of long flowing glossy hair, descending to the hock; and is so extremely well furnished, that not a joint of it is perceptible; but it has much the appearance of a large bunch of hair artificially set on. The shoulders, rump, and upper part of the body are clothed with a sort of thick soft wool, but the inferior parts with straight pendent hair that descends below the knee; and I have seen it so long in some cattle, which were in high health and condition, as to trail along the ground. From the chest, between the fore-legs, issues a large pointed tuft of hair, growing somewhat larger than the rest. The legs are very short. In every other respect, hoofs, &c., he resembles the ordinary Bull. There is a great variety of colours among them, but black and white are the most prevalent. It is not uncommon to see the long hair upon the ridge of the back, the tail, the tuft upon the chest, and the legs below the knee white, when all the rest of the animal is jet black.
”These cattle, though not large boned, from the profuse quant.i.ty of hair with which they are provided, appear of great bulk. They have a down heavy look, but are fierce, and discover much impatience at the near approach of strangers. They do not low loud (like the cattle of England) any more than those of Hindostan; but make a low grunting noise, scarcely audible, and that but seldom, when under some impression of uneasiness. These cattle are pastured in the coldest part of Tibet, upon short herbage, peculiar to the tops of mountains and bleak plains.
That chain of lofty mountains situated between lat. 27 and 28, which divides Tibet from Bootan, and whose summits are most commonly covered with snow, is their favourite haunt. In this vicinity the Southern glens afford them food and shelter during the severity of the winter; in milder seasons the Northern aspect is more congenial to their nature, and admits a wider range. They are a very valuable property to the tribes of illiterate Tartars, who live in tents, and tend them from place to place, affording their herdsmen a mode of conveyance, a good covering, and subsistence. They are never employed in agriculture, but are extremely useful as beasts of burden; for they are strong, sure-footed, and carry a great weight. Tents and ropes are manufactured of their hair, and I have seen, though amongst the humblest ranks of herdsmen, caps and jackets worn of their skins. Their tails are esteemed throughout the East, as far as luxury or parade have any influence on the manners of the people; and on the continent of India are found, under the denomination of Chowries, in the hands of the meanest grooms, as well as, occasionally, in those of the first ministers of state. Yet the best requital with which the care of their keepers is at length rewarded for selecting them good pastures, is in the abundant quant.i.ty of rich milk they give, yielding most excellent b.u.t.ter, which they have a custom of depositing in skins or bladders, and excluding the air; it keeps in this cold climate all the year, so that after some time tending their flocks, when a sufficient stock is acc.u.mulated, it remains only to load their cattle, and drive them to a proper market with their own produce, which const.i.tutes, to the utmost verge of Tartary, a most material article of commerce.”
The soft fur upon the hump and shoulders is manufactured by the natives of Tibet into a fine but strong cloth; and, if submitted to the test of European skill, might no doubt be made to produce a very superior fabric.
The herdsmen commonly convert the hides into a loose outer garment that covers the whole of their bodies, hanging down to the knees; and it proves a sufficient protection against the lowest temperature of the cold and desolate region which they inhabit. It furnishes at once a cloak by day and a bed by night.
The Yak is not generally fierce, but, if intruded upon by strangers, it sometimes manifests very formidable symptoms of impatience, stamping its feet, whisking its tail aloft, and tossing its head. When excited, it is not easily appeased, and is exceedingly tenacious of injury, always showing great fierceness whenever any one approaches who has chanced to provoke it.
The cow is called _Dhe_, of which the wandering Tartars possess great numbers, having no means of subsistence but those supplied by their flocks and herds.
A fine male specimen of this Ox was brought to England by Warren Hastings, and several attempts were made to procure a cross between it and the common English Cow, but without success. He invariably refused to a.s.sociate with ordinary cattle, and exhibited a decided antipathy to them. His portrait was painted, and is now in the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London. The following figure (taken from the 'Oriental Annual') is so much like the portrait of Warren Hastings's Yak, that it might almost be taken for a copy of it.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
There is the skin of a Yak in the Zoological Museum, which coincides pretty nearly with the foregoing description. There is also a stuffed specimen of a female in the British Museum.
Like the European Bison, the skeleton of the Yak has fourteen pairs of ribs. Period of gestation not recorded.
THE GYALL, (_Bos Frontalis_ of Lambert;)
THE GAYAL, (_Bos Gavaeus_ of Colebrooke;)
THE JUNGLY GAU, (_Bos Sylheta.n.u.s_ of F. Cuvier.)
Of the animals named in the foregoing list, we have had several very interesting accounts; but none of these have been sufficiently precise to enable us to determine the specific character of the animals described.
Are they, as some affirm, merely different names for the same animal; or do they designate animals which are really and truly distinct?
Nothing short of an appeal to structure can satisfactorily settle this or any other disputed point of a similar nature; but, unfortunately for zoology, the opportunities for such appeals are rare, and, when they do occur, are seldom taken advantage of. Let us hope that this hint will not be lost on some of our intelligent countrymen in the East; and that before long we may be favoured with the result of their researches.
In the meantime, and in order to facilitate as much as possible the endeavours of those who may have opportunities for such inquiries, the following epitome is given of the various papers which have already appeared on the subject, but which, in their present scattered form, are of very little general utility.
THE GYALL.
The earliest descriptive notice we have of the Gyall was that given in a paper read before the Linnean Society, in 1802, by Mr. Lambert, on the occasion of a bull of this species arriving in London from India.
”_Bos Frontalis._
”General colour a blueish-black; the frontal fascia gray; the horns short, thick, and distant at their bases, the tail nearly naked, slender, and with a tuft at the end. The Gyall has no mane; its coat is soft; the edge of the under lip is white, and is fringed with bristling hair. The horns are pale, with their bases included in the frontal fascia.”