Delineations of the Ox Tribe: The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes. / Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos.

by George Vasey

THE ARNEE, OR ARNA.

It does not appear, that the Arnee had been noticed by Europeans until the year 1792, when the following detailed account appeared in a weekly Miscellany, called 'The Bee,' conducted by Dr. J. Anderson.

This animal is hitherto unknown among the naturalists of Europe. It is a native of the higher parts of Hindostan, being scarcely ever found lower down than the Plains of Plassy, above which they are found in considerable numbers, and are well known by the natives.

The figure, which is given at the end of this article, is copied from a curious Indian painting, in the possession of Gilbert Innes, of Stow. It forms one of a numerous group of figures, represented at a grand Eastern festival. There are two more of them in the same painting. In this and both the others, the horns bend inwards in a circular form; and it would seem, too, that if a transverse section of the horn was made at any place, that also would be circular. But this is a defect in the painting, for although all the horns of the Arnee tribe bend in a circular form, yet if the horn be cut transversely, the section is not circular, but rather of a triangular shape. The horns of the Arnee rise in a curve upwards, nearly in the same plane with the forehead, neither bending forward nor backward. That part of the horn which fronts you when the animal looks you in the face, is nearly flat, having a ridge projecting a little forward all along, nearer the outer curvature of the horn; from that ridge outward it goes backward, not at right angles, but bending a little outward; and near the back part there is another obtuse rounded ridge, where it turns inward, so as to join another obtuse, rounded angle, at the inner curvature of the horn. Along the whole length, especially toward the base of the horn, there are irregular transverse dimples, or hollows and rugosities, more nearly resembling those of a ram, than that of a common ox's horn, but no appearance of rings, denoting the age of the animal, as in the horns of our cattle.

This description of the horns is taken from a pair of real horns of the animal, now in the possession of Mr. James Haig, merchant in Leith, that were sent home to him this year (1792) by his brother, Mr. W. Haig, of the 'Hawkesbury' East-Indiaman, and of which the following cut represents a front view. The little figure marked a, represents a section of the horn near its base.

(1).—Horns of young Arnee—Scale of Half an Inch to a Foot.

In this young specimen (1) the length of the skull is exactly two feet, and the distance between the tops of the horns thirty-five inches. In the following sketch (2) from the Museum of the College of Surgeons, the length of the skull is likewise two feet, and the distance between the tips of the horns three feet four inches and a half.

The young animal just referred to, was found in a situation near which no other animal of this sort had ever before been discovered: it was killed by the crew of the 'Hawkesbury,' in the river Ganges, about fifty miles below Calcutta, at the place where the ships usually lie.

The flesh was eaten by the ship's company, by whom it was considered very good meat. Although conjectured to be only two years old, it weighed, when cut up, 360 lbs. the quarter, which is 1440 lbs. the carcase, exclusive of head, legs, hide, and entrails.

(2).—Horns of Arnee.—Scale of Half an Inch to a Foot.

(3).—Horns of Arnee.—Scale of Half an Inch to a Foot.

This last sketch (3) is from a pair of horns in the British Museum, of which the following are the dimensions:—

	Ft.	In.
The horn a, from tip to base, along the outer curve	6	6
The horn b ditto ditto	6	3
Circumference at the base of horn a	1	5
Ditto ditto of horn b	1	6[A]

The Arnee is by far the largest animal of the Ox tribe yet known. In its native country it is said to measure usually twelve, sometimes fourteen, feet from the ground to the highest part of the back! The one in the vignette, p. 111, comparing it with the man on its back, would not seem to be quite so tall.

From the appearance of the three Arnees in the painting before mentioned, it would seem that they are quite docile, and easily tamed; for they are all standing quietly, with a person on their back, who guides them by means of a rein, formed of a cord fastened to the gristle of the nose, in the Eastern manner. The colour of the animal, in all the three figures, is a pure black, except between the horns, where there is a small tuft of longish hair of a bright red colour.

From the accounts of more recent travellers, there seem to be two or three varieties of this animal, which exist, both in a wild and domestic state, in China as well as India.

According to Major Smith, the gigantic or Taur-elephant Arnee, appears to be rare; found only single, or in small families, in the upper eastern provinces and forests at the foot of the Himalaya. A party of officers of the British Cavalry, stationed in the north of Bengal, went on a three months' hunting expedition to the eastward, and destroyed in that time forty-two Tigers, and numerous wild Buffaloes, but only one Arnee. When the head of this specimen rested perpendicularly on the ground, it required the out-stretched arms of a man to hold the points of the horns. These are described as angular, with the broadest side to the rear; the two others anterior and inferior; they are of a brownish colour, and wrinkled; standing outwards, and not bent back; straight for near two thirds of their length, then curving inwards, with the tips rather back. The face is nearly straight, and the breadth of the forehead is carried down with little diminution to the foremost grinder.

There is a spirited figure of a long-horned Buffalo in Captain Williamson's 'Oriental Field Sports,' which Major Smith considers to be a representation of the great Arnee; and of which Captain Williamson relates the following anecdote:—

"The late Dr. Baillie, who was a very keen and capable sportsman, used, in my idea, to run many very foolish risks among Buffaloes. I often remonstrated with him on his temerity, but he was so infatuated, that it was all to no purpose. One morning, as we were riding on the same elephant to the hunting-ground, to save our horses as much as possible, we saw a very large Buffalo lying on the grass, which was rather short and thin; as usual, the doctor would have a touch at him, and, heedless of my expostulation, dismounted with his gun. The Buffalo, seeing him approach, rose and shook his head as a prelude to immediate hostilities. My friend fired, and hit him on the side. The enraged brute came thundering at the doctor, who lost no time in running round to the opposite side of the elephant; the mohout, at the same time, pushed forward, to meet and screen him from the Buffalo, which absolutely put his horns under the elephant's belly, and endeavoured to raise him from the ground. We had no other gun, and might, perhaps, have felt some more severe effects from the doctor's frolic, had not the Buffalo, from loss of blood, dropped at our side. The Buffalo was upwards of six feet high at the shoulder, and measured nearly a yard in breadth at the chest. His horns were above five feet and a half in length."

In systems of classification, even of very recent date, the Arnee is considered merely as a variety of the Buffalo. It appears to me, however, that our information on the subject is not yet sufficiently precise to determine this point.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] In Shaw's 'Zoology,' it is mentioned that a Mr. Dillon saw some horns in India which were ten feet long.

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