THE SANGA, OR GALLA OX.
(See Frontispiece). Bos ——?
This singular animal is only found in Abyssinia, and is famous on account of its horns, which are of an almost incredible size.
Bruce the traveller, in speaking of these horns, says, "The animal furnishing these monstrous horns is a cow or bull which would be considered of a middling size in England. This extraordinary size of its horns proceeds from a disease that the cattle have in these countries, of which they die, and is probably derived from their pasture and climate. When the animal shows symptoms of this disorder, he is set apart in the very best and quietest grazing place, and never driven or molested from that moment. His value lies then in his horns, for his body becomes emaciated and lank, in proportion as the horns grow large; at the last period of his life, the weight of his head is so great that he is unable to lift it up, or at least for any space of time. The joints of his neck become callous at last, so that it is not any longer in his power to lift his head. In this situation he dies, with scarcely flesh to cover his bones, and it is then his horns are of the greatest value. I have seen horns that would contain as much as a common sized water-pail, such as they make use of in the houses in England."[B]
So far Mr. Bruce. Mr. Salt, who visited Abyssinia some years afterwards, gives a somewhat different account. He says: "Here [i. e. at Gibba], for the first time, I was gratified by the sight of the Galla Oxen, or Sanga, celebrated throughout Abyssinia for the remarkable size of its horns. Three of these animals were grazing among the other cattle in perfect health, which circumstance, together with the testimony of the natives, 'that the size of the horns is in no instance occasioned by disease,' completely refutes the fanciful theory given by Mr. Bruce respecting this creature. It appears by the papers annexed to the last edition of Mr. Bruce's work, that he never met with the Sanga; but that he made many attempts to procure specimens of the horns, through Yanni, a Greek, residing at Adowa. This old man very correctly speaks of them, in his letters, as being only brought by the Cafilas from Antalo; and I have now ascertained that they are sent to this country as valuable presents, by the chiefs of the Galla, whose tribes are spread to the southward of Enderta. So far, then, as to the description of the horns, and the purposes to which they are applied by the Abyssinians, Mr. Bruce's statements may be considered as correct; but with respect to 'the disease which occasions their size, probably derived from their pasture and climate,' 'the care taken of them to encourage this disease,' 'the emaciation of the animal,' and 'the extending of the disorder to the spine of the neck, which at last becomes callous, so that it is not any longer in the power of the animal to lift its head,' they all prove to be mere ingenious conjectures, thrown out by the author solely for the exercise of his own ingenuity.
"I should not venture to speak so positively upon this matter, had I not indisputably ascertained the facts; for the Ras having subsequently made me a present of three of these animals alive, I found them not only in excellent health, but so exceedingly wild, that I was obliged to have them shot. The horns of one of these are now deposited in the Museum of the Surgeons' College, and a still larger pair are placed in the collection of Lord Valentia, at Arley Hall. The length of the largest horn of this description was nearly four feet, and its circumference at the base twenty-one inches.
"It might have been expected that the animal, carrying horns of so extraordinary a magnitude, would have proved larger than others belonging to the same genus; but in every instance which came under my observation, this was by no means the case. The etching on the following page, which was copied from an original sketch (taken from the life), may serve to convince the reader of this fact; and it will convey a better idea of the animal than any description in writing I can pretend to give. I shall only further observe, that its colour appeared to vary as much as in the other species of its genus, and that the peculiarity of the size of the horns was not confined to the male, the female being very amply provided with this ornamental appendage to her forehead."
Notwithstanding the bold and confident tone of Mr. Salt's counter-statement, it must be confessed, that the figure which he himself gives from the life (and of which the frontispiece to this volume is an exact copy), seems rather to coincide with Mr. Bruce's account, being, to all appearance, both "lank and emaciated."
Engraving of the horns presented by Mr. Salt to the Museum of the College of Surgeons.
Horns of Galla Ox.
| Ft. | In. | |
| Length of each round the outer curve | 3 | 10-1/2 |
| Distance between the tips | 3 | 4 |
| Circumference at the base | 1 | 3 |
| Distance between the bases at the forehead | 0 | 3-1/2 |
The Sanga is usually considered as a mere variety of Bos Taurus. This may possibly be the fact; but we have no proof whatever that it is so: no information on this point has been presented beyond mere conjecture. This being the case, and in the absence of direct anatomical evidence, we may be pardoned in considering it, at least, as doubtful; especially as there are so many points of external dissimilarity. The principal differences are: 1st, in the shoulder, upon which there is a hump; 2d, in the back, which descends (as in the Buffaloes and Zebus), abruptly towards the tail; 3d, in the greater length of the legs; and 4th, in the forehead, which is only three inches and a half between the bases of the horns, whilst in the Common Ox it is nine inches.
The horns represented in the following sketch, are those of the Hungarian Ox (a variety of Bos Taurus), and are almost as remarkable for their length and expansion as those of the Abyssinian Sanga. The length of each horn is three feet four inches and a half, and the distance between the tips is five feet one inch. The sketch is from a specimen in the British Museum.
FOOTNOTES:
[B] Jerom Lobo, in his account of Abyssinia, mentions that some of the horns of the Buffaloes of that country will hold ten quarts.