"His disposition is gentle: even when wild in his native hills, he is not considered to be a dangerous animal; never standing the approach of man, much less bearing his attack.
"To avoid the noon-day heat, he retires to the deepest shade of the forest; preferring the dry acclivity of the hill to repose on, rather than the low swampy ground below; and never, like the Buffalo, wallowing in mud.
"Gayals have been domesticated among the Cucis from time immemorial; and without any variation in their appearance from the wild stock. No difference whatever is observed in the colour of the wild and tame breeds; brown of different shades being the general colour of both.
"The wild Gayal is about the size of the wild Buffalo of India. The tame Gayals among the Cucis, being bred in nearly the same habits of freedom, and on the same food, without ever undergoing any labour, grow to the same size with the wild ones.
"The Cucis makes no use whatever of the milk, but rear the Gayals entirely for the sake of their flesh and skins; they make their shields of the hides of these animals. The flesh of the Gayal is in the highest estimation among the Cucis; so much so, that no solemn festival is ever celebrated without slaughtering one or more Gayals, according to the importance of the occasion.
"The domesticated Gayals are allowed by the Cucis to roam at large during the day, through the forest, in the neighbourhood of the village; but as evening approaches, they all return home of their own accord; the young Gayal being early taught this habit, by being regularly fed every night with salt, of which he is very fond; and from the occasional continuance of this practice, as he grows up, the attachment of the Gayal to his native village becomes so strong, that when the Cucis migrate from it, they are obliged to set fire to the huts which they are about to leave, lest their Gayals should return thither from their new place of residence, before they become equally attached to it, as to the former, through the same means.
"The wild Gayal sometimes steals out from the forest in the night, and feeds in the rice fields bordering on the hills. The Cucis give no grain to their cattle. With us (at Chatgaon) the tame Gayals feed on Caláï (phaseolus max); but as our hills abound with shrubs, it has not been remarked what particular kind of grass they prefer.
"The Hindus in this province will not kill the Gabay (or Gayal) which they hold in equal veneration with the cow. But the As'l Gayal, or Seloï, they hunt and kill, as they do the wild Buffalo. The animal here alluded to is another species of Gayal found wild in the hills of Chatgaon. He has never been domesticated, and is in appearance and disposition very different from the common Gayal which has just been described. The natives call him the As'l Gayal, in contra-distinction to the Gabay. The Cucis distinguish him by the name of Seloï; and the Mugs and Burmas by that of P'hanj, and they consider him, next to the tiger, the most dangerous and fiercest animal of their forests."
Mr. Elliot, in writing from Tipura, says,—"I have some Gayals at Munnamutty, and from their mode of feeding I presume that they keep on the skirts of the vallies, to enable them to feed on the sides of the mountain, where they can browse; they will not touch grass, if they can find shrubs.
"While kept at Camerlah, which is situated in a level country, they used to resort to the banks, and eat on the sides; frequently betaking themselves to the water, to avoid the heat of the sun. However, they became sickly and emaciated, and their eyes suffered much; but, on being sent to the hills, they soon recovered, and are now (1808) in a healthy condition. They seem fond of the shade, and are observed in the hot weather to take the turn of the hills, so as to be always sheltered from the sun. They do not wallow in mud, like Buffaloes, but delight in water, and stand in it during the greatest heat of the day, with the front of their heads above the surface.