Gaurs associate in herds consisting usually of from ten to twenty animals. So numerous are they on Myn Pat, that, in one day hunting, the party computed that not less than eighty had passed through the station occupied by the sportsmen.
The Gaurs browse on the leaves and tender shoots of trees and shrubs, and also graze on the banks of the streams. During the cold season they remain concealed in the saul forests, but in hot weather come out to feed in the green vallies and lawns, which occur on the mountain of Myn Pat. They show no disposition to wallow in mire or swamps, like the Buffalo; a habit, indeed, which the sleekness of their skins renders not at all probable.
The period of gestation is said to be twelve months, and they bring forth usually in August."
To the preceding observations of Dr. Traill, I have to add the important fact (which of itself will be sufficient to constitute a specific difference between the Gaur and the Gayal), namely, that in the skeleton of the Gaur there are only thirteen pairs of ribs, whilst the skeleton of the Gayal possesses fourteen pairs. This fact I have ascertained from an examination of both the skeletons; that of the Gaur in the museum of the Zoological Society, and that of the Gayal, in the possession of Mr. Bartlett, Russell Street, Covent Garden. (See p. 68.)
The skeleton of the Gaur just referred to, strikingly confirms Dr. Traill's account of the elevated dorsal ridge of this animal; several of the dorsal vertebræ measuring, with their spinous processes, upwards of seventeen inches each, the longest being twenty inches and a half.
The Gaur, from which this skeleton was taken, was killed at Nicecond, November 8, 1843. There is another fine specimen of the skull and horns of the Gaur, in the Museum of the Zoological Society, taken from an animal killed by Lieut. Nelson, on the Neilsburry Hills, Salem district. This animal measured nineteen hands and half an inch at the shoulder.
Dimensions of the Figure in the British Museum:—
| Ft. | In. | |
| Length from nose to insertion of tail, measuring over the forehead and along the back | 11 | 0 |
| Height at the highest part of the dorsal ridge | 5 | 7-1/2 |
| Height at the croup | 5 | 4 |
| Length of the tail | 3 | 1 |
In Mr. D. Johnson's Sketches, the Gaur is described as a kind of wild bullock, of prodigious size, residing in the Ramghur district, not well known to Europeans. Mr. Johnson says: "I have never obtained a sight of them, but have often seen the print of their feet, the impression of one of them covering as large a space as a common china plate. According to the account I received from a number of persons they are much larger than the largest of our oxen; light brown colour, with short horns, and inhabit the thickest covers. They keep together in herds, and a herd of them is always near the Luggo-hill; they are also in the heavy jungles between Ramghur and Nagpoor. I saw the skin of one that had been killed by Rajah Futty Narrain; its exact size I do not recollect, but I well remember that it astonished me, having never seen the skin of any animal so large. Some gentlemen at Chittrah have tried all in their power to procure a calf without success. The Shecarries and villagers are so much afraid of these animals, that they cannot be prevailed on to go near them, or to endeavour to catch any of their young. It is a prevailing opinion in the country, that if they are in the least molested, they will attack the persons disturbing them, and never quit them until they are destroyed; and should they get into a tree, they will remain near it for many days."
The word Gau, or Ghoo, as it is sometimes spelled by European writers, appears to be used both as a generic and specific term, in Persia and Hindostan; and as it has the same meaning, and nearly the same sound, as the German word Kuh, and the English Cow, it is highly probable that its origin is the same. As the word ur, in Hindostan, appears to have the meaning of wild, or savage, the name Gaur, or Gau-ur, literally signifies the wild cow. Should the prefix aur, in the German word Aurochs, be merely a form, or different mode of spelling the prefix ur, then the name Aurochs would be precisely synonymous with the Hindostanee Gau-ur. That aur is, in this instance, merely a different spelling of the prefix ur, would appear to be corroborated by the circumstance that the term Urus is the latinized form of the German Aurochs.—From a MS. Note by Mr. W. A. Chatto.