Head of Gaur, from the stuffed Specimen in the British Museum.
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.