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."