Chapter Eighteen.
The Ox Tribe.
Our common domestic cattle furnish the type on which this family is founded; and it is well-known that of this type there are many varieties in different countries. Even in our own, so many are there, that a mere list of their names would fill one of our pages. We shall refrain therefore from giving any description of the different varieties—simply remarking that they are all supposed to spring from one original. This is, to say the least, a very doubtful hypothesis, since cattle have been found domesticated in many countries, and the period of their first introduction to the society of man is altogether unknown. It is far more likely that different species have furnished the varieties now known as domestic cattle.
We shall proceed to describe the other bovine animals—which, although of the same family, are beyond doubt of a distinct species from the common cattle.
The Zebu is one of the most remarkable. Its home is India and the adjacent regions; where it branches off into almost as many varieties as there are breeds of our own oxen. These varieties have different names; and they differ in size, shape, and other particulars; but the hump and long hanging dewlap render the zebu easily recognisable.
In India they are sometimes employed as beasts of the saddle and draught; and their flesh is also eaten, though with the exception of the hump (which is esteemed a great delicacy) it is not equal to English beef. Among the Hindus the zebus are regarded as sanctified creatures; and to slaughter them is deemed sin. For all that, these fanatics do not hesitate to work them—sometimes hard enough. There are some zebus, however, that are considered more holy than common. These may be seen wandering idly about the villages, fed from the hands of the people; and if neglected in this regard, they walk uninvited into the rice enclosures, and help themselves!
The zebus are usually of an ashy-grey colour, though many are white; and their size varies from that of an ordinary calf, to the stature of a full-grown bull.