The Chillingham Park Cattle are very handsome, being white with red ears, and black muzzle; their horns are also white with black tips, and greatly resemble our Devonshire breed, which is thought to approach nearer than any other to the Welsh wild cattle of ancient times. They are fleet, bold, and active, hide their calves for the first week after they are born, and are at all times dangerous to approach.
Like the sheep, there are so many breeds of oxen in this country, that the plan of my work cannot embrace them. They are a most important item in the riches of England; and few are insensible to the merits of our cheese and roast beef. We are not exactly on the same terms with our oxen as the Swiss are with theirs, with whom they form a part of the family, and where they are adorned with gay trappings and expensive bells; but our cows are familiar friends, coming when they are called, of themselves returning to the farm at milking time, and evincing great affection. I have not seen it stated elsewhere; but I have been told many times, that it is necessary to milk the cow always on the same side, or she kicks and rebels. Our bulls are sometimes fierce, but are much under the influence of voice and gesture. Both sexes will give notice of approaching rain after a drought, and are very inquisitive.
Mr. Bell gives us the following anecdote which was witnessed by one of his near relatives:—"A cow which was feeding tranquilly in a pasture, the gate of which was open to the road, was much annoyed by a mischievous boy, who amused himself by throwing stones at the peaceful animal; who, after bearing with his impertinence for some time, at length went up to him, hooked the end of her horn into his clothes, and lifting him from the ground, carried him out of the field, and laid him down in the road. She then calmly returned to her pasture, leaving him quit with a severe fright and a torn garment."
In Mr. Byam's "Central America" I find this interesting history, with which I conclude the present series of anecdotes:—"A bull had gored so many cattle that he was lassoed, and his horns blunted at the tips, to prevent further mischief. A few weeks after, a panther (jaguar) killed a cow, and from the torn condition of the bull's head and neck, and the trampled state of the ground, he had evidently done battle for the cow. He was secured, his wounds plastered up, his horns made sharp again, and turned out into the Savannah. The wild dogs and vultures having been kept from the body of the cow during the day, the panther returned to his feast at night, and a furious engagement took place between him and the bull; for the former was found dead, close by the cow, the next morning, pierced through and through. The bull returned again and again to him with fury, and was himself again wounded; but his gashes were sown up, and he remained so fierce, that his horns were obliged to be re-blunted."
THE END.
J. Wertheimer & Co., Printers, Finsbury Circus.
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