The Moose or Elk. The Moose or Elk is the largest of the Deer kind, and often attains to and even exceeds the size and bulk of the largest horses. He is less graceful than other members of his family, having a short thick neck, necessary perhaps to sustain his huge antlers, which sometimes reach five feet in length and weigh as much as sixty pounds. He escapes the torment of insects by taking to the water, in which he is an expert swimmer. Like the other animals of the Deer kind he sheds his horns annually. Year by year these huge growths increase in breadth and in the number of branches they bear, until there are sometimes as many as twenty on each horn. He is docile and easily tamed, and has been broken to run in harness. The Elk occupies much the same geographical area as the reindeer, though not travelling so far north.
The Fallow Deer and the Roebuck. The Fallow Deer (Dama vulgaris) is smaller than the stag, but similar to it in colour, form, and habit. It is this species which is domesticated and kept in the parks of the wealthy in England. Fallow Deer often quarrel among themselves over rights of pasturage, the herd dividing into two and engaging in a pitched battle for the possession of the disputed land. The Roebuck is smaller than the Fallow Deer, his height being about two feet six inches and his length three feet. He is less sociable than other species of his kind, living alone with his family and not in herds like the Fallow Deer. He is found in Scotland and in the northern parts of Europe.
The Giraffe. The Giraffe (Camelopardalis giraffa) belongs to Abyssinia, Nubia and South-Africa. It is the tallest of living animals, attaining to the height of eighteen feet. Its body has some similarity to that of the camel in form, and its head, which surmounts a neck seven feet long and bears two horns six inches long, resembles generally that of a horse. Its tongue, which can be extended seventeen inches, is very mobile and can be so tapered as to enter a small ring. It is used in tearing off the foliage of the trees upon which the animal feeds. Its neck, but for its length, is like that of the stag, and its legs are slender. The hide is spotted like that of the leopard and when young is of a light red colour, which becomes deeper with age, that of the female becoming a yellow brown and that of the male a dark brown approaching to black. In repose it lies on its side, resting its head on its hind quarters. Though only living in a wild state, the Giraffe is a mild and docile animal, only fighting in self-defence, and then making powerful use of its heels. The lion is its great enemy and if it succeeds in leaping upon its back there is not much chance for the giraffe, which usually runs until it drops from exhaustion. A blow from the heel of the Giraffe in the right place would probably kill any of its enemies, and even the lion has been known to pay dearly for coming within its reach.
The History of the Giraffe. The Giraffe was known to the ancients, though, like the gorilla, it has been re-discovered in recent years. Le Vaillant saw and described the giraffe, but he was credited with having invented it, and it was not until a live specimen of it was brought to Paris that his credibility was established, Mrs. Bowdich, who happened to be in Paris at the time this animal arrived, gives an amusing description of its triumphal march from Bordeaux to the Capital. "A deputation from each large town through which she passed," says Mrs. Bowdich, "formed of the municipal authorities, met her; and one of the most learned savants went all the way from the Jardin des Plantes, to accompany her on her march. 'La giraffe,' however, did not appreciate these honours, and was often impatient under the etiquette imposed on her. On one occasion she broke loose from her cavalcade, keeper and all, and dashing among the horsemen, scattered them right and left, some on and some off their steeds. A dignified mayor lay in the dust, and by his side rolled the painstaking savant who had performed so long a journey in her service. The enthusiasm did not abate when she reached her destination. Thirteen thousand more than the usual weekly number passed over the Pont d'Austerlitz alone; and as the public curiosity did not but increase for six weeks, steps were obliged to be taken to prevent the multitude from pressing upon her. Her love for roses was very great; and she eagerly snatched them from those who carried or wore them, to their great astonishment; for few could calculate on the distance which she could reach." Mr. Gordon Cumming describes a herd of ten giraffes which he saw moving together along an African valley, forming an imposing spectacle.
Hollow-Horned Ruminants. We come now to a family of great importance to the human race, the family which includes among its members the Ox and the Sheep. These are grouped as hollow-horned ruminants, this one touch of nature making the whole family kin. The hollow-horned ruminants are divided into numerous sub-families, of which the Ox, the Antelope, the Sheep, and the Goat are the best known representatives. The horn by which the family is characterised, comprises a hollow horny sheath which covers a bony core, and which, except in one case, unlike the horns of the stag, which are shed annually, is permanent. Sir Victor Brooke divides the family of the Bovidæ into thirteen sub-families. I Bovinæ, II Tragelaphinæ, III Oryginæ, IV Hippotraginæ, V Gazellinæ, VI Antilocaprinæ, VII Cervicaprinæ, VIII Cephalophinæ, IX Alcephalinæ, X Budorcinæ, XI Rupicaprinæ, XII Nemorhedinæ, XIII Caprinæ.
The Bull, The Bison, and The Buffalo. The sub-family Bovinæ includes the Bull, the Bison, and the Buffalo. The antiquity of the ruminants shrouds their origin in obscurity. They are of frequent mention in the sacred writings as belonging to the earliest historic period, and as living in a state of domestication in all times. The Bull has a very wide geographical area, and is found in most parts of the world. In England, as the Rev. J. G. Wood puts it, there are almost as many breeds as counties, and they are generally distinguished by the length or shape of their horns. The "long-horned" breed belong to Lancashire, the "short-horned" to Durham, the "middle-horned" to Devonshire, besides which there is the "polled", a hornless breed. Of the Bison there are two species, one belonging to Poland and the Caucasus, and the other to North America. The Buffalo belongs to the south of Europe, to India, and to North Africa, the Cape Buffalo inhabiting the south of "the dark continent."
The Bull. The Ox. The Cow. Few animals show as much difference of disposition in the male and female as the Bull and the Cow. The Bull is often excited to ungovernable fury, is generally unsafe and often dangerous. These characteristics have doubtless marked him out as the object of sport in the Roman Amphitheatre and the Spanish Bull fight. The Cow, on the other hand, displays a gentle and docile disposition, is placid, mild, and obedient to the will of those who govern it. The Bull is kept mainly for the purposes of breeding, being too uncertain for use as a beast of burden or for other employment. The Ox which is the subdued offspring of the Bull and the Cow, is much more amenable to control and therefore a much more useful servant to man. The Cow is invaluable for the milk it supplies, upon which mankind is dependent for butter and for cheese.
The Bull. The Bull is a handsome animal and of great strength, especially about the head and neck. Its fierceness has often been turned to account by the farmer, for it is an excellent animal to dispute a right of way, the force of its arguments usually bearing down all opposition. It has been known also to use its strength for the protection of other animals. "Two robbers," says the author of "Domestic Animals and their Treatment," "took a pig, weighing fourteen stone, out of its sty, and drove it along a lane leading towards Rotherham. On coming to a lonely path across the fields they thought it would be better to kill the pig at once in this quiet place, where no one would be likely to hear the cries of the animal. One of the robbers accordingly took a knife out of his pocket, and commenced cutting the pig's throat. The poor pig struggled violently, and managed to escape from his hands, running squealing into the next field, with a fearful gash in his throat. The men ran after the pig, but found in the field a bull grazing, who seemed at once to understand the state of the case, and took upon himself the championship of the wounded animal. The bull ran furiously at the robbers, who fled for their lives, and only just managed to escape a toss from his horns. They lingered outside the fence, however, hoping that an opportunity would still offer of their catching the pig; but the pig wisely kept close to his new friend, and the men at last were under the mortifying necessity of going home without their booty. These men were afterwards convicted of stealing sheep and corn, when one of them confessed this affair of the pig, and thus explained what had been a great mystery to the owner, namely, how it was that his pig came to be in a field at some distance from the sty, with his throat partly cut, and keeping close company with the bull." Mr. Byam's "Central America" affords another illustration: "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 Brahmin Bull. The Brahmin Bull of India, is a sleek, tame animal of a different species to the ordinary working ox. He is protected as sacred and allowed more liberty than is sometimes either convenient or pleasant, as he is apt to become obtrusive and his devotees fear to check or thwart him. Sacred as he is he does not believe in the eighth commandment and so helps himself without scruple to the wares of the fruiterer and the gardener's preserves.
The Ox. The Ox is one of the most useful creatures of the animal world. It is used as a beast of burden and employed to draw waggons and to drag the plough in England, and in a variety of useful labours abroad. "Every part of the Ox is of value," says the Rev. J. G. Wood. "We eat his flesh, we wear shoes soled with his skin, our candles are made from his fat, our tables are joined with glue made from his hoofs, his hair is mixed with the mortar of our walls, his horns are made into combs, knife-handles, drinking-cups, etc., etc., his bones are used as a cheap substitute for Ivory, and the fragments ground and scattered over the fields as manure, and soup is made from his tail." The value of the Ox in drawing waggons abroad may be gathered from the following quotation from Mr. Gordon Cumming's "Hunting Adventures in South Africa." "They (the oxen) are expected, unguided by reins, to hold the rare-trodden roads, which occur throughout the remoter parts of the Colony, either by day or night; and so well trained are these sagacious animals, that it is not uncommon to meet with a pair of fore-oxen which will, of their own accord, hold the "spoor" or track of a single waggon, which has perhaps crossed a plain six months previously."