The Zebu. The Zebu is found in India, China, Arabia, Persia and Africa. It is of about the same size as a cow, but is distinguished by the possession of a hump upon its shoulders, giving it some resemblance to the Bison. It is used both for riding and driving in India, where it admirably serves the purposes of a horse, travelling at the rate of six miles an hour for many hours at a stretch and leaping obstacles with the facility of a practised hunter. It is also used for ploughing land and threshing corn.
The Yak. The Yak belongs to Western Thibet. It is of singular appearance, having the head of a bull and the hump of a Bison, and being covered with long hair reaching almost to the ground. In a wild state it is savage and dangerous, but it is brought under cultivation by the Tartars, who use it as a beast of burden and make ropes and garments from its hair. The female yields rich milk from which excellent butter is made; butter which is stored in bladders from which the air is excluded. It is then carried to market by the faithful animal which has produced it.
The Antelopes. The Antelopes are numerous in kind and various in form, too numerous and various to be separately described. The Eland, the largest and heaviest of the species, belongs to South Africa; the Bosch-bok, to South and Central Africa, the Harnessed Antelope to West Africa; and the Nylghau to India. The Leucoryx and the Addax are found in North Africa, the Equine Antelopes in tropical Africa and the Cape. The Pallah herds in South Africa. The Prong-horned Antelope belongs to North America, inhabiting the Rocky Mountains and the districts both north and south. The Bay Antelope is found on the Gold Coast, the Four-horned Antelope in India. The Gnu or Wildebeest belongs to South Africa and the Chamois and the Izard to the Pyrenees.
The Gazelle. The Gazelle, of which there are numerous species, belongs to Syria, Egypt and Algeria. It is a beautiful animal, resembling a roebuck, but more delicately and finely limbed, with hair equally short, but finer and more glossy. It has a small tuft of hair on each of its fore limbs. Of all animals in the world, gazelles are said to have the most beautiful eyes—extremely brilliant, and yet meek and expressive. Their swiftness is equal to that of the roe; they do not, however, bound forward like the roe, but run along in an even, uninterrupted course. Most of them are brown upon the back, white under the belly with a black stripe separating these colours. Their horns are annulated or ringed round.
The Sheep and the Goat. The sheep, so useful to man, furnishing him with both food and clothing, is one of the most defenceless and inoffensive of all animals. The goat is more hardy, more playful, lively, and vagrant than the sheep. It delights in climbing precipices, for which nature has fitted it, by giving it hoofs hollow underneath, with sharp edges, so that it walks securely on narrow ridges. Both animals have been known from the earliest times, and are frequently mentioned in the Sacred Writings. Of the different kinds of sheep, the common sheep, the long-tailed sheep and the Wallachian sheep are typical varieties. The common sheep provides us with our chief supplies of wool. The wool of the Spanish sheep (the merino) is finer in quality, but much less in quantity. The long-tailed sheep belongs to Syria and Egypt, and the Wallachian sheep to Crete, Wallachia, Hungary, and Western Asia. This last has long horns, and its wool is mixed with hair. The musk sheep of Arctic America resembles the yak somewhat in appearance, though minus the hump and with horns more resembling those of the buffalo. It is sometimes called the musk ox. The goat is not much used in England, but it is practically the cow of Syria and Switzerland. The Cashmir goat produces the fine wool so much valued for shawl material; the kid, the materials so largely used by the glove makers. The ibex belongs to the Carpathians, the Pyrenees, and the Savoy Alps, though it is now but rarely found in places where it was once abundant.
The Intelligence of the Sheep. Mr. W. H. G. Kingston tells an interesting story of a ewe, bred in the neighbourhood of Sheep. Edinburgh who was driven into Perthshire, a distance of upwards of a hundred miles, to a place where she became the mother of a lamb. Not liking her new quarters, she evidently determined to revisit the old, and set off with that purpose, taking her lamb with her. Arrived at Stirling she found the place alive with the excitement of an annual fair. Not deeming it prudent to increase the excitement she rested on the north side of the town throughout the day, where she was noticed by many people, but molested by none. Early the following morning she crossed the town and proceeded on her journey. Arrived at the toll bar of St. Ninians, she was stopped by the toll keeper who supposed her to be a stray sheep. Unable to get through the gate, she turned back, made a circuitous detour and reached her old home after a journey of nine days. Her former owner rewarded her by repurchasing her and allowing her to remain on his farm until her death, which occurred at the mature age of seventeen years. The sense of locality noticed in the cat, the dog, the horse, and other animals is here seen to be characteristic of the sheep. Mr. Kingston tells another story of a ewe who, unable to extricate a lamb which had become entangled in a hedge, made her way through several hedges into a neighbouring field and fetched a ram to its assistance, thus effecting its liberation. Sheep have also been known to seek and secure the assistance of cattle when in difficulty.
Sheep and Music. Haydn the composer tells a pretty story of the power of music over the mountain sheep in the neighbourhood of Lago Maggiore in Lombardy. "Having reached the middle of the ascent by daybreak," he says, "we stopped to contemplate the Borromean Isles, which were displayed under our feet, when we were surrounded by a flock of sheep, which were leaving their fold to go to pasture. One of our party, who was no bad performer on the flute, and who always carried the instrument with him, took it out of his pocket. 'I am going,' said he, 'to turn Corydon; let us see whether Virgil's sheep will recognise their pastor.' He began to play. The sheep and goats, which were following one another towards the mountain with their heads hanging down, raised them at the first sound of the flute, and all, with a general and hasty movement, turned to the side from whence the agreeable noise proceeded. They gradually flocked round the musician, and listened with motionless attention. He ceased playing, and the sheep did not stir. The shepherd with his staff now obliged them to move on; but no sooner did the fluter begin again than his innocent auditors again returned to him. The shepherd, out of patience, pelted them with clods of earth; but not one of them would move. The fluter played with additional skill; the shepherd fell into a passion, whistled, scolded, and pelted the poor creatures with stones. Such as were hit by them began to march, but the others still refused to stir. At last the shepherd was forced to entreat our Orpheus to stop his magic sounds; the sheep then moved off, but continued to stop at a distance as often as our friend resumed the agreeable instrument. As music was our continual employment, we were delighted with our adventure; we reasoned upon it the whole day, and concluded that physical pleasure is the basis of all interest in music."
ORDER VIII.
The Elephant. Of the elephant there is now but one genus and two species; respectively the Indian and the African varieties. At least fourteen species are known to be extinct.
The elephant is the largest of the quadrupeds; his height is from eight to fourteen feet; his length is ten to fifteen feet. His form resembles that of a hog; his eyes are small and lively; his ears are broad, long, and pendulous. He has two large tusks, and a trunk or proboscis at the extremity of the nose, which he uses to take his food with, and, in case of necessity, for attack or defence. His legs are thick and long, and his feet are divided into five rounded toes. His colour is a dark ash brown. There are elephants, however, of a white or cream colour. The African is distinguished from the Indian variety by the size of its ears, which in the African species are very large. Dr. Livingstone gave the measurement of the ears of a female he killed, as four feet five inches in depth and four feet in horizontal breadth, and said he had seen a native creep under one so as to be completely covered from the rain. The ear of the Indian variety is not more than a third of this size. Generally the elephants of Africa and especially those of the south are larger than those of India. The most striking characteristic of the elephant is his trunk. "In this," says the Rev. J. G. Wood, "there are about forty thousand muscles, enabling the elephant to shorten, lengthen, coil up, or move in any direction this most extraordinary organ. The trunk is pierced throughout its length by two canals, through which liquids can be drawn by suction. If the elephant wishes to drink, after drawing the liquid into its trunk, it inserts the end of its proboscis into its mouth, and discharges the contents down its throat; but if it merely wishes to wash itself or play, it blows the contained liquid from the trunk with great violence. Through the trunk the curious trumpet-like voice of the elephant is produced. At the extremity is a finger-like appendage, with which it can pick up small objects." The elephant is thirty years old before he attains maturity. He lives on foliage, herbs, and fruits, having a special taste for those which are sweet.