104. The Lancashire or Long-horned Cattle, are much esteemed for the dairy. The cows yield from sixteen to twenty-four quarts of milk per day; and, on an average, about 300 weight of cheese per annum. They are hardy animals, readily become fat, and produce remarkably well-flavoured beef. But they are chiefly celebrated for the thickness and substance of their hides, which are very valuable, and sell at high prices. In many instances the hides have been known to produce a greater price per pound than the beef.
105. Alderney Cattle are a favourite breed, that have long been known and esteemed, in the southern counties of England, for their milk, which is richer than that of any other breed. These animals are of small size, the cows seldom exceeding the height of four feet; yet they are known to produce so much milk as to yield from 200 to more than 300 pounds' weight of butter per annum. In the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and Alderney, where these cattle are chiefly bred, they are sometimes employed in ploughing; but their greatest use is in carting, and, in this respect, they are found to answer peculiarly well in bad roads and hilly countries. Their beef is generally yellow or very high coloured; but it is peculiarly fine in the grain, and of excellent flavour.
106. Scotland is famous for a small kind of black cattle, with fine white upright horns tipped with black, called Highland Stots, or Kyloe Cattle. Having great celebrity for the fineness and sweetness of their beef, as well as the facility with which they are fattened, these cattle are in such esteem as to be driven into the southern counties of England, and occasionally to supply even the London markets. The cows, in proportion to their size, yield a great quantity of rich milk.
107. The YAK, or GRUNTING OX (Bos grunniens), is an animal of large size, with round, upright, and slender horns, a lump on the shoulders, long and pendant hair, white on the back and tail; and the tail somewhat resembling that of a horse.
In a wild state this animal is an inhabitant of the mountains of Thibet.
With the oriental princes the white tails of the yak are of great value for military standards; and the use of them is very ancient. These tails are also employed, in many parts of the East, to ornament the trappings both of elephants and horses; and, when mounted on a silver handle, they are used by the principal men of India as a brush to chase away flies. The Chinese dye the hair of a red colour, and form tufts for their caps of it. Many beautiful kinds of stuffs are woven of a fine wool which these animals have next to their skin.
108. The MUSK OX (Bos moschatus) is a North American animal of small size, with horns broad, and approaching each other at the base, bent downward, and the tips upward and pointed; a protuberance on the shoulder, and the body covered with long silky hair of a dusky red tinge.
To the North American Indians the musk ox is an animal of considerable importance. Its flesh furnishes them with an useful food, which, though it has a musky flavour, is not on that account the less esteemed. This flesh, in a frozen state, is also an article of traffic, with the British and American forts, during winter.
At the roots of the long hair of the musk ox there is a peculiarly beautiful ash-coloured fleece, which is finer and softer than silk, and may be wrought into very elegant articles of dress. It is of the long hair of these animals that the Esquimaux Indians make those caps which give them their very extraordinary appearance, by the ends being contrived so to fall down over their face, as to protect them from the bites of musquetoes. The skins are convertible into leather, and are also frequently used, by Indians, with the hair on, as coverings of various kinds.
109. The AMERICAN BISON (Bos Americanus) is a large species of ox, with round and distant horns which point outward, a long and woolly mane, and a large fleshy protuberance on the shoulders.