such a gang of these animals surrounding an old or wounded bull, where
it would seem, from appearances, that they had been for several days in
attendance, and at intervals desperately engaged in the effort to take
his life. But a short time since, as one of my hunting companions and
myself were returning to our encampment, with our horses loaded with
meat, we discovered at a distance a huge bull, encircled with a gang of
white wolves. We rode up as near as we could without driving them away;
and being within pistol-shot, we had a remarkably good view, where I sat
for a few moments and made a sketch in my note-book. After which we rode
up, and gave the signal for them to disperse, which they instantly did,
withdrawing themselves to the distance of fifty or sixty rods, when we
found, to our great surprise, that the animal had made desperate
resistance, until his eyes were entirely eaten out of his head; the
gristle of his nose was mostly gone; his tongue was half eaten off, and
the skin and flesh of his legs torn almost literally into strings. In
this tattered and torn condition the poor old veteran stood bracing up
in the midst of his devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a few
minutes, to enjoy a sort of parley, recovering strength to resume the
attack in a few moments again. In this group, some were reclining to
gain breath, whilst others were sneaking about, and licking their chaps
in anxiety for a renewal of the attack; and others, less lucky, had been
crushed to death by the feet or the horns of the bull. I rode nearer to
the pitiable object, as he stood bleeding and trembling before me, and
said to him,--"Now is your time, old fellow, and you had better be off."
Though blind, and nearly destroyed, he straightened up, and, trembling
with excitement, dashed off at full speed upon the prairie, in a
straight line. We turned our horses, and resumed our march; and when we
had advanced a mile or more, we looked back, and again saw the ill-fated
animal surrounded by his tormentors, to whose insatiable voracity he
unquestionably soon fell a victim."
[Illustration: Bison surrounded by Wolves, after Catlin.]
It has frequently been noticed, that whenever a female Bison, having a
calf, is slain, the young one remains by its fallen dam, with signs of
strong natural affection, and instinctively follows the inanimate
carcase of its parent to the residence of the hunter. In this way many
calves are secured.
According to Mr. Catlin's account these young animals are induced to
follow any one who merely breathes in their nostrils. "I have often,"
says he, "in concurrence with a known custom of the country, held my
hands over the eyes of the calf, and breathed a few strong breaths into
its nostrils; after which I have, with my hunting companions, rode
several miles into our encampment, with the little prisoner busily
following the heels of my horse the whole way, as closely as its
instinct would attach it to the company of its dam.
[Illustration: Bison Calf, about three weeks old.]
"This is one of the most extraordinary things that I have met with in
the habits of this wild country; and although I had often heard of it,
and felt unable exactly to believe it, I am now willing to bear
testimony to the fact, from the numerous instances which I have
witnessed since I came into the country. During the time that I resided
at this post (Teton River) in the spring of the year, on my way up the
river, I assisted in bringing in, in the above manner, several of these
little prisoners, which sometimes followed for five or six miles close
to our horse's heels, and even into the Fur Company's Fort, and into the
stable where our horses were led. In this way, before I left for the
head waters of the Missouri, I think we had collected about a dozen,
which Mr. Laidlaw was successfully raising with the aid of a good milch
cow, and which were to be committed to the care of Mr. Chouteau, to be
transported, by the return of the steamer, to his extensive plantation
in the vicinity of St. Louis."
The uses which are made of the various parts of the Bison are numerous.
The hide, which is thick and rather porous, is converted by the Indians
into mocassins for the winter; they also make their shields of it. When
dressed with the hair on, it is made into clothing by the natives, and
most excellent blankets by the European settlers; so valuable, indeed,
is it esteemed, that three or four pounds sterling a piece are not
unfrequently given for good ones in Canada, where they are used as
travelling cloaks. The fleece, which sometimes weighs eight pounds, is
spun and wove into cloth. Stockings, gloves, garters, &c., are likewise
knit with it, appearing and lasting as well as those made of the best
sheep's wool. In England it has been made into remarkably fine cloth.
"There are," says Catlin, "by a fair calculation, more than 300,000
Indians who are now subsisting on the flesh of the buffaloes, and by
these animals supplied with, all the luxuries of life which they
desire, as they know of none others. The great variety of uses to which
they convert the body and other parts of that animal, are almost
incredible to the person who has not actually dwelt amongst these
people, and closely studied their modes and customs. Every part of their
flesh is converted into food, in one shape or other, and on it they
entirely subsist. The skins of the animals are worn by the Indians
instead of blankets; their skins, when tanned, are used as coverings for
their lodges and for their beds; undressed, they are used for
constructing canoes, for saddles, for bridles, l'arrets, lasos, and
thongs. The horns are shaped into ladles and spoons; the brains are used
for dressing the skins; their bones are used for saddle-trees, for
war-clubs, and scrapers for graining the robes; and others are broken up
for the marrow fat which is contained in them. The sinews are used for
strings and backs to their bows, for thread to string their beads and
sew their dresses. The feet of the animals are boiled, with their hoofs,
for the glue they contain, for fastening their arrow points, and many
other uses. The hair from the head and shoulders, which is long, is
twisted and braided into halters, and the tail is used for a fly-brush."
Again (vol. ii, p. 138), he says, "I have introduced the skin canoes of
the Mandans (of the Upper Missouri), which are made almost round like a
tub, by straining a buffalo's skin over a frame of wicker-work, made of
willow or other boughs. The woman, in paddling these awkward tubs,
stands in the bow, and makes the stroke with the paddle, by reaching it
forward in the water, and drawing it to her, by which means she pulls
the canoe along with considerable speed. These very curious and
rudely-constructed canoes are made in the form of the Welsh coracle;
and, if I mistake not, propelled in the same manner, which is a very
curious circumstance; inasmuch as they are found in the heart of the
great wilderness of America, where all the surrounding tribes construct
their canoes in decidedly different forms, and of different materials."
[Illustration: Skin Canoes of the Mandan Indians.]
It is generally agreed by travellers, that the flesh of the Bison is
little inferior to the beef of our domestic oxen. The tongue is
considered a delicacy, and the hump is much esteemed. A kind of
potted-beef, called _pemmican_, is made of the flesh of the Bison, in
the following manner:--The flesh is spread on a skin, dried in the sun,
and pounded with stones; then all the hair is carefully sifted out of
it, and melted fat kneeded into it. This, when properly made and kept
dry, will keep good for twelve months. The tallow of the Bison forms an
important article of commerce; one fat bull yielding sometimes as much
as 150 pounds weight.
Mr. Turner, a gentleman long resident in America, is of opinion, that
the Bison is superior even to our domestic cattle for the purposes of
husbandry, and has expressed a wish to see this animal domesticated on
the English farms. He informs us, that a farmer on the great Kenhawa
broke a young Bison to the plough; and having yoked it with a steer,
taken from his tame cattle, it performed its work to admiration. But
there is another property in which the Bison far surpasses the Ox, and
this is his strength. "Judging from the extraordinary size of his bones,
and the depth and formation of the chest, (continues this gentleman,) I
should not think it unreasonable to assign nearly a double portion of
strength to this powerful inhabitant of the forest. Reclaim him, and you
gain a capital quadruped, both for the draught and for the plough; his
activity peculiarly fits him for the latter, in preference to the ox."
As there are no Game Laws in America, (except in a very few confined
instances on the Atlantic border,) the consequence is that the Bison is
fast disappearing before the approach of the white settlers. At the
commencement of the eighteenth century these wild cattle were found in
large numbers all throughout the valley of the Ohio, of the Mississippi,
in Western New York, in Virginia, &c. In the beginning of the present
century they were still existing in the extreme western or southwestern
part of the State of New York. As late as 1812 they were natives of
Ohio, and numerous in that State. And now they are not to be seen in
their native state in any part of the United States, east of the
Mississippi River; nor are they now to be found in any considerable
numbers west of that great river, until you have travelled some eighty
or a hundred miles into the interior of the country.
There were no Bisons west of the Rocky Mountains, when Lewis and Clarke
travelled there in 1805. On their return from the Columbia, or Oregon
River, in July of that year, the first Bison they saw was on the day
after they commenced their descent of the Rocky Mountains towards the
east. On the second day after that, they saw immense herds of them on
the banks of the Medicine River. One collection of these animals which
they subsequently saw, on the borders of the Missouri River, they
estimated as being at least 20,000 in number.
In 1823 it was discovered that the Bisons had crossed the Rocky
Mountains, and some were to be seen in the vallies to the west of that
range.
East of that range of mountains, these animals migrate from the uplands
or mountains to the plains, and from north to south, about the beginning
of November; and return from the south to the north, and from the plains
to the uplands, soon after the disappearance of the snow in the spring.
The herds of Bisons wander over the country in search of food, usually
led by a bull remarkable for strength and fierceness. While feeding,
they are often scattered over a great extent of country; but when they
move, they form a dense and almost impenetrable column, which, when once
in motion, is scarcely to be impeded. Their line of march is seldom
interrupted, even by considerable rivers, across which they swim,
without fear or hesitation, nearly in the order in which they traverse
the plains. The Bisons which frequent the woody parts of the country
form smaller herds than those which roam over the plains, but are said
to be individually of a greater size.
The rutting takes place the latter part of July and the beginning of
August, after which the cows separate from the bulls in distinct herds.
They bring forth their young in April: from which it appears that the
term of gestation is about nine months.
The pair of American Bisons in the Zoological Gardens produced a calf in
1849; from the observations made in that instance, the period of
gestation was calculated at 270 days.
The most important anatomical difference between the American and the
European is, that the American has fifteen pairs of ribs, whereas the
European has but fourteen.
The following are the dimensions of a large specimen:--
Ft. In.
From the nose to the insertion of the tail 8 6
Height at the shoulder 6 0
" at the croup 5 0
Length of the head 2 1
Their weights vary from 1200 to 2000 pounds.
[Illustration: Head of young male Bison.]
THE AUROCHS, OR EUROPEAN BISON.
_Bos Bison._
[Illustration]
In this, as in the American species, the head is very broad, and the
forehead arched; but the horns are longer, more curved, and end in a
finer point than those of the American Bison. The eyes are large and
dark; the hair on the forehead is long and wavy; under the chin and on
the breast it forms a sort of beard. In winter, the whole of the neck,
hump, and shoulders are covered with a long woolly hair of a dusky brown
colour, intermingled with a short soft fur of a fawn colour. The long
hair is gradually cast in the summer, to be again renewed as the
inclemency of winter comes on. The legs, back, and posterior portions
are covered with short, dark brown hair. The tail is of a moderate
length, is covered with hair, and terminates in a large tuft.
The females are not so large as the males, neither are they
characterised by that abundance of hair on the anterior parts, which is
so conspicuous in the bulls.
These animals have never been domesticated, although calves have
sometimes been caught, and confined in an enclosed pasture. An instance
of this kind is recorded by Mr. Gilibert, who, while in Poland, had the
opportunity of observing the character of four young ones thus reared in
captivity. They were suckled by a she-goat, obstinately refusing to
touch a common cow. This antipathy to the domestic cow, which they
manifested so early, maintained its strength as they advanced in years;
their anger was sure to be excited at the appearance of any domestic
cattle, which, whenever introduced to them, they vigorously expelled
from their pasture. They were, however, sufficiently tame to acknowledge
the voice of their keeper.
The geographical range of this animal is now comparatively very limited,
being confined to the forests of Lithuania, Moldavia, Wallachia, and
some of the Caucasian mountain forests; yet there can be no doubt that,
at an early period, they roamed at large over a great part of both
Europe and Asia.
Although they have never been, strictly speaking, domesticated, yet
herds of them are kept in certain localities in the forest of
Bialowieza, under the special protection of the Emperor of Russia, and
under the immediate superintendence of twelve herdsmen, each herdsman
keeping the number allotted to his charge in a particular department of
the forest, near some river or stream. The estimated number of the
twelve herds is about 800.
They feed on grass and brushwood; also on the leaves and bark of young
trees, particularly the willow, poplar, ash, and birch. In autumn they
likewise browse on heath, and the lichens which cover the bark of trees.
In winter, when the ground is covered with snow, fodder is provided for
them.
Their cry is quite peculiar, resembling a groan, or a grunt, more than
the lowing of an ox.
They do not attain their full stature until after the sixth year, and
live till between thirty and forty.
"The strength of the Zubr," says Dr. Weissenborn, "is enormous; and
trees of five or six inches diameter cannot withstand the thrusts of old
bulls. It is neither afraid of wolf nor bear, and assails its enemies
both with its horns and hoofs. An old Zubr is a match for four wolves;
packs of the latter animal, however, sometimes hunt down even old bulls
when alone; but a herd of Zubrs has nothing to fear from any rapacious
animal.
"Notwithstanding the great bulk of its body, the Zubr can run very
swiftly. In galloping, its hoofs are raised above its head, which it
carries very low. The animal has, however, but little bottom, and seldom
runs farther than one or two English miles. It swims well, and is very
fond of bathing.
"The zubr is generally exceedingly shy, and avoids the approach of man.
They can only be approached from the leeward, as their smell is
extremely acute. But when accidentally and suddenly fallen in with, they
will passionately assail the intruder. In such fits of passion the
animal thrusts out its tongue repeatedly, lashes its sides with its
tail, and the reddened and sparkling eyes project from their sockets,
and roll furiously. Such is their innate wildness, that none of them
have been completely tamed. When taken young they become, it is true,
accustomed to their keepers, but the approach of other persons renders
them furious; and even their keepers must be careful always to wear the
same sort of dress when going near them. Their great antipathy to the
Bos Taurus, which they either avoid or kill, would render their
domestication, if it were practicable, but little desirable. The
experiments made with a view of obtaining a mixed breed from the Zubr
and Bos Taurus have all failed, and are now strictly prohibited."
The rutting season is in August, and continues for about a fortnight;
the calves are produced in May; thus, the period of gestation is between
nine and ten months. The calves continue to suckle nearly twelve months,
and the cows seldom calve oftener than once in three years.
The European Bison differs internally from the common ox in having
fourteen pairs of ribs, whereas the common ox has but thirteen. The
external differences between the two animals are too obvious to require
pointing out.
In 1845, the Emperor of Russia presented to the British Museum a very
fine stuffed specimen of this animal, from which the figure at the head
of this chapter was taken.
The following are its dimensions:--
Ft. In.
Length from the nose to the insertion of the tail 9 10
Height at the withers 5 6
" at the rump 4 11
Length of head 1 8
" of tail 3 0
M. Dimitri de Dolmatoff, Master of the Imperial Forests in the
Government of Grodno, in his note of the capture of the Aurochs,
(written in 1847,) alludes to the statement (made by every writer who
has treated of these animals), that the calves, although taken young,
invariably refuse to be suckled by the Domestic Cow. This he contradicts
in the most explicit manner, on the testimony of his own experience,
having had several instances come under his observation, in which the
young calves of the Aurochs were suckled and reared by cows of the
common domestic species.
Caesar, in his account of the "Sylva Hercynia"--the Black Forest--thus
mentions the Urus, amongst other animals, there found:
"A third kind [of animals] are those called Uri. They are but little
less than Elephants in size, and are of the species, colour, and form of
a bull. Their strength is very great, and also their speed. They spare
neither man nor beast that they see. They cannot be brought to endure
the sight of men, nor be tamed, even when taken young. The people who
take them in pit-falls, assiduously destroy them; and young men harden
themselves in this labour, and exercise themselves in this kind of
chase; and those who have killed a great number--the horns being
publicly exhibited in evidence of the fact--obtain great honour. The
horns, in amplitude, shape, and species, differ much from the horns of
our oxen. They are much sought after; and after having been edged with
silver at their mouths, they are used for drinking vessels at great
feasts." (_De Bello Gallico_, lib. vi.)
THE YAK, OR SOORA-GOY.
_Bos Grunniens._
[Illustration]
The following interesting and circumstantial account of this curious
species of Ox, is from the pen of Lieut. Samuel Turner. (_Asiatic
Researches_, vol. iv.)
"The Yak of Tartary, called Soora-Goy in Hindostan, and which I term the
Bushy-tailed Bull of Tibet, is about the height of an English Bull,
which he resembles in the figure of the body, head, and legs. I could
distinguish between them no essential difference, except only that the
Yak is covered all over with a thick coat of long hair. The head is
rather short, crowned with two smooth round horns, that, tapering from
the setting on, terminate in sharp points, arch inwardly, and near the
extremities are a little turned back. The ears are small; the forehead
appears prominent, being adorned with much curling hair; the eyes are
full and large; the nose smooth and convex; the nostrils small. The
neck is short, describing a curvature nearly equal both above and below;
the withers high and arched; the rump low. Over the shoulders rises a
bunch, which at first sight would seem to be the same kind of exuberance
peculiar to the cattle of Hindostan; but in reality it consists in the
superior length of the hair only, which, as well as that along the ridge
of the back to the setting on of the tail, grows long and erect, but not
harsh. The tail is composed of a prodigious quantity of long flowing
glossy hair, descending to the hock; and is so extremely well furnished,
that not a joint of it is perceptible; but it has much the appearance of
a large bunch of hair artificially set on. The shoulders, rump, and
upper part of the body are clothed with a sort of thick soft wool, but
the inferior parts with straight pendent hair that descends below the
knee; and I have seen it so long in some cattle, which were in high
health and condition, as to trail along the ground. From the chest,
between the fore-legs, issues a large pointed tuft of hair, growing
somewhat larger than the rest. The legs are very short. In every other
respect, hoofs, &c., he resembles the ordinary Bull. There is a great
variety of colours among them, but black and white are the most
prevalent. It is not uncommon to see the long hair upon the ridge of the
back, the tail, the tuft upon the chest, and the legs below the knee
white, when all the rest of the animal is jet black.
"These cattle, though not large boned, from the profuse quantity of hair
with which they are provided, appear of great bulk. They have a down
heavy look, but are fierce, and discover much impatience at the near
approach of strangers. They do not low loud (like the cattle of
England) any more than those of Hindostan; but make a low grunting
noise, scarcely audible, and that but seldom, when under some impression
of uneasiness. These cattle are pastured in the coldest part of Tibet,
upon short herbage, peculiar to the tops of mountains and bleak plains.
That chain of lofty mountains situated between lat. 27 deg. and 28 deg., which
divides Tibet from Bootan, and whose summits are most commonly covered
with snow, is their favourite haunt. In this vicinity the Southern glens
afford them food and shelter during the severity of the winter; in
milder seasons the Northern aspect is more congenial to their nature,
and admits a wider range. They are a very valuable property to the
tribes of illiterate Tartars, who live in tents, and tend them from
place to place, affording their herdsmen a mode of conveyance, a good
covering, and subsistence. They are never employed in agriculture, but
are extremely useful as beasts of burden; for they are strong,
sure-footed, and carry a great weight. Tents and ropes are manufactured
of their hair, and I have seen, though amongst the humblest ranks of
herdsmen, caps and jackets worn of their skins. Their tails are esteemed
throughout the East, as far as luxury or parade have any influence on
the manners of the people; and on the continent of India are found,
under the denomination of Chowries, in the hands of the meanest grooms,
as well as, occasionally, in those of the first ministers of state. Yet
the best requital with which the care of their keepers is at length
rewarded for selecting them good pastures, is in the abundant quantity
of rich milk they give, yielding most excellent butter, which they have
a custom of depositing in skins or bladders, and excluding the air; it
keeps in this cold climate all the year, so that after some time
tending their flocks, when a sufficient stock is accumulated, it remains
only to load their cattle, and drive them to a proper market with their
own produce, which constitutes, to the utmost verge of Tartary, a most
material article of commerce."
The soft fur upon the hump and shoulders is manufactured by the natives
of Tibet into a fine but strong cloth; and, if submitted to the test of
European skill, might no doubt be made to produce a very superior
fabric.