, 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,
wh