Bos moschatus, or musk ox, having very long pende nt nair, and horns (in the male approximated at the base) bending in wards and downwards, and outwards at the tips. It is a native of North America, where it appears to be a very local ani mal, being found first in the tract between Churchill river and that of the Seals, on the west side of Hudson's Bay, and is very numerous between the latitudes of 66° and 73° north, which is as far as any tribes of Indians go. This animal is but of small size, being rather lower than the deer, but larger or thicker in body. The hair in the male is of a dusky red colour, ex tremely fine, and so long as to trail on the ground, and render the animal a seem ingly shapeless mass, without distinction of head or tail ; the legs are very short; the shoulders rise into a lump, and the tail is short, being a kind of stump, of a few inches only, with very long hairs. Beneath the hair, on all parts of the ani mal, is a fine cinereous wool, which is said to be more beautiful than silk when manufactured into stockings and other articles. The horns are closely united at the base, bending inwards and down wards ; but turning outwards towards the tips, which are very sharp ; near the base the horns are two feet in girth, but are only two feet long, when measured along the curvature ; the weight of a pair, separated from the head, is some times sixty pounds.
Bos grunniens, or yak, (having, with cylindric horns curving outwards, very long pendent hair, and extremely villose, horse-like tail,) is about the size of an English bull, which he resembles in the general figure of the body, head, and legs; it is covered all over with a thick coat of long hair ; the head is rather short, crowned with two smooth round horns, which, tapering from the root up wards, terminate in sharp points ; they are arched inwards, bending towards each other, but near the extremities are a little turned back.
They are a very valuable property to the tribes of itinerant Tartars, called Duckba, who live in tents, and tend them from place to place : they at the same time afford their herdsmen an easy mode of conveyance, a good covering, and wholesome subsistence. They are never
employed in agriculture, but are extreme useful as beasts of burthen ; for they are strong, sure-footed, and carry a great weight. Tents and ropes are manufac tured of their hair ; and among the bum bler ranks of herdsmen, caps and jackets are made of their skins. Their tails are esteemed throughout the East, as far as luxury and parade have any influence on the manners of the people. In India no man of fashion ever goes out, or sits in form at home, without two chowrabadars, or brushers, attending him, each furnished with one of these tails mounted on silver or ivory handles, to brush away the flies. The Chinese dye them of a beautiful red, and wear them as tufts to their summer bonnets. The yak is the most fearful of animals, and very swift ; but when chased by men or dogs, and finding itself nearly overtaken, it will face its pursuers, and hide its hind parts in some bush, and wait for them ; imagining that if it could con ceal its tail, which was the object they were in search of, it would escape unhurt.
Bos wirer, or Cape ox, (having the horns very broad at the base, then spread ing downwards, next upwards, and at the tips curving inwards ;) inhabits the inte rior parts of Africa, north of the Cape of Good Hope, and is greatly superior in size to the largest English ox. It is of a very strong and masculine form, with a fierce and malevolent aspect. Its colour is a deep cinereous brown ; the hair on the body is rather short, but that on the bead and breast very long, coarse, and black, hanging down the dew-lap, like that of a bison ; from the hind part of the head to the midde of the back is also a loose black mane ; the tail nearly naked at the base ; the remainder being covered with long loose hair. These animals are found in large herdi, in the desert parts beyond the. Cape ; and, if met in the nar row parts of woods, are extremely dan gerous, rushing suddenly on the travel ler, goring and trampling both man and horse under foot. It is also said, that they will often strip off the skin of such animals as they have killed, by licking them with their rough tongues, as record ed by some of the ancient authors of the bison.