heard the howling
of the dogs, and about twenty came to our assistance. We then managed to
turn the sheep, and drive them under sheds, and into houses. All the
goats and five hundred sheep were lost. Many died after they got under
shelter, for in their fright, they crowded so close together, that they
were smothered. Half a verst farther, and we should have come to the
coast, rising twenty-five fathoms above the sea."

The above gives a lively picture of sufferings which are unknown to us,
and in which the dogs seem to have been less efficacious than our own
excellent breed.

OXEN.

The widely distributed genus Bos, has horns in both sexes, and in it we
find the largest of the Ruminantia. They, generally speaking, have
comparatively short legs, and heavy massive bodies. The perfection of
domestic oxen is said to be a resemblance to a box set upon four posts;
but in some of the wilder species, an arched back is certainly a beauty.
Their foreheads are very wide, and mostly flat; their ears large, and
projecting from the sides of the head; their muzzle broad, destitute of
hair, and always moist. A long ridge passes across the top of the
forehead, from which proceed two horns, more or less curved, sometimes
of great length, always tapering to a point, and having a bony core.
Their neck is thick, and from it hangs a dewlap, which passes between
the fore legs. The hoofs are cleft.

Of the origin of these Ruminants we know absolutely nothing, for they
are spoken of as domesticated animals from the earliest times; and
although there are such things as wild tribes now existing, we are not
sure whether they were placed where they are with their present
characters, or whether all are modifications of one pair, according to
circumstances. The most conspicuous among them are the Zebu, the
Buffalo, the Bison, and the bulls of various parts of the Old World.
Those cattle which roam about in a free state in South America, New
Zealand, and Australia, have not very long escaped from the dominion of
man.

In India some of the heathen natives make a certain ox a sacred animal;
the Brahmins worship it; and it is a distinct variety from the common
working oxen, who are by no means treated kindly. The cherished sorts
are very sleek and tame, and even voluntarily go up to strangers who
have grass in their hands, and eat it from them. They are, however,
troublesome, as all pets are, and no one will dare to check them, for
they m