[Illustration: _Photo by the Duchess of Bedford_] [_Woburn Abbey._
The anoa is the smallest and most antelope-like member of the Ox Tribe.]
In the island of Mindoro, in the Philippines, a small black buffalo, with upright, slightly incurved horns, is found in the dense forests. The height at the shoulder is about 3 feet 6 inches; a few irregular marks of white are found on the fore legs, face, and occasionally the throat. It is called the TAMARAU by the natives, most of whom fear to attack it. Its habits are said to be much the same as those of the other buffaloes; but it is reputed to fight with the Indian buffaloes which have escaped and become semi-wild in the forests.
In Celebes a still smaller wild forest-buffalo is found, called the ANOA. It is only 3 feet 3 inches high at the shoulder, and has upright, almost straight horns. The general colour is brownish, tinged with yellow, that of the adults being very dark brown or black. Scarcely anything is known of its habits.
The MUSK-OX was formerly found in immense numbers on the barren lands and other regions bordering on the Arctic ice. The hair of this animal reaches almost to the ground, and the horns are large and massive. At present it is only common in the corner of North America north and east of a line drawn from Fort Churchill, on Hudson Bay, to the mouth of the Mackenzie, and on the adjacent islands of the Arctic Sea. In former Arctic expeditions the flesh of the musk-oxen was a great and reliable source of food. Now some parts of the herds seem to have retired inland, and in the winter to become mainly forest-dwellers; but large numbers seem to endure the coldest parts of the Arctic winter in the open country of the Far North, in the snows of Grinnell Land and of Northern Greenland. The remains of musk-oxen have been found in the river gravels of the Thames Valley, with those of the reindeer and other northern species. The musk-ox gallops at a great rate of speed when disturbed in the open, and makes as little of a steep mountain-side as does the wild sheep. When fat, the flesh is very tolerable food; but if the animals grow thin, the taste of musk is very unpleasant. The colour of the coat is dark brown; it is now in great demand for sledge-rugs in Canada. This remarkable animal appears to be a form standing apart both from the oxen and the sheep.