To train an Ox to carry a Rider.—­It takes a very long time to train an ox to carry a riding-saddle well and steadily:  indeed, very few oxen can be taught to go wherever they may be guided by the rider; they are of so gregarious a nature, that, for the most part, they will not move a step without companions.  Hence, those oxen only are thought worth breaking-in which are observed to take the part of leaders of the drove when pasturing, and which are therefore supposed to have some independence of disposition.  The first time of mounting an ox to break him in, is a work of almost certain mischance:  for the long horns of the ox will often reach the rider, however far back he may sit, and the animal kicks and bucks in a way that severely tries the best of seats.  All riding-oxen’s horns should have the tips sawn off.  After being mounted a very few times, the ox goes pretty steadily; but it is long before he learns to carry a rider with ease to himself.  I should like to hear if Rarey’s plan of tying up the foreleg would influence them.  Their character is so wholly unlike that of a horse, that I doubt if it would.

In riding, it must be recollected that the temper of an ox is far less quick, though his sensations may be as acute as those of a horse:  thus, he does not start forwards on receiving a cut with the whip, even though he shrink with the pain; but he thinks about it, shakes his head, waits a while, and then breaks gradually into a faster pace.  An ox will trot well enough with a light weight; and, though riding myself upwards of 13 stone, I once took an ox 60 miles in a day and a half:  this is, perhaps as much as an ox could, in fairness, be made to do.  A ride-ox can be tied up by his nose-bridle; but, if wild or frightened, he will assuredly struggle till the nose-stick be torn out of his nose, and he becomes free.  It is, therefore, better to tie the bridle to a tuft of grass, or a slender twig, rather than to a tree or to the saddle-bags.  Mounting an ox is usually a troublesome business, on account of his horns.  To make ride-oxen quiet and tame, scratch their backs and tails—­they dearly love it—­and hold salt in your hands for them to lick.  They soon learn their names, and come to be caressed when called.

Cows.—­Most breeds of cows, out of Europe, cease to give milk after their calf dies; and the only way of making them continue their yield, is to spread out the calf’s hide for them to lick, some time before milking them; it retains its effect for a week or more.  Messrs. Huc and Gabet give the following graphic account of this contrivance, as applied to restive cows:—­“These long-tailed cows are so restive and difficult to milk, that, to keep them at all quiet, the herdsman has to give them a calf to lick meanwhile.  But for this device, not a single drop of milk could be obtained from them.  One day a Lama herdsman, who lived in the same house with ourselves, came, with a long dismal face, to announce that his cow had calved during