The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-24

Eak1
81
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-assasesna HE differentiation between these
IT. two animals Is a subject OF unusual
interest to the sportsman-natural-
J list. To trace the origin Of the
VAv~ popular misconception that the two
fC.srrYv-T-0 names are synonymous, a mistake
HI TMN IL to which even some of our best
t9M@ known sportsmen OF today must
|Tf& plead guilty, we, have to, dive into
S..1l...J the not always limpid depths OF
- early medieval history. For the
event which has probably more to
do than any other with the PRONUNCIATION OF this
error was the famous hunt given by Chariemagne
to the ambassadors of Haroun'al-Rashid in the
dank Hercyian woods that surrounded HIS hunt
ing lodge, Heristallum. According to the original
account by the monk Eginhard Of st. Gall, the
aurochs were Of such terrorinstiling appearance
to the men from the east that they could not
even bear the sight OF them, and fed from the
emperor's side. The latter, attacked by the terc-
est of these monsters, missed the vital spot,
with the result that before brave Isambart could
slay 1t the emperor was slightly wounded in the
aNE-l N~l J~I IN al upr tnI1 infr
shreds. Rushing to his side, the assembled cour-
tiers offered to divert themselves Of their own
hose, but the emperor laughing!y rejected their
offers, declaring that he intended to snow him
self In his sorry plight to the fair Hildegarde,
who was q great huntress herself Needless to
say, this adventure proved a mediaaval Scoop
OF the ~gaudiest kind, but in the course of un-
numbered retellings the aurochs became a WI
sent, as was called the European bison. and since
that time a perplexing confusion has reigned be-
tween these two animals. That the true aur0chs,
which became extinct three hundred years ago.
was an entirely different animal from the bison.
whose name, alas! is also on the list of animals
about to share the auroch's fate. is now a fact
known to all scientific men. To the writer the
poor old bison's pathetic fate appeals more par
ticularly, for when shooting in the Rockies in
the seventies OF last century he still saw them In
herds of ten thousand. But as the men who can
claim to have seen the same marvellous sight
will before long follow these lordly inhabitants
OF the wilds to the happy hunting grounds, the
study of the past history OF these two species
has for some people unusual attractions. And
not the least interesting phase of it is the col'
lecting of pictures made at a time when both
beasts were still roaming over the wastes OF
the earth" or had but recently disappeared.
OF the earliest of all pictures of what was prob
ably meant to be the bison. an interesting Grtl-
Gle which recently appeared in an illustrated week
ly, in which the roof pictures in the Altamira
Cave were reproduced, gave one a capital Idea.
After a gap of untold centuries we reach the
various pictorial records left to us by the CHS
els, gravers or brushes of the classic ages.
Among those who have made important discov-
cries respecting the distribution Of the aurochs,
Professor Conrad Keller, the welLknown Zurich
E~oologlst, occupies = prominent place. His dis
coveries in the ruins Of the ancient palace OF
King Minos in Crete Of no fewer than sixteen
horncores and one skull Of what unquestionably
was the original wild OK Of Europe, or aurochs,
show that 1t lived there at one period, and that
the famous legend of the minotaur has a sub
stratum Of truth. From his pages we borrow an
illustration OF an important fresco in Knossos de-
plotting an aurochs In the act Of impaling a help
less-looking victim, while a bold bullfghter is
actually turning a somersault over the back OF
the beast, a third, possibly female, looker-on at
tempting to seize the bulls tail, the scene being
probably enacted in an arena. 1t Is possible that
the Theseus story came from the slaughter OF
captives In such exhibitions. Several other pic
lures have been recently discovered which be-
long to the Minos period, |. O., between 1000 and
1900 b. {. Professor Keller's highly instructive
writings contain many other Illustrations Of Bos
primtfenius.
Skipping tens of centuries, we reach the Bes-
taries, the most ancient of which originated In
the period we touched at the outset when speak.
Ing or C~harlemagne's aurochs.hunt. These en-
ceedingly primitive pictorial records do not add
much to our information; 'the choice hurts one"
as Germans describe that state of uncertainty in
regard to what the monastic artists meant to
represent by their crude attempts. Skipping a
few more centuries, we at last reach, in the be.
ginning OF the fifteenth century. fairly intelligent
accounts of the animals habitat, and are fur.
n.shed with drawings presenting features stuff.
GENTLY distinct to indicate, even to eyes accus-
toned to Photographic accuracy, the identity Of
the animal the picture means to represent.
Very curious is the circumstance, to which,
by the way, nobody has 30 far drawn attention,
that none OF the French sporting books Of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, such as Roy
Modus,' Castor Phoebus," "Gace de la Buigne"
and "Fontai1es-Guerin,' mentions either the