Series 03: Joseph Banks - Endeavour journal, 25 August 1768 - 12 July 1771 (vol. 2) - No. 0454
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[Page 454]
350
Some account of Savu.
[Margin note] Want rain
want of Rain most of them are well known to Europeans I shall however spend a little Ink in describing such only as are not or as differ at all in appearance from those commonly known to begin then with Buffaloes of which they have good store. these beasts differ from our Cattle in Europe in their ears which are considerably larger their skins which are almost without hair & their horns which instead of bending forwards as ours do bend directly backwards & also in their total want of Dewlaps.
We saw of these some as big as well sizd European oxen & some there must be much larger so at least I was led to beleive by a pair of horns which I was led to beleive by a pair of horns which I measurd they were from tip to tip 3 feet 9 1/2 ; across their widest diameter 4 ft 1 1/2; the whole sweep of their semicircle in front 7ft 6 1/2. One caution is however exceedingly necessary in buying these beasts which is that one of them of any given size does not weigh above half as much as an ox of the same size in England by this we who were ignorant of the fact were very much deceivd those