triangular form ; frequently receding far behind the plane of the eyes, and
generally with a distinct demarcation between the rough bases and the
smooth tips. Ears very large, heavily fringed with long hairs, especially
on the lower margin, and the upper margin sharply truncated before
descending to the pointed extremity. Tail tufted, and reaching a little
below the hocks. Hair of back directed uniformly backwards, from the
neck to the rump ; that of head and body coarse, and in adults more
or less sparse, in colour varying from black, through brown, tfflfprange-red
or yellow.
Few of the larger mammals have given rise to more confusion than
the various forms of African buffalo; and many more specimens are
required before the various points in dispute can be regarded ijjs- finally
settled. I f we had only the enormous black buffalo of the Cape and the
little red buffalo of the Congo to deal with, there would be no hesitation
in regarding them as perfectly distinct species. But these extreme forms
are so intimately connected by intermediate modifications, that it seems
impossible to look upon them in any other light than geographical races
of a single extremely variable and widely spread sp e c ie ® The brown-
buffalo of Nubia and Abyssinia, for example, is so close to the Cape
animal, that it must almost certainly be regarded merely as a sub-species.
And the alliance between the Abyssinian and the Senegambian race seems
even closer still. But in colour the Senegambian form approximates to
the red Congo buffalo, constituting the other extreme of the series.- All'
the different forms agree in the normal direction of the hair of the back,
As an instance o f the diversity o f views entertained by naturalists bn
this question, it may be mentioned that in his first paper on the subject
Sir V. Brooke regarded all the West African buffaloes as specifically inseparable
from the Abyssinian form, but kept the Cape buffalo distinct.
In h is second memoir (1875) all three forms were regarded as distinct,
but closely allied species. On the other hand, Dr. Pechuel-Loesche makes