collect its thoughts sufficiently to seek safety in flight. General Kinloch
states that he has known bull buffalo to charge elephants both when
wounded and before being hit. When they have once decided to attack,
they generally charge home ; and a beast with horns like the larger
specimens in the British Museum must be difficult indeed to avoid. For
hunting on foot the best time is in the hot season during the months of
April and May, when much of the tall grass has either been burnt or dried
up and water is scarce. Fresh tracks in the_neighbourhood of pools
should then be looked for, and when discovered followed up.
So fond are these buffaloes of water that, both in the wild and
domesticated condition, they will frequently stand for hours with only
their heads above the surface. In disposition they are somewhat sluggish
animals, and show but little fear of man even when in the wild state.
Indeed, much damage is done to crops by wild buffaloes in districts where
they are common. The innate ferdcity of the wild race is well illustrated
by an anecdote told by Captain Lamb^-whoi: gtates that on_one occasion a
bull buffalo that dropped to his rifle was immediately attacked by a second
and larger bull, which rolled the wounded animal over and over each time
it attempted to regain its legs. Eventually the pair were bagged by the
lucky sportsman.
Both in the wild and tame condition the pairing season takes place in
autumn, and the young, which may be either one or two in number, are
born the following summer, after a gestation of about ten months.
Domesticated buffaloes, which are frequently but half-tamed, differ chiefly
from the wild race by their inferior bodily size and smaller horns. And
although pale-coloured, or even albino varieties may not unfrequently be
observed, no distinct tame breeds have ever been produced. Neither will
they ever interbreed with the Indian or European domestic cattle.
Regarding the date of introduction of the Indian buffalo into Egypt
there appears to be no definite information, but it seems to have been
subsequent to the period of the ancient frescoes, in which the animal is not
represented. Although at the present day it may be seen wallowing in the
swamps of the Jordan valley as commonly as in those of the Ganges,
Canon Tristram states that it does not appear to have been known to the
ancient Israelites, and was probably introduced into Palestine at a later
period. To Italy, according to the testimony of a contemporary monk,
they were introduced about the year 600, in the reign of the Longobardian
King Agilulf. Regarding their place of origin, Messrs. Hehn and
Stallybrass1 write as fo llow s—“ It seems probable, as they appear in
company with wild horses, that they were a present to the Longobardian
kings from the Khan of the Avars, for this; Turkish race of nomads, who
at that time dwelt near the Danube and scourged the Roman Empire with
fearful devastations, were on friendly terms with the Longobardian court.
I f King Agilulf sent shipbuilders to the Avarian Khan to supply the
vessels necessary tffeaking. an Island in Thrace, that Khan may well have
sent presents from the heart of Asia in return.”
Regarding the occurrence of the Indian buffalWin a semi-wild state
in Tunisia,, Sir H. Johnston writes as follows :—“ In the district o f Mater
in Northern Tunis there is a rather remarkable herd of buffaloes, about fifty
in number. They are said to be descended from a few domestic buffaloes
o f the Indian species presented forty years ago or more by a King of Naples
jjj) the Bey of Tunis. They were placed on a property ,of the Bey’s where
there is a large swampy lake, in the middle of which rises a mountainous
island. Here they have resumed the feral state, and, judging from several
heads I have seen, are developing much longer horns than those of the
domestic buffalo of Italy.”
Domesticated buffaloes are kept chiefly for agricultural labour and as
beasts of burden, and also for their milk, which is richer than that of the
cow, although somewhat ropy in consistence.
1 The Wanderings of Plants and Animals, London, 1885.