examining the animal before it was cut up ; this being the first of the
species which I had seen.
The name of buffalo, presents another example of the misapplication
of European names to the wild animals of Southern Africa,
and of the erroneous notions to which it gives rise. By those who
are not read in zoology, the Jmffel or buffalo of the Cape, called by
the Bichuanas Naari, is most frequently supposed to be the same
with the animals which bear that name in Italy, Greece, and India,
instead of a huge beast much more ferocious and dangerous, and
which has never yet been tamed to the use of man. It is, however,
an animal hitherto found no where but in the extratropical part of
Southern Africa, and is widely distinct from every other species of the
ox tribe, and most remarkable by its horns which, though not of more
than ordinary or proportional length, are so unusually broad at their
base as to cover the whole forehead, and give to it the appearance of
a mass of rock> an appearance to which the ruggedness and unevenness
of their surface greatly contribute. Its countenance exhibits a
savage and malevolent expression. Its bulk far exceeds that of the
ox, although its height be not much greater; but it is altogether
more robust and strongly made. It is, when not young, but thinly
covered with short scattered black hair; that on the under lip and
about the corners of the mouth, being longer and somewhat resembling
a beard. The wither rises high, but not sufficiently to
form a hump; the tail resembles that of the common ox, but is
much shorter, and the two spurious hoofs are rather larger in proportion.
Its horns turn outwards and downwards; and their points are
recurved upwards. The hide is much thicker than that of the ox;
and is valued by the Colonists and Hottentots, for its great strength,
and for possessing the qualities proper for riems and trelctouws. It is
of a fierce and treacherous disposition, which, added to its size and
strength, renders it dangerous to be attacked without caution, or
without the certain means of escape at hand.
The true buffalo having been long domesticated and rendered a
useful beast of draught or of burden, has suggested the possibility of
taming this animal to the same purposes; and the attempt has several
times been made in the Colony, by taking them when very young,
and rearing them under the domestic cow : but, partly from injudicious
management perhaps, and partly from its natural ferocity, no
permanent success has hitherto attended these endeavours. Yet,
notwithstanding these failures, it is an attempt which might not be
wholly relinquished, since it is not unreasonable to expect that a
mixed breed between this and the common Cape cow, would produce
a more powerful and hardy race of draft cattle, and one which
might possibly be exempt from those diseases to which the oxen
of the Colony are often subject.
The present animal was a male, and apparently not young, as
the points of its horns were much worn, and its ears exceedingly
torn and cut, probably in forcing its way through the thickets, or in
butting or fighting with others of its species. The Hottentots say
they are seldom found with ears quite entire; and my own observations
confirm the remark. The meat was in taste like coarse beef;
but in younger animals it is very palatable and wholesome, and free
from any unpleasant flavour.
It not being possible to lift the animal entire into the waggon,
it was cut into quarters on the spot; and as soon as it was brought
home, every hand was set to work to cut the flesh into flaps and dry
it on the bushes; an affair which occupied all the remainder of that
day, and part of the next. The real value of our ammunition may be
computed from this circumstance, that two charges of powder and
two balls now obtained for us a waggon load of provisions.
I profited by this opportunity and the leisure occasioned by
waiting for the drying, to make a finished drawing of the head, as
expressive of the distinguishing characters of this remarkable species
of buffalo.
The following specimen of the Kara, or Koraqua, dialect, was
obtained mostly from Muchunka; and is here inserted merely for
the purpose of giving some idea of the structure and nature of
Hottentot languages in general. This dialect, as it has already been
stated, has a greater affinity to that of the Hottentots proper, than
of the Bushmen ; and though requiring a more frequent use of the
k k 2