68 1-775- December. A V O Y A G E To t h e fecuring our horfes and oxen; ib that thefe beafts cannot get loofe by fnapping them afunder, which they are other- wife apt to do, when the lions and wolves make their appearance in the neighbourhood. Every fuch halter ihould be a finger and a half in breadth, and about three yards long, and are fold a good way up in the country for a- quarter o f a rixdollar apiece. The hide of the buffalo we had now ihot, after it had been dreffed in fome fort by my Hottentots, by being ftretched out and falted a little, and afterwards half dried, ferved to make a pair of new four-plaited traces for my waggon. We obferved, that the ball had hit the lower part of the neck and entered the lungs, where, though it did not feem' to have ftruck againft any bone, and though it was alloyed with the ufual quantity of tin, it was yet found to be pretty much flattened. In other buffaloes that we ihot fince, I have fometimes found the balls, though alloyed with tin, Ihivered into feveral pieces againft the bones, in the internal parts, or atleaft, very much flattened. It is not, therefore, worth while to fet about fhooting the buffalo with balls made o f lead only, for they will feldom be able to penetrate into thoie parts where they are likely to prove mortal. Befides, being poffeffed of the degree of hardnefs requifite, a ball ihould be of a tolerable fize, in order to kill fo large an animal as the buffalo. The leaft that ought to be ufed for this purpofe, ihould weigh two ounces and a quarter. I have fpoken o f the buffalo, as being an animal hitherto unknown. So, in fail, I prefume to call it, as I am the firft that have given a defcription and drawing of it, which C A P E o f G O O D HO P E . which I have done in the Swedifh Tranfaftions, by the name of the ¿or Caffer. My readers will, perhaps, excufe me for making ufe, in a, great meafure, of the fame words in both places, and for being here more diffufe and cir- cumftantial. In M . d e B u f f o n , Tom. XI. p . 4 x 6 . Tab. 4 1 . we find the horns only engraved, as they were brought from the Cape by the Abbe d e l a C a i l l e . The Abbé d e M a n e t , Tom. II. p. 129. gives us a few lines concerning a fort of buffalo, which feems to anfwer this which I call the bos Caffer. Mr. P e n n a n t , in the laft edition of his Synopfis of Quadrupeds, Vol. II. p. 29. fpeaks likewife of this fpecies of buffalo. My Hottentots ihewed fo much diligence and zeal both in cutting up and eating this beaft, that the encouragement and ftimulation, which is otherwife frequently ne- '775- December. it ceffary to fet their fluggiih and heavy fouls in motion, would on this occafion have been quite fuperfluous. They drove the waggon then up to the place where the beaft lay, and loaded it with the heft and fatteft part o f the fielh. The raw hide, which Was of considerable weight and extent, was tied under the waggon till it ihould be wanted, and the two remaining legs or marrow-bones were fattened to each fide of the body of the waggon. Notwithftanding this, our Bojhies-men had each of them loaded themfelves with a quantity of flips of flelh made up into bundles. Thus covered up to the eyes and ears in meat, we made a fingular appearance, which might have given any traveller that had happened to pafs that way, the idea of a walking flefh-market. As we proceeded on our journey, a fwarmo f 111 ill ill i l l n fliiaüiis
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