T H E BUFFALO AT BAY. 97
inferior lo value to iho oxen usually employed tlirougliont India, for all ilie
imrposes of agricnll ure, and conveyance of goods. It is olivlous, that witli sucli
a propensity, no morcliandize, or other articles, subject to injury from moisture,
could be truslod on the back of abuffalo. For draught , tliey may be said Lo answer
better, though in general, they are found lo be too tartly, and so very unccrlain,
that nothbig but necessity, or their superior strength, could induce a person to
employ them in hackmes, or carts. Although the slowness of their pace is in every
instance a formidable objection, yet it seems lo be of less moment in the plongh,
than in any other situalion. The peasantry ihroughout India are bolh poor and
penurious ; they employ whatever ihey can obtain in tlieir ploughs ; hence wc may
sometimes sec an ox and a bulValo, or a bull'alo and a tattoo, or eventually even
an ass, in the same plough. The donkics of India arc remarkalily small, being
generally not more than twenty-eight or thirty inches high, and very iimob ealhaired.
They arc however, very strong, and carry a single sack, placed on their
loins, containing bricks, &c. to a oonsiilcrable weight. Their general use is among
the washermen, for carrying the cloaths. This class of people, whose employment
is hereditary and immutable, have the sole privilege of riding asses. Any other
scct, either riding or employing an ass, would be irreparably degraded, and be
subject to the severest anathemas of their respectivc>i«-iaies, or lirothers of
die same persuasion. Our ladies who enhibit at Brighton, &c. would, in India,
be classed with the lowest of the rabble.
The skin of the buffalo is somewhat like that of the elephants, black and
tough, with few hairs, and the flesh, bke that animal's, is extremely cellular
and"coarse. Buffalo beef is perhaps the worst of viands, in whatever manner it
may be dressed ; and I should he strongly disposed to bebevc, that from its being
hard and rank, it must be unwholesome diet. It is rarely very fat. The hides are
very substantial, and when well tanned, prove equal to every purpose to which
our ox and bull hides are in general applicable.
Biifl'alos swim remarkably well, or I may rather say, they float. It is very
common to sec droves crossing tjic Ganges, and other great rivers, at all seasons ;
but especially when the waters are low. At a distance one would lake them to
be large pieces of cork or dark coloured wood : nothing appearing but their
faces. It is no umisnal thing for a boat lo get into the thick of them, especially
among reedy waters, or at the edges o f j u n g l e s , before il is perceived. In
this no danger exists ; the búllalos are porfcclly passive, and easily avoid being
run down, be the vessel ever so large. The ahecrs, or herdsmen, wotild not he
able lo accompany their cattle across such extensive rivers, oflcn two or three
miles between the banks, and the streams freiiuently very rapid, but for the
aid they receive from iheir bnflalos. The herdsmen place one hand on the loins
or croup of a bullalo, one man generally driving the foremost, and the resl
supporting themselves on others of ihe drove. As the bnfl'alo swims very
6lo^v, a drove having lo pass a river, which many do repeatedly in the course
of the day, on their way lo and from grazing, may be carried down the streain
at least as much as the utmost brcadlh of the water. The calves on such occasions
require no aid ; but keeping among ihe herd, and seemingly making iiltle
exertion, appear lo be buoyed up, as it were naturally, and rarely, if ever fail to
laud with the most rolnlst. Whether il be thai iheir slrcnglji he e([ual to such
labours, wliieli few other animals could undergo, or llnil the act of swiumiing
have the peculiar property of fatiguing lliem in less proportion than i I does
other quadrupeds, may not be very easy to detcriniuc. Be it as il may, ihe
drove appear when huided, as fresh as when tlicy entered the water, and LU
general proceed lo Lhcir meal with an excellent appelilc.
We may indeed, from tlie following circiimslance, colled (.hat biillulosdo not
find their vigour impaired by swimming. I was riding with a friend along tlie
bank of the Ganges, when a large drove, wliich were just landing from a tedioii.s
passage across a very broad part, approached the road which jtassed along the
edge of the water- Tt happened that u calf liad got out of the water l)efore it-^
mother, and my friend, attended by his sycc, or groom, passed close behintl it.
The mother thinking perhaps that its ollspriiig was intercepted, rushed forward,
and would certainly have gored the horse terribly, but for the instant obedience
whicli he shewed to a powerful application of the spur. The gentleman was obliged
to make the best of his way, and got clear. The bufialo, however, turned after
the syce, who had taken to his heels, and had fortunately got into a small
mango plantation, followed by the snorting animal. No dotdjt hut the poor
fellow would have received some injury, had not a friendly branch, wliich wa.s
within his reach, enabled him, by seizing it with both han<ls and throwing hi.s
legs over, to escape the many attempts made by the buflalo to dislodge him.
There is no saying how long this stale of jeopardy might have been continued,
or what might have been the result, had we not diverted the budalo from her
object, by approaching as near as prudence justified among the trees, and attracting
her attention. A person less active than tiie sycc happened to be, might
have been very roughly handled. This incident alone, were others wanting,
might serve to caution gentlemen from approaching too near to budalos, however
tame they may appear.
Buffalos are chiefly hunted on elephants, much in the same manner as tigers,
with the exception, that the scenc of action usually lies in very heavy grasses, or
in ajeel; to either of which the buffalo instantly resorts, when attacked by
numbers, such as he feels diffident of opposing with success. When buffalos
chargc, they often gore elephants severely, but have not the effect of frightening
them so much as tigers. The bulk of the buflalo renders it sufGciently easy to
hit, almost to a certainty; but, unless the balls be large, and be directed to a
vital part, they ordinarily do more harm than good ; irritating tlie stupendous
and powerful animal to the most formidable exertions.