98 Oxen 



Distrihiftiou. — Southern Atrica, extending from the Cape to the south 

 bank ot the Congo on the west side, and about to the equator (\^ictoria 

 Nyanza) on the east side of the Continent. In Angoht, according to 

 Professor Barboza du Bocage, the Cape buftalo is abundant right up to 

 the Congo, being found both near the coast in the neighbourhood of 

 Mossamedes and on the inh\nd plateau of Ouillengues. Since it occurs 

 in the neighbourhood of Mount Kilima-Njaro and the \'^ictoria Nyanza, 

 its distributional area towards the north may be approximately limited by 

 the Nile watershed ; but whether in this region it intergrades with the 

 Abyssinian race, or whether the two keep completely apart, I have no 

 information. 



In common with most other large African mammals, the buffalo has 

 been greatly reduced in numbers in many of its haunts, from some of 

 which it has been completely exterminated. In the eastern forest districts 

 ot the Cape Colony a few herds are preserved by Government protection ; 

 and in the impenetrable country in the neighbourhood of Delagoa Bay 

 they are still abundant. In 1892 Messrs. Nicolls and Eglington wrote as 

 follows regarding their distribution in South-Eastern Africa : — "North of 

 the Crocodile, and particularly in the tsetse- fly- infected and low-lying 



