Indian Buffalo 125 



subsequent to the period of the ancient frescoes, in which the animal is not 

 represented. Ahhough 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 

 Stallybrass ^ write as follows : — " 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. 

 If King Agilulf sent shipbuilders to the Avarian Khan to supply the 

 vessels necessary to taking an island in Thrace, that Khan may well have 

 sent presents from the heart of Asia in return." 



Regarding the occurrence of the Indian buffalo in a semi-wild state 

 in Tunisia, Sir H. Johnston writes as follows : — " In the district of 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 

 of the Indian species presented forty years ago or more by a King of Naples 

 to 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. 



' Tl-C WanJcrings of Plariti and Aiibnah^ London, 1885. 



