of the Vienna Exhibition, 1873. 35 



into Italy by King Agilulf (591-GlG). It was carried into 

 France in the twelfth century, although it never came into general 

 use. In 1807 the Emperor Napoleon I, introduced the buffalo 

 in the hope it might prove useful upon the " landes " of the 

 west. This idea was not well carried out in those disturbed 

 times. The animals were neglected and left to themselves, and 

 at last, becoming almost wild, would speedily have been extir- 

 pated by fire-arms had not M. Lalane interfered in time to 

 save a few of them. Upon the low lands on both sides of the 

 Danube and Theis in Lower Hungary, in Transylvania, in 

 Greece, in Piedmont, in Italy, and in Spain, the buffalo is 

 found and esteemed as an animal of draught. 



In 1870 there were 58,310 in Transylvania, 14,568 in 

 Hungary, 263 in Slavonia and Croatia, and 12 in the military 

 boundaries ; making altogether in the Hungarian dominion 

 73,153 head. " Water and again water," is the life element of 

 the buffalo. Where he cannot bathe for several hours dailv, the 

 water covering him entirely, with the exception of his nostrils, 

 he does not thrive. This is no doubt a principal reason why 

 the number of these animals has progressively diminished in the 

 Banat since the regulation of the river Theis. He is esteemed 

 most in fenny and humid districts, such as abound in South 

 Hungary, where ordinary cattle are subject to diseases to a 

 greater extent than upon higher grounds. 



The buffalo possesses two excellent qualities : he is immensely 

 strong, and his wants are easily satisfied. The strength of a 

 pair of buffaloes is considered equal to that of four horses or six 

 oxen. To draw a Hungarian waggon loaded with hay out of 

 the mire is a work for which a pair of buffaloes is specially 

 adapted. If, however, they run away in full gallop with their 

 load, or attached to the plough, to cool themselves in some 

 river or pool, it is no matter of surprise. They are quite 

 satisfied with the roughest fodder, that even poorly kept oxen 

 refuse, and the cow will give remarkably good milk upon even 

 this coarse fare. Buffalo milk is an ingredient in the Tran- 

 sylvanian national dish (of Indian corn, groats and buffalo- 

 milk) which cannot be dispensed with upon all great occa- 

 sions. Buffalo cream makes good butter when sour milk is first 

 added, a precaution which must not be neglected, since, without 

 it, the cream contains such an excess of fat that butter is not 

 easily made. Mr. Paget informs me that buffaloes are cele- 

 brated for giving a richer milk than is yielded by any other 

 animal. In South Hungary and Transylvania no gentleman 

 considers his breakfast complete without buffalo milk with his 

 coffee. The cow is capricious in letting down her milk when 

 offended. The largest milkers give 6 quarts per day, but 2 or 

 3 quarts is a more ordinary quantitv. The flesh is " stringy," 



D 2 



