82 CATTLE 



The horns of bulls attain their full length before the animals are com- 

 pletely adult, and while the lower portion of the horn -cores in the 

 centre of the forehead is still covered with skin, as in cows. After 

 this each horn begins to displace the skin on the forehead, until at last 

 two great rounded bosses of horn are formed, which overshadow the 

 eyes and often touch in the middle line. When they actually touch in 

 a living buffalo, they shrink apart soon after death, when it will be 

 seen that there is a narrow strip of skin, perhaps a quarter of an inch 

 in width, between their bases, connecting the skin between the eyes 

 with that behind the horns. A good pair of buffalo-horns will measure 

 3 feet 6 inches in a straight line from bend to bend (outside measure- 

 ment) and 15 or 16 inches in depth over the forehead. They some- 

 times attain a spread of 4 feet, but as a rule wide horns are not 

 very deep in the cushion. Although buffaloes do not usually stand 

 more than 4 feet 10 inches at the shoulder, they must vveigh \ery 

 heavy, as they are enormously bulky. Bulls stand but little higher 

 at the shoulder than cows, but are much more heavily built, with 

 immense necks, and therefore look much larger." 



The record horns are those of a buffalo shot in Uganda by Mr. 

 F. A. Knowles (fig. 24). Their greatest outside span is 53 inches, and 

 the inside span 49 inches, while the tip-to-tip interval is 47^ inches. 



In East Africa, where it is known amongst the Swahilis as nyati 

 and mbogo, the latter title being most in use amongst the Zanzibaris, 

 and the former among the people of Mombasa, Melindi, and Lamu, 

 the buffalo, according to Mr. F. J. Jackson, is now rare. " Till the 

 end of 1889 and the beginning of 1S90 it was, however, exceed- 

 ingly common, being found all over the country where there were 

 good grass and water. On the coast it lived in large herds close to 

 the sea on the mainland near Lamu, and on both banks of the river 

 Tana ; at Merereni near Mambrui ; while ev^en within three or four 

 hours' walk of Mombasa, at the back of Ferrestown, there was a fair 

 number. The real stronghold of the species was, however, the Masai 

 country, where, with perhaps the exception of Burchell's zebras and 

 hartebeests, it was the most common of all the big game. From 

 the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro to Lake Baringo buffaloes were 

 practically unmolested by the natives, and were so common that 

 scarcely a day passed without the sportsman coming across one or 

 more individuals. In the northern part of Masailand, between Lakes 

 Elmeteita and Baringo, they occurred in extraordinary numbers, and 

 might be seen on the open plains even at mid-day, far away from 

 covert of any kind. In one day's march of about 15 miles, I once 



