The Arna, or Indian Buffalo 



nucleus of that institution) as a tee. One of these 

 horns measures no less than 77-^ inches in length. The 

 British Museum possesses the complete skull and horns 

 of another very large bull of this type shot in Assam, 

 and presented by Colonel Mathie ; the horn -length 

 being 6^^ inches. No such bulls appear now to be 

 met with ; and it is possible that the straight-horned 

 type is nearly, if not completely, exterminated as a wild 

 animal in Assam. 



Apart trom the above-mentioned specimens, the 

 longest horns entereci in Mr. Rowland Ward's 

 Records of Big Game (5th ed.) are those of a cow 

 measuring 702- inches, next to which come those of a 

 bull with a length of 70 inches. 



As already mentioned, the ears ot the Indian buffalo 

 are relatively small and of somewhat tubular form, with 

 only a few long hairs on their margins, although with 

 a larger quantity in the interior. The tail, which 

 terminates in a small tuft, reaches down about to the 

 level of the hocks. Although aged animals are well- 

 nigh nude, younger individuals have a certain amount 

 of coarse, bristly hair all over the head and body ; and 

 it is noteworthy that, unlike the African buffalo, this 

 hair is directed forwards from the haunches to the back 

 of the head ; a whorl on the hind-quarters marking the 

 point at which the hair of this region commences to be 

 directed backwards. In the typical race, and apparently 

 also in the long-horned type, the colour of the skin 

 and hair is ashy or blackish grey, although there may 

 be a more or less pronounced tendency to the develop- 

 ment of dirty white on the lower part of the legs ; this 

 being especially noticeable in domesticated breeds. In 

 height it is probable that the largest adult bulls do not 

 fall much, if at all, short of 6^ feet at the withers ; 

 although the maximum recorded measurement appears 

 to be 6 feet 2^^ inches (i8|- hands). 



The dense grass-jungles covering the alluvial flats of 

 the Ganges and Bramaputra, from Eastern Assam to 



85 



