THE ITALIAN BUFFALO. 77 



Throughout the whole range of the Italian peninsula 

 Buffaloes are used as beasts of burden, and their immense 

 strength renders their services invaluable in the marshy 

 and swampy districts, where the services of horses, or 

 ordinary oxen, would be totally unavailing. The roads 

 through which they are obliged to pass are frequently 

 covered to a depth of two or three feet, through which 

 they work their way with wonderful perseverance. 



On the great plain of Apulia the Buffalo is the ordi- 

 nary beast of draught; and at the annual fair held at 

 Foggia, at the end of May, immense droves of almost 

 wild Buffaloes are brought to the town for sale. Fearful 

 accidents occasionally happen ; enraged animals breaking 

 from the dense mass, in spite of all the exertions of their 

 drovers, and rushing upon some object of their vengeance, 

 whom they strike down, and trample to death. It is 

 dangerous to overwork or irritate the Buffalo, and 

 instances have been known in which, when released by 

 the brutal driver from the cart, they have instantly turned 

 upon the man and killed him on the spot. 



The following part of their history is remarkable : 

 They appear to be most numerous, and to thrive best in 

 those districts which are most infected with malaria. In 

 the Pontine marshes they find a favorite retreat, and in 

 the pestilential Maremma scarcely any other animals 

 are to be seen. In the northern portions of Italy, 

 where malaria is much less frequent than in the south, 

 Buffaloes are to be found in the greatest numbers pre- 

 cisely in those localities where malaria is the most 

 prevalent. 



They are particularly fond of the long rank herbage, 

 which springs up in moist and undrained lands. In their 



