94 THE OX TRIBE. 



whips. The skin of the living Buffalo is so dense that 

 it is impenetrable, in many parts, to an ordinary musket- 

 ball ; the balls used by the huntsmen are, therefore, mixed 

 with tin, and even these are often flattened by the 

 resistance. In examining the skeleton of this Buffalo, 

 the ribs are found to be remarkably strong and wide 

 measuring from three inches to three inches and seven- 

 tenths in width, and overlapping each other like the 

 scales of a fish : the difficulty of wounding this animal 

 may be partly owing to this arrangement of the ribs. 



Since the increase of the settlements abont the Cape 

 of Good Hope, the Buffalo has become rather a rare 

 animal in the colony; but, on the plains of Caffraria, 

 they are so common that herds of a hundred and fifty, or 

 two hundred, may be frequently seen grazing together 

 towards the evening, but during the day they lie retired 

 among the woods and thickets. They range along the 

 eastern side of Africa, to an unknown distance in the 

 interior. 



Sparrman says that the period of gestation is twelve 

 months. 



Ik-ad of Cape Buffalo. 



