88 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



heavily-armed, muscular beast of the Cape with the 

 small bush cow of the Congo. The dark brown 

 Abyssinian buffalo, with smallish horns and a semi- 

 boss on the forehead, is nearest to the Cape race ; 

 next comes the Senegambian form, with the horns 

 markedly shortened, thickened, and blunt ; the rare 

 buffalo from Lake Tchad, discovered by Denham 

 and Clapperton in the first half of the last century, 

 fits in somewhere here. Doubtless other connecting 

 links will be eventually discovered, demonstrating 

 the essential unity of all African forms. For the 

 purpose of this work the "Cape" buffalo is considered 

 as single species, though somewhat modified in 

 various parts of Africa. 



The present species inhabits Africa from the Cape 

 to Abyssinia ; in many places, however, it has been 

 seriously thinned, or even exterminated, by man. 

 Like zebra and rhinoceros, it must drink every day ; 

 hence it is never found far from water, and its haunts 

 accord with this necessity. Wide rivers slowly 

 flowing under the shade of graceful willows ; papyrus 

 marshes reeking with miasma and beclouded with 

 mosquitoes ; streams winding through rocky gorges 

 and kloofs these are the haunts of the buffalo. 

 Feeding towards dawn, about daylight the dusky 

 herd goes down to drink, resuming grazing till the 

 hot sun drives them to their lair. In the heat of the 

 day the well-nigh impenetrable tangle of wait-a-bit 

 thorn and roibosch affords a secure and ready-made 



