216 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



EUROPEAN BISON 



TAese wild animals of the Caucasus are -very much scarcer than formerly , and are in danger 



of becoming extinct 



unknown period, and is 

 among the most valuable of 

 tame beasts of draught, as 

 well as for dairy purposes. 

 The various buffaloes usually 

 have little hair, especially 

 when old, and have flatter 

 shoulders than the gaur, 

 gayal, or bison. The pairs 

 of ribs number thirteen. 



THE AFRICAN BUFFALO 



Great differences in size 

 and colour exist in the AFRI- 

 CAN BUFFALOES. Whether 

 they are separate species or 

 not may be doubtful; but 

 the small yellow CONGO 

 BUFFALO, with upturned short 

 horns, is a vastly different 

 creature from the large black 

 CAPE BUFFALO. There is also an Abyssinian or brown race of African buffalo, and another in 

 Senegambia smaller than the former, and a reputed grey race near Lake Tchad. The Cape 

 buffalo is a heavy, thickset animal, all black in colour, with large massive horns covering the 

 skull, and nearly meeting in the middle line of the forehead. In height it varies from 4 feet 

 IO inches to 5 feet at the shoulder. This species ranges from South Africa to the Congo on 

 the west, and to the region of the Equator on the east of the continent. Firearms, and 

 lately rinderpest, have greatly reduced the number of these creatures. They live and feed 

 in herds, and, like the Indian species, are fond of the neighbourhood of water, in which they 

 bathe, but are not so dependent on bathing and wallowing as the former. 



Fully as formidable as the Indian buffalo, and much like it in habits, the African species 

 is quite distinct. It has different horns, broad at the base and curled and tapering at the 

 ends. Among the extreme measurements of the Indian buffalo's horns recorded is one of 

 12 feet 2 inches from tip to tip along the curve. Those of the African buffalo are seldom 

 more than 6 feet, measured in the same way. By far the greatest number of hunting accidents 

 in Africa are caused by the buffalo. Sir Samuel Baker shot a buffalo bull one evening near 

 the White Nile. His men actually danced upon the body, when the animal rose to its feet, 

 and sent them flying into the river like so many frogs. It then disappeared in the thick 

 vegetation. On the following day, supposing that it must have died during the night, thirty 

 or forty men, armed with double-barrelled guns, went to look for it. The result was thus 

 recorded by Sir Samuel Baker: "They had not been ashore for many minutes when I 

 first heard a shot and then a regular volley. My people returned with the head of the 

 buffalo and a large quantity of meat, but they also carried the body of my best man, who, 

 when leading the way through the high reeds, following the traces of blood, actually stumbled 

 upon the buffalo lying in the swamp, and the light guns failed to stop its charge. The 

 crooked horn had caught him behind the ear, and, penetrating completely through the neck, 

 had torn out the throat as though it had been cut. The savage beast had then knelt upon 

 the body, and stamped it into the muddy ground, until it fell beneath the fire of thirty men." 

 The head and body of a male Cape buffalo are 9 feet long. It is stated that the parasite 

 conveyed by the tsetse fly remains in the blood of the buffalo (which is not affected by it), 

 and that this forms a reserve whence the fly, after sucking the blood of the buffalo, poisons 

 other animals. 



