BOVID.K 



BOVID.K. 





graxing in a plun skirted by a wood. The Iwasts dki not tee the 

 intruder* till they camo within three, hundred pace*, when the whole 

 herd lifted their headland (tood at * gaze. After while the bult'ahies 

 looped their head* again to feed, and nix of the party (three KIIP- 

 peani and three Hottentot*), who carried muskets nn.l were accom- 

 panied by other* armed with javelins, marched up to them within forty 

 pace*, when the herd again lifted their heads and were saluted with 

 a volley, which instantaneously dispersed them, leaving their wounded 

 to follow an they could. One of these, an old bull, made the travellers 

 fly, bat fell before he reached the wood. Thia beast was very thick 

 in the body, with abort legs, of a dark-pray colour, and alnnwt 

 destitute of hairs. But if a herd may be approached thus aafely, a 

 single outlying bull or a wounded on* appear* to be a moat formidable 

 antagonist. The author lost quoted waa botanifiing in a wood rather 

 behind hi* companions, when Auge, the gardener of the expedition 

 who went first, suddenly encountered n large old male buffalo, which 

 waa lying down quite alone in a spot of a few square yards free from 

 bushes. No sooner did the beast discover the poor gardener than he 

 rushed upon him with a terrible roar. Auge turned his horse short 

 round behind a great tree, so as in some measure to get out of the 

 sight of the buffalo, which now charged straight towards the sergeant 

 who followed, and gored his horse in the belly so terribly that it 

 instantly fell on it* back, with its feet turned up in the air and its 

 rut rails hanging out, in which state it lived almost half an hour. 

 In the meantime the gardener and sergeant had climbed up into trees 

 for safety. Thunberg intent upon his botanimng, and with his ears 

 filled with the rustling of the branches in the narrow pass where he 

 was against his saddle and baggage, heard nothing of all this, though 

 so near. But the buffalo had not done yet The sergeant had 

 brought two horses with him for hi* journey. One of them, as we 

 have aeen, had been already dispatched ; the other now stood just in 

 the way of the buffalo as he was going out of the wood. As soon as 

 the infuriated beast saw this second horse he attacked it so furiously 

 that he not only drove his horns into the horse's breast and out 

 again through the very saddle, but threw it to the ground with such 

 violence that it instantly expired, and all the bones of its body were 

 broken. Just as the buffalo was thus engaged with this last horse, 

 Thunberg came up to the opening and beheld the frightful scene. 

 The wood was so thick that he had neither room to turn his horse 

 round, nor to get on one side; he therefore was obliged to take 

 refuge upon a tree into which he climbed, leaving his horse to it* 

 fate. But the buffalo had satiated his rage, or did not distinctly see 

 the new object, for after his second exploit he turned suddenly round 

 and went off. Thunberg found his companions half dead with fear, 

 indeed the gardener was so affected that he could scarcely speak for 

 some days after, and the two surviving horses were discovered 

 shivering with fear, and unable to make their escape. (' Travels.') 



/. 



Capo lIutTalo 



<.' 



Sparrmann (' Voyage to the Cape,' vol. U.) give* a graphic description 

 of the shooting of c.ne, and of the unconquerable siiirit of the animal 

 even in death. We can only find room for the final act of the tragedy. 

 " I luring bin fall, and before he died," write* Sparrmann, " he bellowed 

 in a most stupendous manner ; and this death-song of his inspired 

 every one of us with no small degree of joy on account of the victory 

 we bad gained : and so thoroughly steeled frequently in the human 

 heart against the sufferings of the brute creation, that we hastened 

 forward in order to enjoy the pleasure of seeing the buffalo struggle 

 with the pangs of death. I happened to be the foremost amongst 

 them ; but think it impossible ever to behold anguish, accon.; 

 by a savage fierceness, painted in stronger colours than they were in 

 the countenance of this buffalo. I was within ten steps of him, when 

 ho perceived me, and, bellowing, raised himself suddenly again on his 

 legs. I have had reason to believe since, that I was at the time very 

 much frightened ; for before I could well take my aim I fired off my 

 gun, and the shot inUaed the whole of his huge body, and only hit him in 



the hind leg*, a* we afterward* discovered by the size of the ball 

 Immediately upon this I flod away like Ughtattg in .>rdrr t.. look out 

 for some tree to climb up into." The aame author give* th* following 

 aa the mea*ureineiit of a buffalo: Length 8 foet, height .'! feet, and 

 the fore legs 21 feet long : the larger hoofs 5 inches over. The di- 

 tance between the poinU of the horns he itates to be frequently ', 

 feel They are black, and the surface, to within about a third part of 

 them, measured from the base, is very rough and craggy. A > en- 

 live^ account of a buffalo-hunt is also given i.y I'.ruoe. He guesses 

 the weight of a bull that he (insisted in killing at nearer 50 than 

 40 stones. The horns, from the root. -he line .,!' their 



i nrve, \verc about 52 inches, and nearly 9 inches where thickest in 

 circutnfercii 



The Cape Buffalo delights in wallowing in the mire, and when 

 heated by hunting throws himself into the lirst water he reaches. 



The flesh is described by some as go. ,1 ami hiirh lln\.,ui. 

 others a* ill-grained and coarse. The difference in these accounts is 

 probably to be traced to the sex, age, an '1 condition of the animals 

 eaten. The rhinoceros-like hide is much sought after for harness, &c. 



The horns of the domesticated oxen of the Cape grow 

 enormous si/e. 



.4 1100. Horn" snbtrigonal, nearly parallel, round at the tip, depressed 

 at the base, and slightly keeled on the inner edge, straight nearly on 

 the plane of the face on the hinder edge of the frontal 

 A. drpretticornit, the Anoa. Reddish-brown, with three small white 

 spots on the cheek. Male black, spot on cheek white. Female and 

 young brownish-black. This animal was first deacribed by Colonel 

 H. Smith from n head and horns in the College 



He regarded it as an antelope, sinee then t.'uoy and (iaimard have 

 figured the whole animal, and a specimen exists in the lii-it i-h Museum. 

 Thia was brought from Celebes. 



liilica. Horns depressed at the base, directed outwards, posterior 

 on the hinder ridge of the frontal bone, which is often MTV prominent, 

 recurved at the tips. Withers high, keeled, supported by the spinous 

 processes of the dorsal vertebrae, and suddenly lower behind. The 

 intermaxillaries are short and triangular, and do not reach to the 

 nasals. There are three species which Professor Lundevall regards a* 

 subvarieties of a variety of the comm. m 1 mil. It. f- < iayal. 



It is the But fmnlalit of Lambert; the Bus Hniim* of ( 'olebrooke ; 

 Qavaya, Sanac. ; Gavai or Gayal, Hind. ; Gobaygoru, Beng. ; Gaujan- 

 gall, Peru. ; Mcthana, Mountaineers (Cucis, &c.) east of Silhet ; Shiiil, 

 Mountaineers (Cncls) east of Chatgaon ; J'hongnua, Mugs; > 

 Birmas ; Gauvera, Ceylon. 



it is nearly of the size and shape of the English bull. It has short 

 horns, which are. distant at their bases, and rise in a gentle curve 

 directly out and up : a transverse section near the base is ovat 

 thick end of the section being on the inside. The front is broa.i 

 crowned with a tuft of lighter coloured long curved hair. The dewlap 

 is deep and pendant. It has no mane nor hump, but a considerable 

 elevation over the withers. The tail is short, the body covered wih 

 a tolerable coat of straight dark-brown hair ; on the belly it is lighter 

 coloured ; and the legs and face are sometimes white. (Roxburgh.) 



I >r. Buchanan states that the cry of the Gayal has no resemblance 

 to the grunt of the Indian Ox ; but a good deal resembles that of the 

 buffalo. It is a kind of lowing, but shriller, and not near BO loud a - 

 that of the European Ox. To this the Gayal, in l>r. Buchanan's 

 opinion, approaches much nearer than it does to the buffalo. Mr. 

 Macrae states that the Gaydl is found wild in the range of mountains 

 that form the eastern boundary of the province* of Aracan, C'hitta- 

 gong, Tippera, and Silhet. The Cficis, or Lunetos, a race of people 

 inhabiting the hills immediately to the eastward of Chittagong, 

 have herds of them in a domesticated state. The animal is called 

 Gabay in the Hindoo 'Sdstra,' but seems however to be little 

 known lieyond the limits of it* native mount bo the inha- 



bitants of the provinces above mentioned. The same author informs 

 us that the Gaydl is of a dull heavy appearance ; but at the same 

 t a form that indicates much strength and activity, like that of 

 the wild buffalo. Its disposition is gentle ; even in the wild .-tate on 

 its native hills it is not considered dangerous, never st 

 approach of man, much less sustaining his attack. Tin- Cue -is hunt 

 the wild ones for the Rake of their flesh. The OayKl is a forest 

 animal, and prefers the tender shoots and leave* of shrubs to grass ; 

 it never wallows in mud like the buffalo. 'It is domesticated b\ the 

 Cucis, but does not undergo any labour. The cow goes II (!) months 

 with young, gives but little milk, and does not yield it long ; but that 

 remarkably rich, almost equalling cream, which it resembles 

 in colour; the Cucis however do not make any use of the milk, but 

 rear the Carols entirely for their flesh and skins, of which last, or 

 rather their hides, they form their shields. These domesticated herds 

 roam at large in the forests near their village during the day, but 

 return of their own accord at evening, being early t this 



by b, ing fed when young every night with salt, of which thc.-e animals 

 are very fond. The Hindoos, in tin at Chittagoni.', will not 



kill this Gaydl (their Gabay), which they hold in ration 



with the cow, but they hunt and kill another < iayal (. '..-.'! (iay:il or 

 Selo'O as they do the wild buffalo. The form of the animal, and the 

 way in which it carries it* head, will be u 1 1 "in the following 



figure, which is reduced from that by a native artist, prefixed to 



