

106 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS 



of their natural herdsmen, the dominant males of their tribe, 

 these creatures lent themselves to domestication. Even the 

 first generation of the captives reared by hand probably 

 showed a disposition to remain with their masters ; and in a 

 few generations this native impulse might well have been so 

 far developed that the domestic herd was established, afford- 

 ing perhaps at first only flesh and hides, and leading the 

 people who made them captives to a nomadic life that con- 

 stant search for fresh fields and pastures new which charac- 

 terizes people who are supported by their flocks and herds. 

 It is a curious fact that the kindred of the buffaloes and 

 bisons differ exceedingly in the measure of their domesticabil- 

 ity. Thus, the ordinary buffalo of Asia, though a dull brute, 

 is very subjugable, even in the literal sense, for he makes a 

 tolerable beast for the plough and bears the yoke with due 

 patience. His African kinsman, on the other hand, is perhaps 

 the most unconquerable of all the large wild animals. The 

 late Sir Samuel Baker, in answer to my question as to what 

 wild form was the most to be feared in combat, unhesitat- 

 ingly answered, " The African buffalo, the bulls of which 

 charge home upon any aggressor with an immediate and 

 determined fury, which often enables them to kill the hunter 

 after they have been shot through the brain." Our American 

 \ bison, though a much milder-spirited beast, seems also to be 

 essentially undomesticable for the reason that he cannot be 

 taught to subordinate his desires to the will of man. He can 

 readily be brought to the point where he will tolerate captiv- 

 ity ; but if, when engaged in ploughing, it occurs to him that 

 he needs water, he will straightway go in search of it, not in 

 a vicious, but in a perfectly obdurate manner. This quality 

 of mind appears to be accountable for the failure of the many 



