HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 



48 



CAFFRE BUFFALO. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



HUNTING THE BUFFALO. 



jNDER different names, this animal it 

 widely diffused. He has long beea 

 domesticated in India, where his ser- 

 vices as a beast of draught and burden 

 render him extremely valuable. From 

 India he has spread into Egypt, Greece 

 Italy and Spain. He is heavier, clum- 

 sier, and more formidable than the ox 

 or the domestic bull. A variety found in Africa, called the leap 

 buffalo, is peculiarly ferocious. In its native regions, the buffalo 

 is considered by hunters, one of the most formidable beasts of 

 chase. It is capable of contending with the tiger, which is often 

 foiled in the deadly strife. When excited, the beast rushes des- 

 perately on its foe, strikes him down with the horns or forehead, 

 kneels upon him, crushing in his chest, and then tramples on the 

 n'feless body as if to satiate its vindictive fury. 



Dr. Sparrman gives the following description of the mode of 

 bunting him at the Cape of Good Hope. " When we advanced 



