154 -ZOOLOGY. [Part II. 



The Buffalo. — Buffaloes abound in all parts of 

 Ceylon, but tliey are only to be seen in their native 

 wildness in the vast sohtudes of the northern and eastern 

 provinces, where rivers, lagoons, and dilapidated tanks 

 abound. In these they dehght to immerse themselves, 

 till only their heads appear above the surface ; or, 

 enveloped in mud to protect themselves from the assaults 

 of insects, luxuriate in the long sedges by the water 

 margins. 



Wlien the buffalo is browsing, a crow will fre- 

 quently be seen stationed on his back, engaged in 

 freeing it from the ticks and other pests which attach 

 themselves to his leathery hide, the smooth brown sur- 

 face of which, unprotected by hair, shines with an un- 

 pleasant pohsh in the sunhght. When in motion he 

 throws back his clumsy head till the huge horns rest 

 on his shoulders, and the nose is presented in a hne 

 with the eyes. When wild they are at all times uncer- 

 tain in disposition, but so frequently savage that it is 

 never quite safe to approach them, if disturbed in 

 their pasture or alarmed from their repose in the shal- 

 low lakes. On such occasions they hurry into hne, 

 draw up in defensive array, with a few of the 

 oldest bulls in advance ; and, wheeling in circles, 

 theu" horns clashing with a loud sound as they clank 

 them together in their rapid evolutions, the herd betakes 

 itself to flight. Then forming again at a safer distance, 

 they halt as before, elevating their nostrils, and throw- 

 ing back, then- heads to take a cautious survey of the in- 

 truders. The sportsman rarely molests them, so huge 

 a creature affording no worthy mark for his skill, and 

 their wanton slaughter adchng nothing to the supply of 

 food for their assailant. 



In the Hambangtotte country, where the Singhalese 

 domesticate the buffaloes, and use them to assist in the 

 labour of the rice lands, the villagers are much annoyed 

 by the wild ones, which nimgle with the tame when 

 sent out to the woods to pasture ; and it constantly 



