218 



The Living Animals of the World 



The buffaloes of Ceylon 

 are the same as those of 

 India, but the horns are 

 inferior in size. " The charge 

 of a buffalo is a serious 

 matter," says Sir Samuel 

 Baker. "Many animals charge 

 when infuriated, but they can 

 generally be turned aside by 

 the stunning blow of a rifle- 

 shot, even if they be not 

 mortally wounded. But a 

 buffalo is a devil incarnate 

 when it has once decided on 

 the offensive ; nothing will 

 turn it. It must be actually 

 stopped by death, sudden and 

 instantaneous, as nothing else 

 will stop it. If not killed, 

 it will assuredly destroy its 

 adversary. There is no creature 

 in existence so determined 

 to stamp the life out of its 

 opponents, and the intensity 

 of its fury is unsurpassed 

 when a wounded bull rushes 

 forward upon its last desperate 

 charge. Should it succeed in 

 overthrowing its antagonist, it 

 will not only gore the body 



with its horns, but will kneel upon the lifeless form, and stamp it with its hoofs till the 



mutilated remains are beyond recog- 

 nition." 



The true Indian buffalo is usually 



shot from the back of an elephant. 



Hunting it on foot is dangerous in 



the extreme, for the buffalo can crash 



through obstacles which would prevent 



any man from making his way through 



them when escaping. When domesti- 

 cated, the Indian buffalo loses most 



traces of its savageness ; it is habitually 



managed by the children, who take 



the herds out to graze in the jungle, 



and drive them back, often riding on 



one of the bulls, at night. They 



dislike Europeans, and often show 



this by attacking them ; but other- 

 wise they are quite tame, and are 



docile when in harness or carrying -.***-*** [**,***. 



, . DOMESTICATED INDIAN BUFFALO. 



burdens. The burlalo s milk i 3 very Th . g animal ig found M a wild and domesticated species in India . It i s valuable as a 



rich, and makes a much larger per- beast of draught and for the dairy. 



Photo by York <t Son] 



CAPE BUFFALO. 



Notice the striking difference depicted on this page between the two species of buffalo-the 



Indian and the Cape. 



