36 TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



appears to be its mode of resting, as well as escap- 

 ing the scorching rays of the sun, and the swarms 

 of annoying flies ; and in the higher lands the natives 

 make artificial ]3onds by the roadside, where these 

 animals may stop when on a journey. They are 

 generally of a dark slate-color, and occasionally 

 of a light flesh-color, but rarely or never white. 

 They are so sparsely covered with hair as to 

 be nearly naked. They are larger than our oxen, 

 but less capable of continued labor. They are 

 usually so docile that even the Malay children 

 can drive them, but they dislike the appearance 

 of a Eui'opean, and have a peculiar mode of mani- 

 festing this aversion by breathing heavily through 

 the nose. At such times they become restive and 

 unmanageable, and their owners have frequently re- 

 quested me to walk away, for fear I should be 

 attacked. When the females are suckling their 

 young, they are specially dangerous. A large male 

 has been found to be more than a match for a full- 

 gi'own royal tiger. 



On most of the islands where the tame buffalo is 

 seen, vdld ones are also found among the mountains ; 

 but naturalists generally suppose the original home 

 of the species was on the continent, and that the wild 

 ones are merely the descendants of those that have 

 escaped to the forests. The Spaniards found them 

 on the Philippines when they first visited that archi- 

 pelago. 



The plough generally used has both sides alike, 

 and a single handle, which the coolie holds in his 

 right hand while he guides the buffalo with the left. 



