THE BUFFALO FAMILY. 



PLATE III. BUFFALO ATTACKING THE TIGER. 



Buffaloes in* general, are animals of a large stature, re- 

 sembling a bull, low in proportion to their bulk, and sup- 

 ported by strong and solid limbs. Impelled by that unerring 

 instinct which assigns them to the fertile plains of the tro- 

 pical regions, they avoid even the semblance of a moun- 

 tain, and prefer the coarse herbage of the forest, or such 

 plants as grow in swampy regions, to those of the open 

 country. When distressed by the heat, they plunge into 

 the water ; where they swim well, or rather float, and are 

 often seen to pass the broadest rivers without hesitation ; 

 in walking, their gait is heavy, they herd together in small 

 flocks, and live in pairs. 



Bishop Heber notices these wild animals in his coasting 

 voyage up the Ganges. Having halted on a pleasant open 

 shore, opposite to Putwa, he observed a large troop of Buf- 

 faloes buried in the water, and scarcely showing more 

 than their horns and noses above the surface. But as the 

 sun went down, they came out, sleek, black, and glossy, 

 too wild and timorous to suffer an European to approach 

 them, but showing no degree of fierceness. 



Although the Buffalo in a domestic state is not remark- 

 able for docility or attachment to his keeper, yet a feeling 

 of this kind, blended no doubt with constitutional antipatlry, 

 is exemplified in an anecdote related by Mr. D. Johnson, 

 Two bibaries, or carriers of grain and merchandise on the 

 backs of Buffaloes, were driving a loaded string of these 

 animals from Palamow to Chittrah. When arrived within 

 a few miles of the latter place, a tiger seized on the man 

 in the rear ; a gullah, or herdsman, who was watching his 

 Buffaloes whije grazing, boldly ran up to the man's assis- 

 tance, and cut the tiger very severely with his sword. 



