26 THE BUFFALO FAMILY. 



name of qu,'arato, is truly a formidable and ferocious 

 beast ; bellowing tremendously, and moving with con- 

 siderable swiftness, but happily so ponderous as rarely to 

 venture up a steep acclivity, and having its sight impeded 

 by the unusual breadth of its horns. This terrific species 

 reside in small herds, among the brush-wood, and in the 

 open forests of CafFraria, though occasionally uniting in 

 droves upon the plain. Old bulls are often to be met with 

 alone, but though they are, if possible, still fiercer than the 

 younger, they are, perhaps, less formidable, because disin- 

 clined to exertion. Their paths may be , traced in the 

 woods, and there it is extremely dangerous to come in 

 contact with them. Professor Thunberg gives an appal- 

 ling account of the destruction of two horses by one of 

 these fierce creatures ; the rider providentially escaped 

 unhurt, by climbing the nearest tree. The professor, him- 

 self, was driven to the same expedient, though his horse 

 escaped, owing to the Buffalo turning into the wood. 

 Sparman, who first described this formidable species, 

 speaks of the dangerous hunting exploits he witnessed, in 

 which the animals were destroyed for their skins. The 

 hides when thus obtained, are made into shields, or cut 

 into whips and traces, and are so hard, that a musket-ball 

 will scarcely penetrate them, unless the lead be mixed 

 with tin. 



India and China are the native regions of another group 

 of true Buffaloes, both wild and tame. These are the 

 Arnee, which Baron Cuvier refers to one species, divided 

 into more varieties, among which we recognise the gigantic 

 or taure elephant arnee, which appears to be a rare species 

 found only singly, or in small families, in the upper eastern 

 provinces and forests at the foot of the Himalaya, though 

 once known in the Rhamghur districts. This extraordi- 

 nary animal is probably the same which the Mugs and 

 Burmas designate Phang, and consider, next to the tiger, 

 as the fiercest and most dangerous inhabitant of their 



