INDIA. 293 



afternoon a slight agitation of the atmosphere would 

 begin, enough to shake slightly the leaves of the omni- 

 present nim trees and would bring with it a decided 

 relief, but even this slight attempt on the part of the 

 atmosphere to counteract the effect of the burning sun 

 was always of short duration. It was interesting to 

 observe how the animals, wild and domestic, behaved 

 during the hottest part of the day. The water buffalo 

 is a great bather and he is not particular about the 

 nature of the bath; if he has any preference, it is for 

 the mud bath. In passing the many water and mud 

 holes along the line of the railroad, I have often seen 

 through the car window two long, flat, reclining horns 

 and a pair of sleepy or closed eyes just above the level 

 of the mud or water, and in looking closer might dis- 

 tinguish back of them the ridge of the spine, the bal- 

 ance of the body being completely immersed. The 

 buffalo has three objects in view when he goes bathing: 

 To rid himself for the time being of pestering insects, 

 to gain relief from the intense heat and to obtain 

 a soothing rest after his liberation from the hard, prim- 

 itive yoke. Sometimes we saw a herd of these animals 

 closely packed in a small pool or mud hole. They are 

 peaceable, tolerant animals, so that even when standing 

 space is scarce, these animals of burden make room for 

 each other without the slightest indication of selfishness. 

 I fancy that the water buffalo prefers mud to water for 

 his bath, for it leaves a thick layer of mud on the sur- 

 face of his body, which soon dries into a crust, a fur- 

 ther protection against flies and mosquitoes. The bul- 

 locks., sheep and goats seek the shade of trees during 

 the hottest part of the day, and if the trees are few 

 and the animals numerous, every inch of it is made 

 useful, and, as the shade moves, the family of animals 

 shifts in the same direction to protect themselves against 

 the scorching rays of the sun. 



The proud, wild peacock, so numerous all through 

 India, but more especially in the eastern part, forgets 



