THE INDIAN BUFFALO 305 



a half of Bisons were destroyed, merely for the sake of 

 the hides, the bodies being left upon the ground. Within 

 the space of four square acres have been counted sixty- 

 seven dead animals, which had merely been stripped of 

 their skins and then left to decay. 



Less than half a century ago the American Bison 

 was one of the marvels of creation, in the multitude of 

 its individuals in a comparatively restricted area. The 

 rapid annihilation of a species of huge quadrupeds is 

 unprecedented in the history of the animal world. The 

 once mighty herds have been reduced to a mere hand- 

 ful of animals conserved by the United States Government 

 in the Yellowstone National Park ; but with a species so 

 slow in natural increase it is but a question of time when 

 this great race of Oxen becomes but a memory. 



BUFFALOES. 



The Buffaloes, another group of Oxen, differ in various 

 particulars from any of the foregoing members of the tribe. 

 In colour they are chiefly black, and generally thinly haired, 

 so much so that the older animals are more or less naked. 

 The horns are flattened and the section at the base is 

 triangular. The European Buffalo (Bubalus vulgaris) is 

 largely used in Southern Europe, Egypt, and Asia Minor in 

 field work and as a beast of burden. The animal is a 

 domesticated variety of a similar species that is a native 

 of India. 



INDIAN BUFFALO (Bos bubalus). 



The Indian species, known as the Arnee, is the largest 

 of the Buffaloes. It is a dusky animal, nearly six feet 

 high at the shoulders, and possessing horns that sometimes 

 attain a length of six feet. In the British Natural History 

 Museum is a specimen nearly eighty inches in length. The 

 animal is never far from the neighbourhood of water, 

 and is exceedingly fond of wallowing in the mud, on 

 which account it is often called the Water Buffalo, It 

 not infrequently chews the cud while immersed in water, 

 exposing little more than the head above the surface. 



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