THE BUFFALO. 413 



and most ferocious of the ruminant race, roams in small herds 

 over the woody districts of South and Central Africa, where it 

 is more feared by the natives than the lion and rhinoceros. 

 Combining malice with brutality, it not seldom remains con- 

 cealed behind a tree, till the innocent victim of its rage ap- 

 proaches, when, horribly bellowing, it rushes forth and attacks 

 liim with its broad-based, sharp-pointed horns. Not satisfied 

 with goring him to death, it stamps and tears him again and 

 again, and after having left the spot, will even return to vent 

 once more its blind fury on the mangled corpse. 



Its ponderous strength, deadly weapons, and ungovernable 

 fury make it more than a match for the king of animals himself, 

 who never ventures to attack a fall-grown buffalo, as one toss 

 from its horns would kill the strongest lion that ever breathed. 



In India, where the wild colossal Arnee {Buhalus Arnee), 

 remarkable for its enormous horns, inhabits the highlands, even 

 the tame ordinary buffaloes feel their superiority to the large 

 felidse, for they have been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, 

 bellowing as if they enjoyed the sport. The Indian herdsman, 

 riding on a buffalo of their herd, are therefore not in the least 

 afraid of entering the jungles infested by tigers. Colonel Rice 

 once saw a troop of buffaloes, excited by the blood of a tiger 

 he had wounded, throw themselves furiously into the thicket 

 where the beast had sought refuge, beat about the bushes and 

 tear up the ground with their horns. 



The solitary buffaloes, or such as have been expelled from the 

 herd by stronger competitors for female favour, are particularly 

 dangerous as they are apt to wreak their ill humour on whatever 

 falls in their way. Dr Livingstone, among others, made the 

 experience that to meet one of these rogue buffaloes is about as 

 bad as to face a hungry lion or an ill-disposed rhinoceros. ' As 

 I walked slowly,' says the illustrious traveller, ' on an extensive 

 plain, I observed that a solitary buffalo, disturbed by others of 

 my own party, was coming to me at a gallop. I glanced around, 

 but the only tree on the plain was a hundred yards off, and 

 there was no escape elsewhere. I therefore cocked my rifle, 

 with the intention of giving him a steady shot in the forehead 

 when he should come within three or four yards of me. The 

 thought flashed across my mind, "What if your gun misses 

 fire ? " I placed it to my shoulder as he came on at full speed, 



