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Description. 



THE BUFFALO. 



THIS animal, in its general form, has a strik- 

 ing resemblance to the common ox, but it differs 

 from it in its horns, and in some particulars of 

 its internal structure. The length of the buffalo, 

 according to Span-man, is about eight feet,- and 

 the height five and a half. The limbs, in pro- 

 portion to the animal's size, are much stouter 

 than those of the ox, and the fetlocks bang nearer 

 the ground. Tbe ears are about a foot long, 

 somewhat pendulous, and in a great measure 

 covered by the lower edges of the horns, which 

 bend down each side, forming a curve upwards 

 with the points. The horns are extremely singu- 

 lar, both in their form and position : the bases of 

 them are thirteen inches broad, and only an inch 

 distant from each other, having a narrow chan- 

 nel or furrow between them ; whence they as- 

 sume a spherical form, and extend over a great 

 part of the head. The hair is of a dark brown 

 colour, and the tail is short and tufted at the end. 

 They are fond of wallowing in mud, and can 

 swim over the broadest rivers with perfect faci- 

 lity. The hunch is not, as many have supposed 

 a large fleshy lump; but is occasioned by the 

 bones that form the withers being continued to a 

 greater length than in most other animals. 



Buffaloes are mostly found in the warmer parts 

 of India and Africa, but they have been intro-j 



