532 HISTORY OF 



countries, the bison setms chiefly to prevail ; where they are 

 found to have a smooth soft hair, are very nimble of foot, 

 and in some measure supply the want of horses. The bison 

 breed is also more expert and docile than ours ; many of them, 

 when they carry burdens, bend their knees to take them up, 

 or set them down : they are treated, therefore, by the natives 

 of those countries, with a degree of tenderness and care equal 

 to their utility ; and the respect for them in India has de- 

 generated even into blind adoration. But it is among tlie 

 Hottentots where these animals are chiefly esteemed, as being 

 more than commonly serviceable. They are their fellow-do- 

 mestics, the companions of their pleasures and fatigues ; the 

 cow is at once the Hottentot's protector and servant, assists 

 him in' attending his flocks, and guarding them against every 

 invader : while the sheep are grazing, the faithful backely, as 

 this kind of cow is called, stands or grazes beside them ; still, 

 however, attentive to the looks of its master, the backelj flies 

 round the field, herds in the sheep that are straying, obliges 

 them to keep within proper limits, and shows no mercy to 

 robbers, or even strangers, who attempt to plunder. Eut it is 

 not the plunderers of the flock alone, but even the enemies of 

 the nation, that these backelies are taught to combat. Every 

 army of Hottentots is furnished with a proper herd of these, 

 which are let loose against the enemy, when the occasion is most 

 convenient. Being thus sent forward, they overturn all before 

 them ; they strike every opposer down with their horns, and 

 trample upon them with their feet •, and thus often procure their 

 masters an easy victory, even before they have attempted to 

 strike a blow. An animal so serviceable, it may be supposed, 

 is not without its reward. The backely lives in the same cottage 

 with its master, and, by long habit, gains an afl^ection for him ; 

 and in proportion as the man approaches to the brute, so the 

 brute seems to attain even to some share of human sagacity. 

 The Hottentot and his backely thus mutually assist each other j 

 and when the latter happens to die, a new one is chosen to suc- 

 ceed him, by a counsel of the old men of the village. The new 

 backely is then joined with one of the veterans of his own kind, 

 from whom he learns his art, becomes social and diligent, and is 

 taken for life into human friendship and protection. 



The bisons, or cows with a hump, are found to differ very 



