512 



RUMINANTS. 



shoulders, which is considered a delicacy. His head is large, his 

 horns round, short, and almost straight, and set wide apart at 

 the base. A thick curly wool of a brownish-black colour, which in 

 winter grows very long, covers his head, neck, and shoulders, while 

 the rest of his body is clothed with smooth black hair. Although 

 heavy in appearance, he is very swift, and of a savage disposition, 

 but may be tamed if taken young. These animals live together in 

 great herds, on the vast open savannahs and prairies of North 

 America, and abound near the sources of the Missouri and Missis- 

 sippi rivers, and in the neighbourhood of salt marshes. 



The Buffalo (Bos bvbalus) is originally from India, but has become 

 naturalized in Egypt, Italy, and Greece; its forehead is convex, 

 higher than it is wide, and the horns are marked in front by a longi- 

 tudinal ridge. It is less docile than the ox, but more robust and 

 more easily fed. Its skin is converted into a strong, durable kind 

 of leather, and the horns are of a very fine grain and susceptible of 

 high polish. The Buffalo likes to wallow in the mud ; he is an ex- 

 cellent swimmer, and sometimes dives to a depth of ten or twelve 

 feet, to tear up with his horns aquatic plants. This creature is with 

 difficulty subjugated, has great strength, and prefers marshy places 

 and coarse plants, which the ox cannot live on. There is a race of 

 Buffaloes in India, the horns of which measure ten feet from tip to 

 tip. 



The Cape Buffalo (Bos Caffer] has very large horns directed side- 

 ways and upwards, flat and so broad at their base that they nearly 



FlG. 439. CAPE BUFFALO. 



cover all the forehead. It is a very large animal, extremely fero- 

 cious, and inhabits the woods of Caffraria. 



