THE BUFFALO, &c. 169 



hair, which is fofter than the mane of a horfe. 

 He has the voice of an ox. His horns are fhort, 

 and bended down round the ears. His legs are 

 covered with long hair, as foft as wool ; and his 

 tail is fhort in proportion to his fize, though in 

 every other refpect it is fimilar to that of , the 

 ox. Like the bull, he has the habit of raifing 

 the duft with his feet. His fkin is hard, and 

 his fiefh tender and good. From thefe charac- 

 ters, which are all that can be collected from 

 the writings of Ariftotle, we fee how nearly 

 the bonafus approaches to the bifon. Every 

 article, indeed, correfponds, except the form 

 of the horns, which, as was formerly remarked, 

 varies confiderably in animals that belong to 

 the fame fpecies. We have feen horns bend- 

 ed in the fame manner, which were taken from 

 a bunched ox of Africa; and we fhall afterwards 

 prove, that this bunched ox is nothing bur the 

 bifon. What I now advance may likewife be 

 confirmed by the testimonies of ancient authors. 

 Ariftotle calls the bonafus a Poeonian ox : 

 and Paufanias *, fpeaking of the Poeonian bull, 

 fays, in two different places, that thefe bulls are 

 bifons. He likewife tells us, that the Poeonian 

 bulls, which he faw at the Roman fhews, had 

 very long hair on the breaft, and about the 

 jaws. Laftly, Julius Caefar, Pliny, Paufanius, 

 Solinus, &c. when fpeaking of wild oxen, men- 

 tion the aurochs and the bifon, but take no no- 

 tice of the bonafus. We mud, therefore, fup- 



pofe 



* Paufan. in Beoticis et Pfrocicis. 



