236 THE A X I 





beard under the throat, horns to the male fimi- 

 lar to thofe of the roebuck, and no horns to the 

 iemale. He fays, that the hippelaphus is as large 

 as the ftag, and is produced among the Arachotas, 

 a people of India, where there are alfo wild oxen, 

 whole bodies are very robuft, their fkin black, 

 their muzzle elevated, and their horns bended 

 more backward than thofe of the domeftic ox. 

 It muft be acknowledged, that Ariftotle's cha- 

 racters of the hippelaphus will apply alrnoft e- 

 qually well to the rain deer and to the ftag of 

 Ardennes. They have both long hair upon the 

 neck and moulders, and likewife on the throat, 

 which forms a kind of beard upon the gullet, 

 and not on the chin. But the hippelaphus, which 

 is of the fize of the ftag only, differs in this par- 

 ticular from the rain deer, which is much larger ; 

 but, what appears to decide this queftion, the rain 

 deer, being an animal peculiar to cold countries, 

 never exifted among the Arachotas. This coun- 

 try of the Arachotas is one of the provinces 

 which Alexander over-ran in his expedition into 

 India. It is fituated beyond Mount Caucafus, 



between 



place of iheJJje-goat. The wild oxen, here mentioned by A- 

 r.iftotle, appear to be buffaloes. The fhort defcription he has 

 given of them, the climate, their refemblance to the ox, and 

 their black colour, have made this philofopher believe that 

 they differed not more from the domeftic oxen, than the wild 

 boar from the common hog. But, as we formerly remarked> 

 the buffalo and ox are two diftind fpecies. If the ancients 

 have beftowed no particular name on the buffalo, it is becaufe 

 this animal was a ftranger to them, becaufe their knowledge 

 of him was imperfect, and they regarded him as a wild ox, 

 which diifered from the domeftic ox by fome flight varieties 

 only. 



