THE BUFFALO AT BAY 



ALL over India the tame buffalo abounds. Frequently employed for draught, if is seen 

 lumbering along with its ungainly bulk and tardy gait. More useful in ploughing, with perhaps 

 an ox or a pony, or even a donkey, as its yoke-fellow, it drudges on at a pace that would 

 irritate beyond all bounds the patience of any but an Indian peasant. As a beast of burden it 

 is well-nigh useless from its invincible determination to wallow in any pool or stream it may 

 come across. Its chief value, however, is as a milk-giving animal. To European taste, its 

 milk, though rich, is unpalatable, while butter made from it has a tallowy flavour, and is 

 scarcely eatable. In this latter form it is rarely used by natives ; but being simmered over a 

 slow fire and cooled gradually it becomes granulated, and, as /*/, is used for cooking purposes 

 or eaten alone in large quantities. Sullen and clumsy in its domesticated state, the buffalo 

 when wild is active enough, and ferocious in the extreme. Its mere bulk makes it dangerous, 

 while its enormous horns are so sharp and strong as to penetrate even the hide of an elephant. 

 To hunt it on foot is a foolhardy exploit, for a single shot, unless very luckily planted, is likely 

 to do little else than further infuriate an already dangerous animal. Woe, then, to the sports- 

 man on whom it turns ! So great is its speed that none but a " racer " has any chance of 



