MAMMALS OF BORNKO. 6 s 



face, the curve increasing towards the ends, where the horns 

 curve inwards and a httle forwards. The horns depart but 

 httle from one plane throughout. In some {jnacroccriis of 

 Hodgson) the horns are ahnost straight till near the end, where 

 they turn more rapidly upward. 



Colour throughout dark ashy, almost black. The legs are 

 sometimes whitish ; in some tame forms the legs are white to 

 the same height as in the Gaur. Horns black. 



Dimensions — According to Jerdon (who probably took the 

 figures from Hodgson) and others, the wild buffalo measures in 

 height up to 6^ feet, and in length from snout to root of tail 

 10^. Kinloch, however (' Large Game Shooting,' ed. 2, 

 pp. 88, 91), doubts if any exceed 5-ft. 4-in. in height (16 hands), 

 and gives the following measurements of a good-sized bull : 

 height 5-ft., length from nose to root of tail 9-ft. 7-in. ; tail 

 3-ft. ii-in. ; girth 8-ft. 3-in. ; length of horns from tip to tip 

 round curve 8-ft. 3-in. This is a common way of measuring 

 buffalo horns. The longest recorded horns known, a pair 

 in the British iMuseum, measure 787; inches each, which 

 would give an outside sweep of about 14 feet. Cows' horns are 

 longer than bulls', but of less girth. 



Habits — The wild buffalo keeps chiefly to level ground 

 and is generally found about swamps. It haunts the densest 

 and highest grass-jungle or reeds, but is also found at times in 

 open plains of short grass, or amongst low bushes, but very 

 rarely in tree-forest. Buffaloes associate in herds, often of large 

 size. I have seen 50 together, and have heard of much larger 

 assemblages. They feed chiefly on grass, in the evening, at 

 night, and in the morning (probably morning and evening as a 

 rule), and lie down, generally in high grass, not unfrequently in 

 a marsh, during the day ; they are by no means shy, nor do 

 they appear to shun the neighbourhood of man, and they com- 

 mit great havoc amongst growing crops. Whether wild or 

 tame they delight in water, and often during the heat of the 

 day lie down in shallow places with only parts of their heads 

 above the surface. 



Few, if any, tame animals have changed less in captivity 

 than buffaloes. Unlike the yak and gayal, they never breed 

 with tame cattle ( B. indicns )^ although the cows often pair 

 Avith wild bulls of their own species. Tame buffaloes are 

 chiefly kept for milk and for draught. They have been intro- 

 duced throughout many of the warmer parts of the Old World, 

 and even in Italy, whither they were brought in the sixth 

 century (Griffith's Cuvier, iv, p. 381). Both wild and tame rut 

 in autumn ; the females gestate for 10 months (10 months and 

 ID days according to some) and bear one or two young in 

 summer. Native name ' Krebau.' 



Hab. Miri River (C. Hose). Baram mouth (E. Cox). 



