I 20 



Great and Small Game of Africa 



country. A fine pair of horns, those of an old male, are to be seen 

 in the Natural History Museum. Their measurements are — length 

 on outside curve, 13! inches ; circumference, io£ inches ; from tip to tip, 

 28 !, inches. H. A. Bryden. 



Congo or Dwarf Buffalo (Bos caffer nanus) 

 Hausa Name, Bona ; Yoruba, Effon ; Igara, Effa ; Igbira, Aya 



The dwarf buffalo, or, as it is more generally known in West Africa, the 

 " bushcow," resembles in general appearance an Alderney cow in miniature. 

 When seen in a herd feeding, on the move, or scampering off with their 

 tails in the air, one invariably thinks of the small Channel Island cattle so 

 frequently seen at home. Standing well under 4 feet at the shoulder, they 

 are compact little beasts, with clean outlines, clean legs, and totally devoid 

 of the heavy look of the Cape buffalo. 



Their colour varies from the light red of the younger animal, deepening 

 through the warm rufous red of the mature beast, to the deep dirty brown 

 of the aged bull. The hair is short, and lies evenly on the skin throughout, 

 and until old age, is apparently clean and remarkably free from parasites of 

 any kind. As old age creeps on, the hair wears off the folds of the neck, 

 which become more marked, off the shoulders and quarters, and deepens 

 into a dark dirty brown easily discernible in the herd even at a distance. 

 The difference between bull and cow, both horned, is but slight, and lies 

 chiefly in the bull possessing somewhat longer hair and in greater depth of 

 barrel ; but even the bull retains the characteristic lightness of the breed. 



The following measurements may be taken as average measurements of 



cow- 



Height at withers . . -44 inches. 



„ croup . . 46 



Girth immediately behind fore-leg . 60I „ 



