410 "WILD ANIMALS. 



life which has been so often noticed, he ceased to struggle. None 

 of the dogs were hurt, and except my left arm, which the weight 

 of the brute had made into a sort of jelly, I was none the worse 

 for it." 



Dr. Livingstone had several opportunities of studying the habits 

 of wild buffaloes, for, during his sojourn on the banks of the 

 Kalomo, he constantly saw large herds of them feeding in all 

 directions. He observes that if they are often disturbed by 

 man, they change their habits, and retire into the densest part of 

 the forests, and come out on the plains to feed by night only. 

 Buffaloes, in common with several other wild animals, gore a 

 wounded companion and expel him from the herd. " Even zebras," 

 remarks the Doctor, " bite and kick an unfortunate or diseased 

 one. It is intended by this instinct that none but the perfect and 

 healthy ones should propagate the -species." 



On one occasion a herd of about sixty animals rushed past Living- 

 stone's party in full gallop, and he noticed that the leader was an 

 old cow, which was allowed to keep a full half-length in the front. 

 " On her withers," he writes, " sat about twenty buffalo-birds 

 {Textor erytJirorhynchus, Smith), which act the part of guardian 

 spirits to the animals. "When the buffalo is quietly feeding, the 

 bird may be seen hopping on the ground picking up food, or 

 sitting on its back ridding it of the insects with which their skins 

 are sometimes infested. The sight of the bird being much more 

 acute than that of the buffalo, it is soon alarmed by the approach 

 of any danger, and flying up, the buffaloes instantly raise their 

 heads to discover the cause which has led to the sudden flight of 

 the guardian. They sometimes accompany the buffaloes in their 

 flight on the wing, at other times they sit as described." 



During Mr. A. "W. Mitchinson's * travels he was a witness 

 of the following extraordinary incident, in which a native of 

 a village on the Gambia, called Mandingo, enticed a buffalo 

 to his death in a very singular manner. While on the march " in 

 a well-shaded place, an unexpected bufialo showed his head for an 

 instant only between the bushes. The animal having a keen scent, 

 and an ugly habit, when observed, of hiding in ambush, then 

 * " The Expiring Continent." 



