246 WILD BEASTS OF THE WORLD 



so immune from attack, however, the Indian Buffalo is an aggressive 

 and dangerous animal — the old solitary bulls, which will attack man 

 unprovoked, being almost, if not quite, the most savage of all wild 

 things. A herd, however, is far less ready to act on the offensive. 

 The attack of an old "Urna," as the wild Buffalo is called in India, 

 is all the more dangerous because the beast has cunning as well as 

 courage, and chooses a favourable moment to make his attack, while 

 the rush-jungles he frequents are most unfavourable ground for his 

 human adversary. 



The natural home of the Water-Buffalo is India and Ceylon, 

 but, as it has long been domesticated, it has been carried to many 

 other parts of the world, and is kept in warm climates throughout 

 Asia, in Egypt, and even in Italy and Hungary. In Northern Australia 

 it has been introduced, but allowed to run wild again, and is now 

 hunted for its hide. Tame Buffaloes are useful for their great 

 strength, especially in soft marshy country, and for their power of 

 thriving on coarse food ; the cows also are good milkers, but the 

 beef is not esteemed. They retain all their hatred for the Tiger when 

 in a tame condition, and a well-known plan among Indian sportsmen, 

 when a wounded Tiger has taken cover, is to drive in a herd of 

 Buffaloes, who will to a certainty expel or kill him. Although danger- 

 ous to strangers, tame Buffaloes are very gentle with their owners, 

 and may be seen controlled by tiny naked native children. In colour 

 the tame Buffalo varies little more than the wild one— it is all black, 

 white-stockinged, or dun; but sometimes it is white-haired, with a 

 flesh-coloured skin, like a white domestic Pig. 



Curiously enough, although constantly kept alongside of the 

 humped Indian cattle, it appears never to interbreed with these 

 animals. That it should do so with its wild relatives, when near the 

 marshy haunts of these, is natural; and many tame Buffaloes have 

 wild blood in their veins, for a wild bull will often come out of the 

 marsh and assume the leadership of a herd of tame cows, whose 

 services the unfortunate owner has to dispense with until the bull 

 has tired of their company. Tame Buffaloes, as a general rule, are 



