56 
MAMMALIA. 
[Chap. T. 
a box or basket with one side open is securely strapped 
on its back. This at nightfall is lighted by flambeaux 
of wax, and the buffalo bearing it, is driven slowly into 
the jungle. The huntsmen, with their fowling pieces, 
keep close under the darkened side, and as it moves 
slowly onwards, the wild animals, startled by the sound, 
and bewildered by the light, steal cautiously towards 
it in stupified fascination. Even the snakes, I am as- 
sured, will be attracted by this extraordinary object ; and 
the leopard too falls a victim to curiosity. 
There is a peculiarity in the formation of the buffalo's 
foot, which, though it must have attracted attention, 
I have never seen mentioned by naturalists. It is 
equivalent to the arrangement which distinguishes the 
foot of the reindeer from that of the stag and the ante- 
lope. In the latter, the hoofs, being constructed for 
lightness and flight, are compact and vertical ; but, in 
the reindeer, the joints of the tarsal bones admit of 
lateral expansion, and the front hoofs curve upwards, 
while the two secondary ones behind (which are but 
slightly developed in the fallow deer and others of the 
same family) are prolonged vertically till, in certain 
positions, they are capable of being applied to the 
ground, thus adding to the circumference and sustain- 
ing power of the foot. It has been usually suggested 
as the probable design of this structure, that it is to 
enable the reindeer to shovel away the snow in order 
to reach the lichens beneath it ; but I apprehend that 
another use of it has been overlooked, that of facilitating 
its movements in search of food by increasing the diffi- 
culty of its sinking in the snow. 
A formation precisely analogous in the buffalo seems 
to point to a corresponding design. The ox, whose life 
