Chap. L] 



THE BUFFALO. 



55 



rarely molests them, so huge a creature affording no 

 worthy mark for his skill, and their wanton slaughter 

 adds nothing to the supply of food for their assailant. 



In the Hambangtotte country, where the Singhalese 

 domesticate buffaloes, and use them to assist in the 

 labour of the rice lands, the villagers are much annoyed 

 by the wild ones, that mingle with the tame when sent 

 out to the woods to pasture ; and it constantly happens 

 that a savage stranger, placing himself at the head of 

 the tame herd, resists the attempts of the owners to 

 drive them homewards at sunset. In the districts of 

 Putlam and the Seven Corles, buffaloes are generally 

 used for draught ; and in carrying heavy loads of salt 

 from the coast towards the interior, they drag a cart 

 over roads which would defy the weaker strength of 

 bullocks. 



In one place between Batticaloa and Trincomalie I 

 found the natives making an ingenious use of them 

 when engaged in shooting water-fowl in the vast salt 

 marshes and muddy lakes. Being an object to which 

 the birds are accustomed, the Singhalese train the 

 buffalo to the sport, and, concealed behind, the animal 

 browsing listlessly along, they guide it by ropes attached 

 to its horns, and thus creep undiscovered within shot of 

 the flock. The same practice prevails, I believe, in 

 some of the northern parts of India, where they are 

 similarly trained to assist the sportsman in approaching 

 deer. One of these " sporting buffaloes " sells for a 

 considerable sum. 



In the thick forests which cover the Passdun Corle, 

 to the east and south of Caltura, the natives use the 

 sporting buffalo in another way, to assist in hunting 

 deer and wild hogs. A bell is attached to its neck, and 



E 4 



