BUFFALO. 



403 



he saw in Egypt, which had all the legs, belly, 

 and sides, perfectly white. It varies, however, 

 greatly as to the length and thickness of its hair, 

 and is sometimes seen nearly naked. 



This animal is originally a native of the warmer 

 parts of India and Africa, and is merely one of 

 the introduced or naturalized quadrupeds of Eu- 

 rope. It is said to have been introduced into 

 Italy in the seventh century. The Count de 

 Buffon considers it as an animal unknown to the 

 ancients, but Mr. Pennant, with greater probabi- 

 lity, supposes the Bosg aypioi of Aristotle, to have 

 meant Buffaloes. The Bos Indie us of Pliny may 

 be also supposed to refer to this species. 



The Buffalo grows in some countries to an ex- 

 tremely large size. Mr. Pennant quotes a pair of 

 horns in the British Museum in proof of this, 

 which are six feet and a half long, and the hol- 

 low of which will hold five quarts. Jerom Lobo, 

 in his account of Abyssinia, affirms that some of 

 the horns of the Buffaloes of that country will hold 

 ten quarts, and Dillon saw some in India which 

 were ten feet long : they are sometimes wrinkled, 

 but generally smooth. Wild Buffaloes occur in 

 Malabar, and in the islands of Borneo and Cey- 

 lon, and are considered as excessively fierce and 

 dangerous animals. The Buffaloes of Abyssinia 

 grow to tvv^ice the size of our largest oxen, and 

 are called Elephant-Bulls, not only on account of 

 their vast size, but from their naked and black 

 skin, resembling that of an Elephant. 



