THE BUFFALO 
(BOS BUBALIS) 
T HE buffalo is found in Assam and the Terai country, as far 
west as Nepaul, also in Eastern Bengal and the eastern districts 
of the Central Provinces as far south as the Godaveri River. 
Apparently it does not exist in Southern India, but is met with 
again in Ceylon, where the heads are smaller, as is generally 
the case on an island, where in-and-in breeding tends to 
deterioration. 
Scientists say that there are two varieties in India, chiefly distinguished 
from each other by the shape of the horns; the body resembles that of the 
African buffalo, but the hair on the front part of the back slopes forward. 
A buffalo head makes a magnificent trophy, but a good pair of horns is 
now unfortunately very rare, and there is little chance of getting a specimen 
to rival those which may be seen in the Natural History Museum at South 
Kensington. 
The domesticated animal closely resembles the wild one, and has, I 
fear, been sometimes shot by mistake. The buffalo is essentially an animal 
of the flat country and loves a swamp; it has not the same hill-climbing 
propensities as the bison, nor is it so shy a beast. The damage caused to 
rice crops by these wild bovines is sometimes very considerable. 
In the high grass of the Terai they are usually shot from elephants, but 
in the sal forests of the Central Provinces they may be tracked and killed 
on foot. They travel far, and tracking generally means a long day’s work; 
but the Gonds are wonderful men on a trail, though the big foot of the 
buffalo sometimes leaves very little mark on the hard ground. 
They are tough beasts and a heavy rifle should be used. When following 
a trail it is a good plan to have a soft -nosed bullet in the right barrel and 
a solid in the left; then if come upon suddenly broadside, the expanding 
bullet may be fired at the shoulder, but if standing endways on the solid 
one is more likely to prove effective. 
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