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THE STORY OF THE BUFFALO. 
skin of the bull is more valuable than that of the cow, from the mass of woolly 
hair about the shoulders. 
THE INDIAN BUFFALO. 
The Indian buffalo has been domesticated and is extensively employed 
as a beast of burden by the Hindoos, It has also been introduced into several 
of the adjoining countries. The animal is about the size of a full-grown 
ox and is harnessed and driven in a manner similar to that our forefathers 
used with the ox. This species has enormous curved horns, some measuring 
12 and 14 feet from tip to tip. 
In a wild state the Indian buffalo is only known in the country from which 
it takes its name, the herds which are found in a wild state in Burma and 
the Malay Peninsula and adjacent islands being not improbably descended 
from animals escaped from captivity. 
In India wild buffaloes are found on the plains of the Bramaputra and 
Ganges, from the eastern end of Assam to' T'irhut; they also occur in the “terai” 
land at the foot of the Himalaya. Domesticated buffaloes are found not only 
over the whole of India and Burma, and the greater part of the Malayan 
region, but have likewise been introduced into Asia Minor, Egypt and Italy. 
The haunts of the wild Indian buffalo are the tall grass-jungles found 
in many parts of the plains of India, and generally in the neighborhood of 
swamps; but it may be also found more rarely in the open plains of short 
grass, or among low jungle, and occasionally even in forest. Those who 
have never had the opportunity of seeing an Indian grass-jungle can have but 
little conception of its height and density, but some idea may be formed of 
it from the fact that in such cover, although a herd of buffaloes may be roused 
within a score of yards, the waving of the grass, and perhaps the glint of a 
polished horn-tip, is the only ocular evidence of the presence of the animals; 
the probably nearly noiseless rush might be caused by other animals; and 
where the horns have not been seen it is only by the strong, sweet bovine 
scent—similar to but much more powerful than that of cows—that one can 
be absolutely certain of what is in front of one. In such jungles shooting 
on foot is out of the question, and the only method of procedure is by beating 
with a line of elephants. 
In their wild state these buffaloes are always found in herds, which may 
comprise fifty or more individuals. They feed chiefly on grass, in the evening, 
at night, and in the morning; and lie down, generally in high grass, not 
