5o 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS 
CHAP. 
among my collection. It is very small, and delicately 
shaped, differing entirely from all other varieties of 
the buffalo, and exhibiting its connection with that 
species only by the peculiar shape and texture of 
the horns. If such a struggle had taken place with 
an ordinary buffalo, the strongest man would have 
been killed almost instantaneously, without the 
chance of escape. 
The Bos Caffer is about the same in size and 
shape as the Indian variety, but differs in the shape 
of the head and the formation of the horns. All 
the Bos tribe are more or less savage, but the 
African buffalo is a peculiarly ferocious brute, 
especially when wounded. 
All buffaloes delight in swampy plains, where 
they can obtain rich pasturage of the coarsest 
description, that would not be eaten by ordinary 
cattle ; they love to wallow in the mud during the 
mid-day sun, and to lie in shallow pools with only 
their heads above the surface of the water. A 
buffalo appears to have only just escaped the 
classification of amphibious. The love of water 
becomes an actual necessity, as the buffalo, although 
so useful as a beast of burden, or for draught 
purposes, requires a rest during the hottest hours of 
a tropical day, to enable it to bathe, and roll itself 
in the dearly beloved mud ; without which it would 
refuse to work, and would ultimately lose condition. 
The buffaloes of Italy and Egypt retain the 
original type of their oriental race, but they have 
dwindled in size, and have lost both length and 
