CHAP. XIV 
THE BUFFALO 
47 
with a respect that is not bestowed upon any other 
animal. Vast strength, the perfection of masculine 
vigour, and indomitable courage, form the combina¬ 
tion which has attracted the adoration of mankind. 
This genus Bos is distributed in immense variety 
throughout the globe, but in Africa we find an 
extraordinary anomaly, that although domestic cattle 
(the generally accepted Bos) are omnipresent, even 
among those savages who have been until recent 
years entirely excluded from the worlds history, 
there is no such creature existing in its wild state, 
and we are at a loss to discover a progenitor. We 
know three varieties upon the African continent, but 
these belong specially to the Bubalus, and are distinct 
from the ordinary wild cattle (B. taurus ) of Europe 
or other countries. 
The African buffalo, or Bos Caffer, has two 
varieties, in which the distinction is only to be found 
in the horns. No. i are convex, and meet at the 
base across the forehead. No. 2 has flat-fronted 
horns, very broad, but they do not actually unite 
across the front of the skull. 
There is also a species which is quite distinct; 
this is the Bos brachyceros , or short-horned buffalo. 
This is found upon the West Coast of Africa, and is 
very beautiful. It is a fawn colour, with a tinge of 
dark chestnut, and about the size of a Jersey 
bull. The ears are long, and are tipped with 
a long tuft of hair ; the eyes are large, the head 
remarkably small, and delicately shaped : the horns 
are about 12 inches long, broad at the base, without 
