Yin 
THE OX. 
HISTORY. 
Some Europeans at the Cape, in chase of one of these animals, pursued him into a narrow path. He turned round, and 
rushed upon a man of the party, who plunged into the stream and swam off. In an instant the Buffalo followed, and was close 
upon him, when the man, to save himself, dived. He dipped down overhead, and the Buffalo for the moment lost sight of him, 
and swam toward the opposite shore, three miles distant, and would have reached it, but for a shot from the gun of a ship which 
chanced to be lying at a little distance. 
The following incident is recorded in a periodical work, on the authority of a Dutch-African farmer, who had been 
a witness of the scene fifteen years before. “ A party of boors had gone out to hunt a troop of Buffaloes, which were grazing- 
in a piece of marshy ground, interspersed with groves of yellow wood and mimosa trees, on the very spot where the village of 
Somerset is now built. As they could not conveniently get within shot of the game without crossing part of the valei or marsh, 
which did not afford a safe passage for horses, they agreed to leave their steeds in charge of their Hottentot servants, and to ad¬ 
vance on foot, thinking that if any of the Buffaloes should turn upon them, it would be easy to escape by retreating across the 
quagmire, which, though passable for man, would not support the weight of a heavy quadruped. They advanced accordingly, and, 
under cover of the bushes, approached the game with such advantage that the first volley brought down three of the fattest of the 
herd, and so severely wounded the great bull leader, that he dropped on his knees, bellowing with pain. Thinking him mortally 
wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert, and began reloading his musket as he advanced, to give him a 
finishing shot. But no sooner did the infuriated animal see his foe in front of him, than he sprang up, and rushed headlong upon 
him. The man, throwing down his empty gun, fled towards the quagmire ; but the savage beast was so close upon him that he 
despaired of escaping in that direction, and turning suddenly round a clump of copsewood, began to climb an old mimosa tree which 
stood at one side of it. The raging beast, however, was too quick for him. Bounding forward with a roar, which my informant 
(who was one of the party) described as being one of the most frightful sounds he ever heard, he caught the unfortunate man with 
his horns, just as he had nearly escaped his reach, and tossed him in the air with such force that the body fell, dreadfully mangled, 
into a lofty cleft of the tree. The Buffalo ran round the tree once or twice, apparently looking for the man, until, weakened with 
loss of blood, he again sunk on his knees. The rest of the party then, recovering from their confusion, came up and despatched 
him, though too late to save their comrade, whose body was hanging in the tree quite dead.” # 
These animals, fierce and cruel as they seem, do not certainly seek occasions for attacking even their deadliest enemy, man. 
Although in herds of great numbers together, and when they could beat their pursuers to the dust, like reeds, they invariably seek 
to save themselves by retreating to the nearest thickets. The females exhibit the warm attachment to their offspring which is 
characteristic of the whole Bubaline race, and which a beneficent Providence has imprinted in the bosoms of the rudest creatures. 
It is for the safety of the young and females that the bulls seem to act as the guardians of the herd. At the season, too, of 
sexual desire, numbers of the bulls being expelled by their fellows from the community, wander about for a season with excited 
passions, and then manifest that ferocity which has been witnessed. 
The chase of these animals in the forests of tangled brushwood which they frequent, is attended with much danger. Their 
strong hides resist the rifle ball like a target, and common balls of lead are flattened when they strike their bones. For this 
reason the balls employed are of great weight, and alloyed with tin, and even then they are sometimes shattered as if they had 
struck a wall of steel. The Hottentots are extremely dexterous in this dangerous chase, crawling on their bellies until they reach 
their victims, and using, instead of their ancient weapons, the rifles and long muskets with which their rude masters have supplied 
them. But the Caffres are in a peculiar degree attached to this dangerous exercise : they pursue the chase in companies; when an 
individual discovers the herd, he winds a small pipe made of the thigh-bone of a Sheep, and his companions hastening to his aid, 
they environ the game, and pierce them with spears. The Bushmen, for the same purpose, use javelins and arrows dipped in 
poison. 
The flesh of these animals is said to be juicy and well flavoured. But it is chiefly for their hides that they are valued by the 
African hunters and the farmers of the Cape. These are so thick and tough, that they may be formed into targets, musket proof; 
they are used, too, for whips, and for the straps of harness, and are said to form the only halters that can be depended upon for se¬ 
curing horses and oxen, when picketted in travelling, and alarmed by the stealthy approach of the wolf, or the rustle of the lion.-j- 
The use of fire-arms is rapidly thinning the number of these powerful creatures within the European territory of the Cape : 
they slowly retire to the woods of the interior, where they can be safe from the dangerous weapons of their destroyers. Nor is 
man their only enemy : the Wolf, the Hyeena, and other fierce creatures, are the inhabitants of the same woods; and the Lion, it 
is said, steals upon and attacks them. The natives speak of having been witnesses of these murderous conflicts ; and say, that 
* Penny Magazine, 1832. 
1' Spaerman’s Voyage. 
