Buffon's Natural History. Volume 08 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &cBuffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
History
Buffon's Natural History. Volume 08 (of 10): Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c
Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de
Natural history
Although the race of the bisons appear diffused in the Old Continent,
from Madagascar and the point of Africa, and from the extent of the
East Indies even to Siberia, and that though they are met with in
the new continent, from the country of the Ilionois to Louisiana and
Mexico, they have never passed the isthmus of Panama, for there are not
any bisons in South America, notwithstanding the climate is perfectly
agreeable to their nature, and European oxen multiply there as well as
in any other place.
The best bulls and cows at Madagascar were brought from Africa, and
have a hunch on their backs; but the cows give very little milk. In
this island there are wild bisons in the forests, the flesh of which is
not so good as that of our oxen. The natives of Agra hunt them on the
mountain of Nerwer, in the road from Surat to Golconda, and which is
surrounded with wood.
The zebu, as we formerly observed, is the bison as well as the ox
in miniature, and though originally a native of warm regions, can
nevertheless exist and multiply in temperate ones, for in a letter I
received from Mr. Colinson, dated London, December, 1764, he assures
me, that the Dukes of Richmond and Portland had several of these
animals in their parks, and which brought forth calves every year:
they were originally brought from the East Indies. He adds, that the
females were much larger than the males, but that the hunch on the back
was twice as big on the latter as the former; that the young zebu sucks
the mother like other calves, but that in our climate the milk soon
dries up, and that it is necessary to have another female to bring them
up; that the Duke of Richmond ordered one of them to be killed, when
its flesh was found not to be near so good as that of the common ox.
There may also be small oxen without the hunch, which, like the zebu,
constitute a particular race; for Careri, in his journey from Ispahan
to Schiras, saw two small cows, which had been sent as a present to the
king, that did not exceed the size of calves; they were fed entirely
upon straw, and yet were very fat.
As to the buffaloes, although they can make but little use of their
horns, they are compelled to fight lions and tigers in the Mogul's
country. These animals are numerous in warm and marshy countries,
especially near rivers, for water and a moist soil seems to be more
necessary to them than a warm climate; there are not any of them
therefore in Arabia, where the country is dry. They hunt the wild
buffaloes, but with great caution, as they are very dangerous, and
when wounded rush at their opponents with great fury.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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