As an article of food, the flesh of this animal is inferior to the beef of the domestic Ox, but the milk of the female is particularly rich and abundant; the semi-fluid butter, called _ghee_ in India, is made from it. According to the testimony of Colonel Sykes, the long-horned variety is reared in vast numbers in the Mawals, or hilly tracts lying along the Ghauts:--"In those tracts much rice is planted, and the male Buffalo, from his superior hardihood, is much better suited to resist the effects of the heavy rains, and the splashy cultivation of the rice than the bullock. The female is also infinitely more valuable than the cow, from the very much greater quantity of milk she yields." The hide is also much valued for its strength and durability. In India they are used as beasts of burden; but the nature of the goods they carry must be such as will not suffer from being wet, as they have an invincible propensity to lie down in water. The native princes use them to fight with tigers in their public shows; and from their fierce and active nature, when excited, they frequently prove more than a match for their formidable assailants. With the native herdsman, however, they are generally docile: these men ride on their favorites, and spend the night with them in the midst of jungles and forests, without fear of wild beasts. When driven along, the herds keep close together, so that the driver, if necessary, walks from the back of one to the other, perfectly at his ease. In the south of Europe they are managed by means of a ring passed through the cartilage of the nose, but in India it is a mere rope. Their fierceness and courage are well exemplified in the following anecdote, related by Mr. D. Johnson in his interesting 'Sketches of Indian Field Sports:' "Two Biparies, or carriers of grain and merchandise on the backs of bullocks, were driving a loaded string of these animals from Palamow to Chittrah: when they were come within a few miles of the latter place, a tiger seized on the man in the rear, which was seen by a Guallah (herdsman), as he was watching his Buffaloes grazing. He boldly ran up to the man's assistance, and cut the tiger severely with his sword; upon which he dropped the Biparie, and seized the herdsman. The Buffaloes observing it, attacked the tiger, and rescued the herdsman; they tossed him about from one to the other, and, to the best of my recollection, killed him. Both the wounded men were brought to me; the Biparie recovered, and the herdsman died."