Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found: A Book of Zoology for BoysReid, Mayne
Science
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found: A Book of Zoology for Boys
Reid, Mayne
Mammals
There is a variety of the zebu--or perhaps a distinct species--known as
the Dante. It is an African animal--that is, Egypt is the country where
it is chiefly found. Very little knowledge of it exists among
naturalists. It is distinguished from the Indian zebu by having a
smaller hump upon the withers and a narrower face; and it is supposed to
be the animal represented on the ancient Egyptian tombs.
We next come to the kind of oxen termed _Buffaloes_; and of these there
are several species.
First, there is the _Indian buffalo_; and it may here be remarked, that
when the word buffalo is used, an animal with a huge hump upon its
shoulders is usually understood. This is an error, arising, no doubt,
from the fact that the _bison_ of America, which _has_ a hump, is
generally called a buffalo. But the Indian buffalo has no such
protuberance; nor yet the African species. The Indian animal is found
both in a domesticated and wild state; but both are clearly of the same
species. The wild one is called the Arna, and the tame one Bhainsa, in
the language of the natives. The former is of much greater size than
the latter--standing, when full-grown, as high as the tallest man! So
strong are these animals, that an arna bull has been known to butt down
a good-sized elephant with a single stroke of his horns!
It is the Indian buffalo that is found in Italy--where it has been
introduced, and is used for draught; its great strength giving it the
advantage over horses, especially on the deep miry roads that exist in
some parts of the peninsula.
The _Manilla buffalo_ is a smaller variety or species of the arna,
inhabiting, as its name imports, the Philippine Islands.
The _African buffalo_, sometimes known as the _Kaffir buffalo_, is
another of these great oxen, and not the least celebrated of the tribe.
It is an inhabitant of Africa, and is found chiefly in the southern half
of that continent, from the Cape of Good Hope northwards. It is an
animal of vast size and strength; often waging war with the lion, and
frequently with man himself. In these encounters the buffalo is but too
successful; and it is asserted among the natives of South Africa, that
there are more deaths among them, caused by buffalo bulls, than by all
the other wild beasts of the country. Like his Indian congener, the
shock from the massive horns of an African buffalo is almost
irresistible; and both the lion and elephant at times succumb to it.
There is a smaller African species about which less is known. This is
the Zamouse or Bush cow, which differs from the true buffalo in having a
flatter forehead, and being altogether without the dewlap.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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