Buffaloes are found here in abundance. They are employed chiefly in cultivating the land instead of oxen, as the latter are used for drawing waggons, and, in particular, for transporting goods. Cheese from cow’s milk, as well as all kinds of cheese in general, is not common in Malabar; because the inhabitants employ as food the milk that would be required for making it. Some of the Malabar women have indeed lately begun to make cheese, but they sell it only to the Europeans. The assertion that the people of Malabar are unacquainted with the method of preserving butter, is entirely groundless. The inhabitants of the Gauts certainly understand this part of domestic economy; and, to preserve their butter, add to it a little salt, some aromatic herbs, and _magnel_, or Malabar saffron. This kind of butter, which contains the noblest parts of those nourishing herbs and plants on which the cattle feed on the mountains, has a singularly exquisite taste[114]. The _Vaishaya_, that is, those Indians who apply to agriculture and the breeding of cattle, are exceedingly well acquainted with the art of curing the diseases of animals by very simple means. This art they have learned partly from their own experience during the course of a great many years, partly from the _Samanæi_, and are instructed in it from their infancy[115]. Tame goats, called in the Malabar dialect _Aada_, in the Samscred _Haga_, _Staba_, and, when red, _Menda_, _Mesza_ or _Uranna_, are found here in great numbers. These animals are under the care of certain shepherds named _Idaya_, who form a particular cast called _Idayagiadi_. The _Menda_, or red goats, belong to the sacred animals, for which the Indians entertain the utmost reverence. They make use of them chiefly in their great festivals, known under the appellation of _Iaga_, instituted in honour of the sun and the planets[116]. Sheep on the coast of Malabar are exceedingly rare; for, as they bear a great deal of wool, they cannot thrive in a climate so hot as that of India. Goats, on the other hand, thrive remarkably well, because they climb the steepest mountains, and every where find food. Their hair is uncommonly beautiful. In the northern part of India there is a kind of wild goats, from the hair of which the shawls are made. These excellent pieces of stuff, which are manufactured at Cachemir, excel not only the finest cloths of Persia, but even the silk stuffs of the Chinese[117]. The Europeans in India eat a great deal of goat’s flesh; but the native Indians, who in general have an aversion to flesh, eat only that of kids, and even the latter they never touch except in the time of war. The flesh of the Malabar swine is very difficult of digestion, and has a disagreeable taste. This is owing to their being too much fed with pilchards, which are found on the Sea coast in the utmost abundance. The native Christians, however, eat sometimes pork; but they are almost always sick afterwards[118].