The Useful Buffalo, and Other Domestic Animals.
Among the domesticated animals of the Philippines the buffalo stands first; the delight and pride of the low-class native being in his carabao, as he designates this animal. It is easily domesticated, and is regarded with affection by its owner, being a very different animal from the wild buffalo of the Asiatic and African wilds,—one of the most savage of beasts.
At six years of age the tamed buffalo is put to work as a draught animal, and when twelve years old it remains strong enough for five years more of light labor. The buffalo is the plough-horse of the islands. The plough is a very primitive affair—a heavy stick of wood sharpened to a point at one end, with a beam attached by rattan thongs, about two feet above the point to which the buffaloes are hitched, and with a handle for the ploughman at the right end, consisting of a round bar of wood, inserted in an auger hole.
The buffalo is amphibious in habit, and if left to itself will spend a considerable part of the time in mud and water. It is capable of keeping its head under water for two minutes at a time, exploring the bottom of streams or pools for certain favorite plants. To it a daily mud-bath is one of the necessities of life. He will fling himself on his side in the mire, and shuffle round and round until he is covered to the eyes with a mortar-like substance. When he has dried himself in the sun he looks like a huge clay image. This strange habit is not without its useful purpose. Millions of stinging flies swarm among the rank vegetation of his habitat, and till his mud-coat peels off the animal is impregnable to their vicious attacks.
A Buffalo in Harness: Harrowing the Soil.
At work in the field he has certain feathered companions,—usually five or six white herons,—that follow him and feed on the worms and insects that his heavy tread brings to the surface. A more friendly attendant is a small black bird, that hops on the back of the great creature, and cleanses its ears of the vermin that harbor there.
By the native owner the buffalo is treated with the utmost kindness, a warm affection existing between the family and their patient, docile laborer. Easy to train, and slow in movement, it can be guided by a child three years old, and will move or halt with readiness at the call of any of the family. Yet, strong as it is, it cannot work for more than two hours without rest, and cannot exist at a distance from streams.
Epidemic diseases sometimes break out among these animals and destroy thousands of them. An old acquaintance of mine once lost in this way nearly the whole of his live-stock in one season. Buffaloes are not much needed in the hemp districts, where there is no ploughing done, but are very necessary on the sugar plantations. Their price varies accordingly. Wild ones, when caught young, are easily tamed and trained by kindness, which the low-class native bestows freely. Buffalo-hunting is very dangerous; for the animal in his native jungle fights to kill or be killed; therefore, only the calves are captured alive. Buffalo-meat makes excellent food, and its flesh, cut into strips, and sun-dried, is much relished by the natives.
Horses are not native to the islands. The ponies that are found there in large quantities are descended from the Andalusian horse and the Chinese mare. They are swift and strong when cared for, but are treated with horrible cruelty by the natives. These ponies, having an Arab strain, are sensitive and nervous, easily guided by kindness; whereas, on the other hand, they are infuriated by mismanagement. The native riders often first goad them to madness and then punish them viciously. This seems to arise more from a misunderstanding between the two animals than from definite cruelty on one hand and obstinacy on the other; and the contests witnessed daily in the streets of Manila are not more painful than ridiculous.
The oxen sold in Manila markets do not yield very palatable beef, being fattened on an herb that they are very fond of, but that gives to the flesh a taste the reverse of agreeable.
In fact, neither fish, flesh, nor fowl has the same taste as those of Europe and America, and newcomers to Manila have to acquire a taste for these viands. Of course they are all right with those “to the manner born.”
Sheep are not indigenous to the soil, and do not thrive there, languishing and dying within a few months.
The other domestic animals include goats, dogs, cats, pigs, monkeys, and the ordinary fowls. The dogs and cats are of inferior breed, a peculiarity in the cats being twisted tails. Among the viands that foreigners seem to approve, is stewed monkey, but the natives will not touch it except as a medicine, they deeming it of value in cutaneous diseases.
Grand-stand, Santa Mesa; Where the Pony Races Are Run.