The native haunts of the Nylghau (A. picta) are the dense forests of India. In the days of Aurungzebe, these large and fine antelopes abounded between Delhi and Lahore, where they were frequently chased by that mighty monarch, his army of hunters inclosing them within a limited space by means of nets. The Great Mogul and his omrahs, attended by their huntsmen, then entered and, somewhat after the manner of a modern battue, dispatched them with their arrows and spears.
The wild Caffrarian Buffalo (Bubalus Caffer), the strongest and most ferocious of the ruminant race, roams in small herds over the woody districts of South and Central Africa, where it is more feared by the natives than the lion and rhinoceros. Combining malice with brutality, it not seldom remains concealed behind a tree, till the innocent victim of its rage approaches, when, horribly bellowing, it rushes forth and attacks him with its broad-based, sharp-pointed horns. Not satisfied with goring him to death, it stamps and tears him again and again, and after having left the spot, will even return to vent once more its blind fury on the mangled corpse.
Its ponderous strength, deadly weapons, and ungovernable fury make it more than a match for the king of animals himself, who never ventures to attack a full-grown buffalo, as one toss from its horns would kill the strongest lion that ever breathed.
In India, where the wild colossal Arnee (Bubalus Arnee), remarkable for its enormous horns, inhabits the highlands, even the tame ordinary buffaloes feel their superiority to the large felidæ, for they have been seen to chase a tiger up the hills, bellowing as if they enjoyed the sport. The Indian herdsman, riding on a buffalo of their herd, are therefore not in the least afraid of entering the jungles infested by tigers. Colonel Rice once saw a troop of buffaloes, excited by the blood of a tiger he had wounded, throw themselves furiously into the thicket where the beast had sought refuge, beat about the bushes and tear up the ground with their horns.
The solitary buffaloes, or such as have been expelled from the herd by stronger competitors for female favour, are particularly dangerous as they are apt to wreak their ill humour on whatever falls in their way. Dr Livingstone, among others, made the experience that to meet one of these rogue buffaloes is about as bad as to face a hungry lion or an ill-disposed rhinoceros. ‘As I walked slowly,’ says the illustrious traveller, ‘on an extensive plain, I observed that a solitary buffalo, disturbed by others of my own party, was coming to me at a gallop. I glanced around, but the only tree on the plain was a hundred yards off, and there was no escape elsewhere. I therefore cocked my rifle, with the intention of giving him a steady shot in the forehead when he should come within three or four yards of me. The thought flashed across my mind, “What if your gun misses fire?” I placed it to my shoulder as he came on at full speed, and that is tremendous, though generally he is a lumbering-looking animal in his paces. A small bush and bunch of grass fifteen yards off, made him swerve a little and exposed his shoulder. I just heard the ball crack there, and I fell flat on my face. The pain must have made him renounce his purpose, for he bounded close past me on to the water, where he was found dead.’
The buffaloes are generally fond of marshes or submerged river banks, where they love to wallow in the mud, or to remain plunged up to the muzzle in water. They are admirable swimmers, particularly the Bhain (Bubalus Bhain), a species inhabiting the sandy banks of the Ganges. Abandoning themselves to the current, these semi-aquatic ruminants often drift down the river in large herds, and are said to plunge from time to time in order to detach with their horns the water-plants growing at the bottom, which they then leisurely devour as they slowly float along.
As if to make up for the hideous deformity of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, the African wilds exclusively give birth to the beautifully striped Zebras, the most gorgeously attired members of the equine race.
The isabelle-coloured Quagga, irregularly banded and marked with dark brown stripes, which, stronger on the head and neck, gradually become fainter, until lost behind the shoulders, has its high crest surmounted by a standing mane, banded alternately brown and white. It used formerly to be found in great numbers within the limits of the Cape Colony, and still roams in large numbers in the open plain farther to the north, where it may often be seen herding together with gnus and springboks.
QUAGGA.