Delineations of the Ox Tribe: The Natural History of Bulls, Bisons, and Buffaloes. / Exhibiting all the Known Species and the More Remarkable Varieties of the Genus Bos.

by George Vasey

The Caffres, who at that time (1772) did not possess fire-arms, were, nevertheless, dextrous in the use of their javelins. When a Caffre has discovered a spot where several Buffaloes are assembled, he blows a pipe, made of the thigh-bone of a sheep, which is heard at a great distance. In consequence of this, several of his comrades run up to the spot, and surrounding the Buffaloes, at the same time approaching them by degrees, throw their javelins at them. In this case, out of ten or twelve Buffaloes, it is very rare for one to escape. It sometimes happens, however, that while the Buffaloes are running off, some one of the hunters, who stands in the way of them, is tossed and killed, which, by the people of this nation, is not much regarded. When the chase is over, each one takes his share of the game.

Since the introduction of fire-arms by the Europeans, the natives, as well as the colonists, bring down the Buffalo by means of the gun. Nevertheless, great circumspection is required in following the sport, as the animal is sometimes capable of revenging himself even after being severely wounded. On one occasion a party of huntsmen discovered a small herd of Buffaloes grazing on a piece of marshy ground. As it was impossible to get near enough without crossing a marsh, which did not afford a safe footing for their horses, they left them in charge of the Hottentots, and proceeded on foot, thinking, that if the Buffaloes should turn upon them, it would be easy to retreat by crossing the quagmire, which, though firm enough to support a man, would not bear the weight of a Buffalo. They advanced accordingly, and, under shelter of the bushes, approached with such advantage, that the first volley brought down three of the fattest of the herd, and so severely wounded the great bull leader, that he dropped on his knees, bellowing most furiously. Supposing him mortally wounded, the foremost of the huntsmen issued from the covert, and began reloading his musket as he advanced, to give him a finishing shot; but no sooner did the enraged animal see his enemy in front of him than he sprang up, and ran furiously upon him. The man, throwing down his gun, fled towards the quagmire; but the beast was so close upon him, that, despairing to escape in that direction, he suddenly turned round a clump of copsewood, and began to ascend a tree. The raging animal, however, was too quick for him, and bounding forward with a tremendous roar, he caught the unfortunate man with his terrible horns, just as he had nearly escaped his reach, and tossed him into the air with such force, that the body fell dreadfully mangled into the cleft of a tree. The Buffalo ran round the tree once or twice, apparently looking for the man, until weakened with loss of blood, he again sank on his knees. The rest of the party, recovering from their confusion, then came up and despatched him, though too late to save their comrade, whose body was hanging in the tree quite dead.

The length of a full-grown Buffalo is about eight feet from horns to root of tail, and the height five feet and a half. The horns are massive and heavy, measuring from six to nine feet, following the curve from tip to tip. They are broad at the base, and very nearly meet on the centre of the forehead. Hamilton Smith says, they are "in contact at the base;" but this is not the case in the several specimens which I have examined, namely, three in the College of Surgeons, four in the British Museum, and two in the Zoological Gardens.

In the living specimen in the Zoological Gardens, from which the figure at the head of this article was taken, there is a good deal of hair of a dark brown colour on the neck and shoulders, and some small tufts on the fore-legs, but the rest of the body is almost naked. The tail is short, with a tuft at the end.

The individual here referred to is by no means a large specimen, being only four feet ten inches high at the shoulders; probably he is young, and not yet full-grown. He is so active, as to be able to clear a four-feet fence, and he frequently leaps over the half-door (about three feet high,) which separates his little enclosure from his dormitory. His intelligence is much superior to that of ordinary cattle: the entrance to his apartment is furnished with four doors, two on each door-post; and when closed, they of course meet in the middle of the entrance. When he is outside, (as the doors all open inwardly,) a mere push with his horns sends them open. But when he is inside, it requires four distinct operations to shut them, and these he performs with the greatest adroitness, going from one to the other, until all are closed. He opens them also from within with equal skill, by applying the tip of one of his horns to each separately, and retiring a step or two to allow them room to open.

The flesh of the Cape Buffalo is reckoned excellent eating, especially that of the young calf, which is equal to the veal of the domestic calf. The horns are made into various articles, having a fine close grain, and taking a beautiful polish. But the hide is the most valuable part of this animal, being so thick and tough, that shields, proof against a musket-shot, are formed of it; and it affords the strongest and best thongs for harness and whips. The skin of the living Buffalo is so dense that it is impenetrable, in many parts, to an ordinary musket-ball; the balls used by the huntsmen are, therefore, mixed with tin, and even these are often flattened by the resistance. In examining the skeleton of this Buffalo, the ribs are found to be remarkably strong and wide—measuring from three inches to three inches and seven-tenths in width, and overlapping each other like the scales of a fish: the difficulty of wounding this animal may be partly owing to this arrangement of the ribs.

Since the increase of the settlements about the Cape of Good Hope, the Buffalo has become rather a rare animal in the colony; but, on the plains of Caffraria, they are so common that herds of a hundred and fifty, or two hundred, may be frequently seen grazing together towards the evening, but during the day they lie retired among the woods and thickets. They range along the eastern side of Africa, to an unknown distance in the interior.

Sparrman says that the period of gestation is twelve months.

Head of Cape Buffalo.