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On such occasions, it is said, that 1500 or 2000 have been destroyed at one time.

These animals are so amazingly strong, that when they flee through the woods from a pursuer, they frequently brush down trees as thick as a man's arm; and be the snow ever so deep, such is their strength and agility, that they are able to plunge through it much faster than the swiftest Indians can run in snow-shoes. "To this," says Mr. Hearn, "I have many times been an eye-witness. I once had the vanity to think that I could have kept pace with them; but though I was at the time celebrated for running fleetly in snow-shoes, I soon found that I was no match for the bisons, notwithstanding they were then plunging through such deep snow, that their bellies made a trench as large as if many heavy sacks had been hauled through it."

In Louisiana the men mount on horseback, each with a sharp crescent-pointed spear in his hand. They approach with the wind; and as soon as the animals smell them, they instantly seek to escape: the majority of the bisons are, at a certain time of the year, so fat and unwieldy as easily to be enticed to slacken their pace. As soon as the men overtake them, they endeavour to strike the spear just above the ham, in such a manner as to cut through the tendons, and render them afterwards an easy prey.

THE ZEBU.

This name is given by Buffon to the Barbary ox, which is a variety of the bison of some writers, and of the camel of others. This species resembles the Indian ox; but is so extremely small, that, in some parts of India, it scarcely exceeds the size of a large dog. In colour it differs, like other cattle, being either gray, brown, black, white, &c., or variously spotted.

Indeed, these hunched oxen vary considerably more than

ours in the colour of their hair and the figure of their horns. The most beautiful are, like the oxen of Lombardy, all white. Some are destitute of horns, others have them very elevated, and others, again, so bent down as to be almost pendant. It appears, therefore, that we must divide the hunched oxen, or bisons, into two kinds, viz. the large and the small, to which latter belongs the Zebu. They are both found nearly in the same climate,—are equally mild, and easily managed when domesticated. Both have soft hair; and the protuberance, or hump, on their backs, or over the shoulders, which is nothing more than a wen, or fleshy tumour, is eaten as a delicacy, and is as tender as the tongue of an ox.

The oxen of India are made use of in travelling, as substitutes for horses. Instead of a bit, a small cord is passed through the cartilage of the nostrils, which is tied to a larger cord, and serves as a bridle. They are saddled like horses; and when goaded on move very briskly. They are likewise used in drawing chariots and carts. For the former purpose white oxen are in great esteem, and much admired. They will perform journeys of sixty days, at the rate of from twelve to fifteen leagues a day; and their travelling pace is generally

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Although the buffalo is now common in Greece and tame in Italy, it was not known to either the ancient Greeks or Romans; for this animal had no name in their language.

In its general appearance, the buffalo is so nearly allied to the common ox, that, without an attentive examination, it might readily pass for a variety of the same species; yet, notwithstanding they have so great a resemblance, they are more distinct in their nature than the ass and the horse. The buffalo differs, however, in the form of its horns, and in some points relative to its internal structure, and is somewhat

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superior in size to our common ox: the head is larger in proportion; he possesses a higher forehead and a longer muzzle, yet, at the same time, broad and square. But it is principally the form of the horns which distinguishes this animal: they are large, of a compressed or depressed form, with a sharp exterior edge; they are also nearly straight for a considerable length from their base, and then curve upward. The general colour of the animal is blackish, except the forehead and the tip of the tail, which are of a dusky white.

Buffon says," his flesh is black and hard, and not only disagreeable to the taste, but repugnant to the smell. The milk of the female is not so good as that of the cow, but she yields a greater quantity. In hot countries almost all the cheese is made of buffaloes' milk. The flesh of the young buffaloes, though killed during the suckling time, is not at all better. The hide alone is of more value than all the rest of the animal, whose tongue is the only part that is fit to be eaten."

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Goldsmith, in his "Animated Nature," also records the same worthless qualities as belonging to the flesh of the buffalo; while others, on the contrary, extol it as excellent food.

Bingley, in his " Animal Biography," gives the following account of the buffalo : "The flesh is said to be excellent eating; and it is so free from any disagreeable smell or taste, that it nearly resembles beef. The flesh of the cows, when some time gone with young, is esteemed the finest ; and the young calves are reckoned by the Americans the greatest possible delicacy."

Amidst these conflicting statements, we have considered it a duty we owe our readers to endeavour to set this diserepancy at rest; and we decidedly agree in stating, that the flesh of the buffalo is excellent food, as the testimonies of those persons who have actually killed and partaken of their flesh concur in describing it as being nearly allied in quality to our ox beef. Their hide is firm, light, and almost

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