(John Baptist du), a celebrated author and member of the French academy, was born at Beauvais in 1670, and finished his studies at the Sorbonne. In 1695, he was made one of the committee for foreign affairs under Mr Torez; and was afterwards charged with some important transactions in England, Germany, Holland, and Italy. At his return to Paris, he was handsomely preferred, made an abbé, and chosen perpetual secretary of the French academy. He was the author of several excellent works; the principal of which are, 1. Critical reflections upon poetry and painting, 3 vols 12mo. 2. The history of the four Gordians, confirmed and illustrated by medals. 3. A critical history of the establishment of the French monarchy among the Gauls, 2 vols 4to, 4 vols 12mo. He died at Paris on the 23rd of March 1742.

Bos (Lewis Janfien), an esteemed painter, was born at Bois-le-Duc. Having been carefully instructed in the art of painting by the artists of his native city, he applied himself entirely to study after nature, and rendered himself very eminent for the truth of his colouring and the neatness of his handling. His favourite subjects were flowers, and curious plants, which he usually represented as grouped, in glasses, or vases of crystal, half filled with water; and gave them so lovely a look of nature, that it seemed scarcely possible to express them with greater truth or delicacy. It was frequent with this master to represent the drops of dew on the leaves of his objects, which he executed with an uncommon transparency; and embellished his subjects with butterflies, bees, wasps, and other insects, which Sandrart says, were superior to anything of that kind performed by his contemporary artists. He likewise painted portraits with very great success; and showed as much merit in that style as he did in his compositions of still life. He died in 1507.

in zoology, a genus of quadrupeds belonging to the order of pecora. The characters of this genus are are taken from the horns and teeth. The horns are hollow within; and turned forward, in the form of crescents: There are eight fore-teeth in the under jaw, and none in the upper, their place being supplied by a hard membrane; and there are no dog-teeth in either jaw. Linnæus enumerates six species, viz.

I. The taurus, including the bull and cow, has cylindrical horns bent outwards, and loofe dewlaps. The bull, or male, is naturally a fierce and terrible animal. When the cows are in season, he is perfectly invulnerable, and often altogether furious. When chaffed, he has an air of fullen majesty, and oft tears up the ground with his feet and horns. The principal use of the bull is to propagate the species; although he might be trained to labour, his obedience cannot be depended on. A bull, like a stallion, should be the most handsome of his species. He should be large, well-made, and in good heart; he should have a black eye, a fierce aspect, but an open front; a short head; thick, short, and blackish horns, and long shaggy ears; a short and straight nose, large and full breast and shoulders, thick and fleathy neck, firm reins, a straight back, thick fleathy legs, and a long tail well covered with hair. Castration remarkably softens the nature of this animal; it destroys all his fire and impetuosity, and renders him mild and tractable, without diminishing his strength; on the contrary, after this operation, his weight is increased, and he becomes fitter for the purposes of plowing, &c.

The best time for castrating bulls is at the age of puberty, or when they are 18 months or two years old; when performed sooner, they often die. However, it is not uncommon to castrate calves a few days after birth. But such as survive an operation so dangerous to their tender age, generally grow larger and fatter, and have more courage and activity than those who are castrated at the age of puberty. When the operation is delayed till the age of six, seven, or eight years, they lose but few of the qualities of bulls; are much more furious and untractable than other oxen; and when the cows are in season, they go in quest of them with their usual ardour.

The females of all those species of animals which we keep in flocks, and whose increase is the principal object, are much more useful than the males. The cow produces milk, butter, cheese, &c. which are principal articles in our food, and besides answer many useful purposes in various arts. Cows are generally in season, and receive the buff, from the beginning of May to the middle of July. Their time of gestation is nine months, which naturally brings the veal or calves to our markets from the beginning of January to the end of April. However, luxury has fallen upon methods of interrupting this natural course, and veal may be had almost every month in the year. Cows, when improperly managed, are very subject to abortion. In the time of gestation, therefore, they ought to be observed with more than ordinary care, lest they should leap ditches, &c. Neither should they be suffered to draw in the plough or other carriage, which is a practice in some countries. They should be put into the best pasture, and should not be milked for six weeks or two months before they bring forth their young. The calf should be allowed to suck and follow its mother during the first six or eight days. After this it begins to eat pretty well, and two or three sucks in a day will be sufficient. But if the object be to have it quickly fattened for the market, a few raw eggs every day, with boiled milk, and a little bread, will make it excellent veal in four or five weeks. This management of calves applies only to such as are destined for the butcher. When they are intended to be nourished and brought up, they ought to have at least two months suck; because the longer they suck, they grow the stronger and larger. Those that are brought forth in April, May, or June, are the most proper for this purpose; when calved later in the season, they do not acquire sufficient strength to support them during the winter. The cow comes to the age of puberty in 18 months, but the bull requires two years; but although they are capable of propagating at these ages, it is better to restrain them till they be full three years. From three to nine years those animals are in full vigour; but when older, they are fit for nothing but to be fed for the butcher. A milk-cow ought to be chosen young, fleathy, and with a brisk eye.

The heaviest and most bulky animals neither sleep so profoundly, nor so long, as the smaller ones. The sleep of the ox is short and flighty; he wakes at the least noise. He lies generally on the left side, and the kidney of that side is always larger than the other. There is great variety in the colour of oxen. A reddish or black colour is most esteemed. The hair should be glossy, thick, and soft; for when otherwise, the animal is either not in health, or has a weak constitution. The best time for inuring them to labour is at the age of two and a half or three years. The ox eats very quick, and soon fills his first stomach; after which he lies down to ruminate or chew the cud. The first and second stomachs are continuations of the same bag, and very capacious. After the grass has been chewed over again, it is reduced to a kind of malm, not unlike boiled spinach; and under this form it is sent down to the third stomach, where it remains and digests for some time; but the digestion is not fully completed till it comes to the fourth stomach, from which it is thrown down to the guts. The contents of the first and second stomachs are a collection of grass and other vegetables roughly macerated; a fermentation, however, soon commences, which makes the grass swell. The communication between the second and third stomach is by an opening much smaller than the gullet, and not sufficient for the passage of the food in this state. Whenever then the two first stomachs are distended with food, they begin to contract, or rather perform a kind of reaction. This reaction compresses the food, and makes it endeavour to get out: now the gullet being larger than the passage between the second and third stomachs, the pressure of the stomach necessarily forces it up the gullet. The action of rumination, however, appears to be in a great measure voluntary; as animals of this kind have a power of increasing the reaction of their stomachs. After the food undergoes a second maceration, it is then reduced into a thin pulp, which easily passes from the second to the third stomach, where it is still further macerated; from thence it passes to the fourth, where it is reduced to a perfect mucilage, every way prepared for being taken up by the lacteals, and converted into nourishment. What confirms this account of chewing the cud is, that as long as these animals suck or feed upon liquid aliment, they never ruminate; and in the winter, when they are obliged to feed upon hay and other dry victuals, they ruminate more than when they feed upon fresh grass.

Bulls, cows, and oxen, are fond of licking themselves, especially when lying at rest. But this practice should be prevented as much as possible; for as the hair is an undigestible substance, it lies in the stomach or guts, and is gradually coated by a glutinous substance, which in time hardens into round stones of considerable bulk, which sometimes kills them, but always prevents their fattening, as the stomach is rendered incapable of digesting the food so well as it ought.

The age of these animals may be distinguished by the teeth and horns. The first fore-teeth fall out at the age of six months, and are succeeded by others of a darker colour, and broader. At the end of fifteen months, the next milk-teeth likewise fall out; and at the beginning of the fourth year all the fore-teeth are renewed, and then they are long, pretty white, and equal: However, as the animal advances in years, they become unequal and blackish. The horns of oxen four years of age are small pointed, neat, and smooth, but thickest near the head; this thick part next nearest is pushed further from the head by a horny cylinder, which is also terminated by another swelling part, and so on (for as long as the ox lives, the horns continue to grow); and these swellings become so many annular knots by which the age may easily be reckoned: But from the point to the first knot must be counted three years, and every succeeding knot only one year. The bull, cow, and ox, generally live about fourteen or fifteen years.

Ox-beef is very nourishing, and yields a strong aliment; the flesh of a cow, when well fatted and young, is not much inferior. Bull-beef is hard, tough, and dry; for which reason it is not much used for food. Veal is well tasted, easy of digestion, and rather keeps the body open than otherwise.

The northern countries of Europe produce the best cattle of this kind. In general, they bear cold better than heat; for this reason they are not so plenty in the southern countries. There are but few in Asia to the south of Armenia, or in Africa beyond Egypt and Barbary. America produced none till they were carried there by the Europeans. But the largest are to be met with in Denmark, Podolia, the Ukraine, and among the Calmuck Tartars; likewise those of Ireland, England, Holland, and Hungary, are much larger than those of Persia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Spain; but those of Barbary are least of all. In all mountainous countries, as Wales, the Highlands of Scotland, &c., the black cattle are small; but hardy, and when fattened make excellent beef. In Lapland, they are mostly white, and many of them want horns.

The British breed of cattle, Mr Pennant observes, has in general been so much improved by foreign mixture, that it is difficult to point out the original kind of these islands. Those which may be supposed to have been originally British are far inferior in size to those on the northern part of the European continent: the cattle of the Highlands of Scotland are exceedingly small; and many of them, males as well as females, are hornless: the Welsh runts are much larger: the black cattle of Cornwall are of the same size with the last. The large species that is now cultivated through most parts of Great Britain, are either entirely of foreign extraction, or our own improved by a cross with the foreign kind. The Lincolnshire kind derive their size from the Holstein breed; and the large hornless cattle that are bred in some parts of England, come originally from Poland.

About 250 years ago, there was found in Scotland a wild race of cattle, which were of a pure white colour, and had, if we may believe Boethius, manes like lions. Mr Pennant says, he cannot but give credit to the relation; having seen in the woods of Drumlanrig in North Britain, and in the park belonging to Chillingham cattle in Northumberland, herds of cattle probably derived from the savage breed. They had lost their manes, but retained their colour and fierceness; they were of a middle size, long legged, and had black muzzles and ears; their horns fine, and with a bold and elegant bend.—The keeper of those at Chillingham said, that the weight of the ox was 38 stones; of the cow, 28: that their hides were more esteemed by the tanners than those of the tame; and they would give sixpence per stone more for them. These cattle were wild as any deer; on being approached, they would instantly take to flight, and gallop away at full speed; never mix with the tame species; nor come near the house, unless constrained to it by hunger in very severe weather. When it is necessary to kill any, they are always shot: if the keeper only wounds the beast, he must take care to keep behind some tree, or his life would be in danger from the furious attacks of the animal, which will never desist till a period is put to its life.

Frequent mention is made of our savage cattle by historians. One relates, that Robert Bruce was (in chafing these animals) preserved from the rage of a wild bull by the intrepidity of one of his courtiers, from which he and his lineage acquired the name of Turn-bull. Fitz Stephen * names these animals (uri sylvestres) among those that harboured in the great forest that in his time lay adjacent to London. Another preserved enumerates, among the provisions at the great feast of Leland's Nevil archbishop of York, five wild bulls; and Sibbald affirms us, that in his days a wild and white species was found in the mountains of Scotland, but agreeing in form with the common sort. These were probably the same with the bifontes jubati of Pliny found then in Germany, and might have been common to the continent and our islands; the loss of their savage vigour by confinement might occasion some change in the external appearance, as is frequent with wild animals deprived of liberty; and to that we may ascribe their loss of mane. The urus of the Hercynian forest described by Caesar (lib. vi.) was of this kind; the same which is called by the modern Germans, aurechs, i.e. bov sylvestris.

The ox is the only horned animal in these islands that will apply his strength to the service of mankind. It is now generally allowed, that, in the draught, oxen are in many cases more profitable than horses; their food, harness, and shoes, being cheaper; and should they be lamed or grow old, an old working beast will be as good meat, and fatten as well, as a young one.

There is scarce any part of this animal without its The blood, fat, marrow, hide, hair, horns, hoofs, milk, cream, butter, cheese, whey, urine, liver, gall, spleen, bones, and dung, have each their particular use in manufactures, commerce, and medicine.

The skin has been of great use in all ages. The ancient Britons, before they knew a better method, built their boats with oars, and covered them with the hides of bulls, which served them for short coaling voyages.

Primum cara salix madefacta vimine parvum Textur in puppis, ex quo indutajuvente, Vestoris patiens, tumidum super emicat amorem: Sic Venetii flagrante Pado, fugoque Britannus Navigat oceano. Lucan. lib. iv. 131.

The bending willow into barks they twine; Then line the work with spoils of slaughter'd kine. Such are the floats Venetian fishers know, When in dull marshes stands the settling Po; On such to neigh'ring Gaul, allur'd by gain, The bolder Britons crofs the swelling main.

Rowe.

Vessels of this kind are full in use on the Irish lakes; and on the Dee and Severn: In Ireland they are called curach; in English, coracle; from the British curragh, a word signifying a boat of that structure. At present the hide, when tanned and curried, serves for boots, shoes, and numberless other conveniences of life.—Vellum is made of the thinest calve-skins, and the skins of abortions. Of the horns are made combs, boxes, handles for knives, and drinking vessels; and when softened by water, obeying the manufacturer's hands, they form pellucid lamina for the sides of lanthorns. These last conveniences were invented by the great king Alfred, who first used them to preserve his candle time-measurers from the wind; or (as other writers will have it) the tapers that were set up before the relics in the miserable tattered churches of that time. The very smallest fragments, and even the dust and filing, of horn, are found very serviceable in manuring cold lands. The matter lying within, on which the horn is formed, is called the flough; and, when dry, is used in making walls or fences, in which, covered from wet, it will last a long time. It is also most admirable in mending roads, where the soil is soft and spewy; for, dissolving, it becomes a glutinous substance, that binds amazingly with gravel. As a manure, they allow between two and three quarter-facks to an acre. Horn saw-dust with mould is an excellent compost for flowers. It is also of use in hardening, and giving what is called a proper temper, to metals. In medicine, horns were employed as alexipharmics or antidotes against poison, the plague, or the smallpox; they have been dignified with the title of English bazaar, and are said to have been found to answer the end of the oriental kind.

The teguments, cartilages, and gristles, for the indifferent,—and, for the finer, all the cuttings, parings, and scrapes of hides,—are boiled in water, till the gelatinous parts of them are thoroughly dissolved; and the mass, properly dried, becomes glue. See Glue.

The bones are used by mechanics where ivory is too expensive; by which the common people are served with many neat conveniences at an easy rate. From the tibia and carpus bones is procured an oil much used by coach-makers and others in dressing and cleaning harness, and all trappings belonging to a coach; and the bones calcined afford a fit matter for tests for the use of the refiner in the melting trade. The blood is used as an excellent manure for fruit-trees, and is the basis of that fine colour the Prussian blue. The sinews are prepared so as to become a kind of thread or small cord, used in sewing saddles, in making racquets, and other things of a like nature. The hair hath also its value, and is employed in many different ways. The long hair of the tail is frequently mixed with horse-hair spun into ropes, and sometimes wove. The short hair serves to stuff saddles, seats of several kinds, mattresses, and chairs. The refuse is a good manure, and operates more speedily than the horns. The fat, tallow, and suet, furnish us with light; and are also used to precipitate the salt that is drawn from briny springs. The gall, liver, spleen, and urine, had also their place in the materia medica, though they have now resigned it to more efficacious and agreeable medicines. The uses of butter, cheese, cream, and milk, in domestic economy, and the excellence of the latter in furnishing a palatable nutriment for most people whose organs of digestion are weakened, are too obvious to be insisted on.

II. The bison has a long mane; its horns are bent round towards the cheek, and are not above a span long. It is about the size of a large bull, and is a native of Africa and Asia. When enraged, he throws out his dung upon dogs or other animals that annoy him; the dung has a kind of caustic quality, which burns the hair off any animal it falls upon.

III. The bison has short black rounded horns, with a great interval between their bases. On the shoulders is a vast hunch, consisting of a fleshy substance, much elevated. The fore-parts of the body are thick and strong; the hind-part, slender and weak. The hunch and head are covered with a very long undulated fleece, divided into locks, of a dull rust-colour: this is at times so long, as to make the fore-part of the animal of a shapeless appearance, and to obscure its sense of seeing. During winter, the whole body is clothed in the same manner. In summer the hind part of the body is naked, wrinkled, and dusty. The tail is about a foot long; at the end is a tuft of black hairs, the rest naked. It inhabits Mexico and the interior parts of North America. It is found in great herds in the Savannas; and is fond of marshy places, where it lodges amidst the high reeds. In Louisiana they are seen feeding in herds innumerable, promiscuously with multitudes of flags and deer, during morning and evening; retiring in the sultry heats into the shade of tall reeds, which border the rivers of America. They are exceedingly shy; and very fearful of man, unless they are wounded, when they pursue their enemy, and become very dangerous.

The chase of these animals is a favourite diversion of the Indians; and is effected in two ways. First, by shooting; when the marksman must take great care to go against the wind; for their smell is so exquisite, that the moment they get scent of him they instantly retire with the utmost precipitation. He aims at their shoulders, that they may drop at once, and not be irritated by an ineffectual wound. Provided the wind does not favour the beasts, they may be approached very near, being blinded by the hair which... which covers their eyes.—The other method is performed by a great number of men, who divide and form a vast square: each band sets fire to the dry grass of the savannah where the herds are feeding; these animals having a great dread of fire which they see approach on all sides, they retire from it to the centre of the square; when the bands close and kill them (pressed together in heaps) without the least hazard. It is pretended, that on every expedition of this nature they kill 1500 or 2000 beves. The hunting-grounds are prefcribed with great form, lest the different bands should meet and interfere in the diversion. Penalties are enacted on such who infringe the regulations, as well as on those who quit their posts and suffer the beasts to escape from the hollow squares; the punishments are, the stripping the delinquents, the taking away their arms (which is the greatest disgrace a savage can undergo), or lastly the demolition of their cabins.

The uses of these animals are various. Powder-flasks are made of their horns. The skins are very valuable; in old times the Indians made of them the best targets. When dressed, they form an excellent buff; the Indians dress them with the hair on, and clothe themselves with them; the Europeans of Louisiana use them for blankets, and find them light, warm, and soft. The flesh is a considerable article of food, and the bunch on the back is esteemed a very great delicacy. The bulls become excessively fat, and yield great quantities of tallow, 150 pounds weight having been got from a single beast, which forms a considerable matter of commerce. These over-fed animals usually become the prey of wolves; for, by reason of their great unwieldiness, they cannot keep up with the herd. The Indians, by a very bad policy, prefer the flesh of the cows; which in time will destroy the species: they complain of the rankness of that of the bulls; but Du Pratz thinks the last much more tender, and that the rankness might be prevented by cutting off the testicles as soon as the beast is killed. The hair or wool is spun into cloth, gloves, stockings, and garters, which are very strong, and look as well as those made of the best sheep's wool; Governor Pownall affirms us, that the most luxurious fabric might be made of it. The fleece of one of these animals has been found to weigh eight pounds.

Their sagacity in defending themselves against the attacks of wolves is admirable. When they scent the approach of a drove of those ravenous creatures, the herd flings itself into the form of a circle: the weakest keep in the middle; the strongest are ranged on the outside, presenting to the enemy an impenetrable front of horns: should they be taken by surprise, and have recourse to flight, numbers of the fattest or the weakest are sure to perish. Attempts have been made to tame and domesticate the wild, by catching the calves and bringing them up with the common kind, in hopes of improving the breed; but it has not yet been found to answer; notwithstanding they had the appearance for a time of having lost their savage nature, yet they always grew impatient of restraint, and by reason of their great strength would break down the strongest inclosure, and entice the tame cattle into the corn-fields. They have been known to engender together, and to breed.

Vol. III. Part II.

a. The musk-ox of Hudson's bay, a variety of this species, wants the hump between the shoulders. It is about the size of a Scotch bullock; has a thick body, and short legs. The horns are large, and very remarkable: they are united at their origin in the skull; but immediately after, they fall down on each side of the crown of the head, then taper away small, the points turning up. The hair is black, and grows to a great length; underneath which is a fine wool superior to Vigonia wool. The male only has the curious scalp; the female is covered with hair. These animals frequent the country about 100 miles inwards to the north-west of Churchill river in Hudson's bay, where they are very numerous. They live in herds of 30, 40, and upwards to the number of 80 or 100. The bulls are very few in proportion to the cows: for, according to Mr Graham's information, it is rare to see more than two or three full-grown bulls with the largest herd; and from the number of males which at times are found dead, the Indians are of opinion that they kill each other in contending for the females at the rutting season. They are then so jealous of their mistresses, that they run at either man or beast who offers to approach them, and have been seen to run and bellow even at ravens and other large birds which chance to fly or light near them. They go to rut in August. The females bring forth their young about the latter end of May or beginning of June, and are never known to have more than one at a time. They delight most in the mountainous parts of the barren grounds, and are seldom found at any great distance through the woods. Though a beast of considerable magnitude and apparently unwieldy form, yet it climbs the rocks with great ease and agility; and is nearly as sure-footed as a goat, and like that animal will feed on anything: for though they seem fondest of grass, yet in winter they eat moss and any other herbage they can find; also the tops of the willows and the brush of the pine-tree. The flesh of this animal no ways resembles that of the western buffalo; but is more like that of the moose or elk, the fat being of a clear white slightly tinged with a light azure. The calves and young heifers are exceeding good eating; but the flesh of the bulls both smell and taste too strong of musk, as to render it very disagreeable. It seems to have been from want of better information, that Mr Drage asserts the heart to be the most impregnated: had he said the kidneys, he would have been much nearer the truth. The urine must contain this scent in a very great degree: for the penis is always lubricated with a brown gummy substance, so highly scented with musk, that after having been kept for several years it does not seem to have lost any of its quality. The dung of this animal (though so large) is all in little round knobs; and so exactly like that of the varying hare both in size and colour, that it would be very easy to mistake the one for the other, were it not for the quantity. The Indians kill great numbers of them. From 2000 to 4000 weight of the flesh frozen is brought to Prince of Wales's fort annually, and is served out as provisions to the Europeans. See the figures, Plate CI.

b. The Cape Buffalo, or Bos Caffer of Sparrman, another variety, inhabits the interior parts of Africa north of the Cape of Good Hope, but does not extend to the north of the Tropic. They are said to be greatly superior in size to the largest English ox: hang their heads down, and have a most ferocious and malevolent appearance. They are in fact excessively fierce and dangerous to travellers; will lie quietly in wait in the woods, and rush suddenly on passengers, and trample them, their horses, and oxen of draught, under their feet: so that they are to be shunned as the most cruel beasts of this country. They will even return to the attack, and delight to lick the slaughtered bodies. They are prodigiously swift, and to strong, that a young one of three years of age, being placed with five tame oxen in a waggon, could not by their united force be moved from the spot. They are also found in the interior parts of Guinea; but are so fierce and dangerous, that the negroes who are in charge of other animals are fearful of shooting at them.

The lion, which can break the back of the strongest domestic oxen at one blow, cannot kill this species, except by leaping on its back, and suffocating it by fixing its talons about its nose and mouth. The lion often perishes in the attempt; but leaves the marks of its fury about the mouth and nose of the beast. They live in great herds, especially in Krake-Kamma, and other deserts of the Cape; and retire during the day into the thick forests. They are reckoned good meat by the Dutch of the Cape. They are called *Aurochs*, but differ totally from the European. The warmth of the climate has prevented the vast length and abundance of hair which distinguishes the former, and the luxuriance of herbage in this country has given it the vast superiority of size.

Of this animal we have the following account by Dr Sparrman, who was the first who gave a distinct delineation and description of it. Describing the death of one that was shot, he informs us, that "immediately after the report of the gun, the buffalo fell upon its knees; that he afterwards, however, raised himself up, and ran seven or eight hundred paces into a thicket; and directly upon this, with a most dreadful bellowing, gave us to understand that it was all over with him. All this together formed a spectacle, which most sportsmen would have been highly delighted to have been present at. This creature, as well as most of the larger kind of game, was shot by a Hottentot. Even some of the best huntmen among the farmers are obliged, for the most part, to make use of Hottentots by way of bush-hunters; as in their skin cloaks they do not excite the attention of the wild beasts so much as the Europeans do in their dress. They are likewise ready at any time when there is occasion for it, to go barefoot, and crawl softly upon their bellies, till they come within a proper distance of the animal. Moreover, when the buffalo at length is irritated, the Hottentots can much easier escape from the danger which threatens them than a Christian. I myself, on another occasion, saw two Hottentots run with amazing swiftness when a buffalo was in pursuit of them. It was not without the greatest discontent on the part of my Hottentots that I made a draught and took the dimensions of this buffalo; thus preventing them, in the mean while, from falling aboard of the flesh. Neither did they afterwards delay one moment to cut a few slices off and broil them. They likewise laid two bones on the fire to broil, for the sake of the marrow. After this they began to take out the entrails, which, according to the testimony of my Hottentots, perfectly resembled those of an ox: the buffalo's, however, are much larger, and take up more room, and indeed gave us no little trouble in clearing them away; for the diameter of this creature's body was full three feet.

"Upon the whole, the size of the buffalo was as follows: the length eight feet, the height five and a half, and the fore legs two feet and a half long; the larger hoofs were five inches over; from the tip of the muzzle to the horns was twenty-two inches. This animal in shape, as may be seen in the plate, very much resembled the common ox; but the buffalo has much flouter limbs, in proportion to its height and length. Their fetlocks hang likewise nearer to the ground. The horns are singular, both in their form and position: the bases of them are 13 inches broad, and are only an inch distance from each other; by which means, there is formed between them a narrow channel or furrow, in a great measure bare of hair. Measuring them from this furrow, the horns rise up in a spherical form, with an elevation of three inches at most. In this way they extend over a great part of the head, viz. from the nape of the neck to the distance of three and a half inches from the eyes; so that the part from which they grow out, does not occupy a space of less than 18 or 20 inches in circumference. From hence bending down on each side of the neck, and becoming more cylindrical by degrees, they each of them form a curve, the convex part of which is turned towards the ground, and the point up in the air; which, however, at the same time is generally inclined backwards. The distance between the points of the horns is frequently above five feet; the colour of them is black; and the surface, to within about a third part of them, measured from the base, is very rough and craggy, with cavities sometimes an inch deep. Neither these cavities, nor the elevations which are formed between them, appear to be at all accidental, as there is a tolerable similarity between these excrescences, though they are very different in different buffaloes. The ears are a foot in length, somewhat pendant, and in a great measure covered and defended by the lower edges of the horns. The edges of the ears are notched and shrivelled up in divers ways, which probably proceeds from the wounds these creatures frequently receive in their battles with each other, and from the rents they get in the briars and almost impenetrable thickets through which they pass, together with other casualties of that nature: Though several Hottentots have been induced from thence to imagine, that the buffaloes belonged to certain supernatural beings, who marked these animals in this manner for their own cattle. By way of naming these beings to me, they made use of the word *duyvel*, which means devil.

"The hairs of the buffalo are of a dark brown colour, about an inch long; harsh; and on such males as are advanced in years, very thin, especially on the middle of the sides of the belly; hence they appear at some distance as if they were girt with a belt; and what contributes not a little to this appearance is, that the buffaloes in general are very fond of rolling in the mire. The hairs on the knees are in most buffaloes somewhat longer than those on the rest of the body, and lie as it were in whirls. The eyes are somewhat funk..." funk within their prominent orbits. This, together with the near situation of them to the bales of the horns, which hang somewhat over its pendant dangling ears, and its usual method of holding its head inclined to one side, gives the buffalo a fierce and treacherous aspect. The disposition likewise of the animal seems to correspond with its countenance. He may in some sort be called treacherous, as he is wont to hide himself among the trees, and stand there skulking till somebody happens to come very near him, when he rushes out at once into the road, and attacks them. This animal likewise deserves the appellation of fierce and cruel; as it has been remarked, that, not content with throwing down and killing the person whom he attacks, he stands over him afterwards, in order to trample upon him with his hoofs and heels, at the same time crushing him with his knees, and with his horns and teeth tearing to pieces and mangling the whole body, and stripping off the skin by licking it with his tongue. This, however, he does not do all at once, but at intervals, going away between whiles to some distance off. Notwithstanding all this, the buffalo will bear to be hunted; though sometimes he will turn and hunt his pursuer, whose only dependence in that case is upon the swiftness of his feet. The surest way to escape from him is to ride up some hill, as the great bulk of the buffalo's body, like that of the elephant, is a weight sufficient to prevent him from being able to vie with the slender and fine limbed horse in swiftness; though, on the other hand, the buffalo, in going down-hill, gets on much faster than the horse; a fact to which I have more than once been an eyewitness.

"The flesh of the buffalo is coarse and not very fat, but full of juice, and of a high and not disagreeable flavour. The hide is thick and tough, and is in great request with the farmers for thongs and harnesses. Of it we made the only halters that can be depended upon for securing our horses and oxen; so that these beasts cannot get loose by snapping them asunder, which they are otherwise apt to do when the lions and wolves make their appearance in the neighbourhood. Every such halter should be a finger and a half in breadth and about three yards long, and are sold a good way up in the country for a quarter of a rixdollar a-piece.

"The hide of the buffalo we had now shot, after it had been dressed in some sort by my Hottentots, by being stretched out and salted a little, and afterwards half dried, served to make a pair of new four-plaited traces for my waggon. We observed, that the ball had hit the lower part of the neck, and entered the lungs; where, though it did not seem to have struck against any bone, and though it was alloyed with the usual quantity of tin, it was yet found to be pretty much flattened. In other buffaloes that we shot since, I have sometimes found the balls, though alloyed with tin, shivered into several pieces against the bones in the internal parts, or at least very much flattened. It is not, therefore, worth while to set about shooting the buffalo with balls made of lead only, for they will seldom be able to penetrate into those parts where they are likely to prove mortal. Besides being possessed of the degree of hardness requisite, a ball should be of a tolerable size, in order to kill so large an animal as the buffalo. The least that ought to be used for this purpose should weigh two ounces and a quarter.

"My Hottentots showed so much diligence and zeal both in cutting up and eating this beast, that the encouragement and stimulation which is otherwise frequently necessary to set their sluggish and heavy souls in motion, would on this occasion have been quite superfluous. They drove the waggon then up to the place where the beast lay, and loaded it with the best and fattest part of the flesh. The raw hide, which was of considerable weight and extent, was tied under the waggon till it should be wanted, and the two remaining legs or marrow-bones were fastened to each side of the body of the waggon. Notwithstanding this, our Bochies-men had each of them loaded themselves with a quantity of slips of flesh made up into bundles. Thus covered up to the eyes and ears in meat, we made a singular appearance, which might have given any traveller who had happened to pass that way the idea of a walking flesh-market. As we proceeded on our journey, a swarm of other carnivorous animals in a considerable number, viz. eagles, falcons, and common hawks, were soon afterwards to occupy our places about the buffalo's remains; though we saw none of them either in the trees or flying about in the air till we had got to the distance of a few gun-shots from the spot."

Another hunt of this formidable animal he afterwards describes as follows: "There was now again a great scarcity of meat in the waggon; for which reason my Hottentots began to grumble, and reminded me that we ought not to waste so much of our time in looking after insects and plants, but give a better look out after the game. At the same time they pointed to a neighbouring dale over-run with wood, at the upper edge of which, at the distance of a mile and a quarter from the spot where we then were, they had seen several buffaloes. Accordingly we went thither; but though our fatigue was lessened by our Hottentots carrying our guns for us up a hill, yet we were quite out of breath and overcome by the heat of the sun before we got up to it. Yet, what even now appears to me a matter of wonder is, that as soon as we had got a glimpse of the game, all this languor left us in an instant. In fact, we each of us strove to fire before the other, so that we seemed entirely to have lost sight of all prudence and caution. When we advanced to within twenty or thirty paces of the beast, and consequently were perhaps likewise in some degree actuated by our fears, we discharged our pieces pretty nearly at the same time; while the buffalo, which was upon rather lower ground than we were, behind a thin scambling bush, seemed to turn his head round in order to make towards us. In the mean while, however, the moment we had discharged our guns, we had the pleasure to see him fall, and directly afterwards run down into the thickest part of the wood. This induced us to hope that our shot had proved mortal; for which reason, we had the imprudence to follow him down into the close thickets, where luckily for us we could get no farther. We had, however, as we found afterwards, only hit the hindmost part of the chine, where the balls, which lay at the distance of three inches from each other, had been shivered to pieces against the bones. In the mean while our temerity, which chiefly proceeded from hurry and ignorance, was considered by the Hottentots as a proof of spirit and intrepidity hardly to be equalled; on which account, from that instant they ever after appeared to entertain an infinitely higher opinion of our courage than they had ever done before. Several of our Hottentots now came to us, and threw stones down into the dale, though without success, in order to find out by the bellowings of the beast whither he had retired: afterwards, however, he seemed to have plucked up his courage; for he came up at last out of the dale of his own accord to the skirts of the wood, and placed himself so as to have a full view of us on the spot where we were resting ourselves somewhat higher up: his intention was, in all probability, and in the opinion of our old sportmen, to revenge himself on us, if we had not happened to see him in time, and fired at him directly. What, perhaps, in some measure put a stop to his boldness was, that we stood on higher ground than he did: for several veteran sportmen have assured me of it as a fact, that they know from experience, that the buffaloes do not willingly venture to ascend any hill or eminence in order to attack any one. The third shot, which afterwards was observed to have entered at the belly, was fatal. This occasioned the buffalo to take himself down again into the vale, dying the ground and bushes all the way he went with his blood. Though still hot upon the chase, yet we advanced with the greatest caution, accompanied by two of our Hottentots, thro' the thin and more pervious part of the wood, where the buffalo had taken refuge. He was advancing again in order to attack some of us, when Mr Immelman, from the place where he was posted, shot him in the lungs. Notwithstanding this, he had still strength enough left to make a circuit of a hundred and fifty paces, before we heard him fall: during his fall, and before he died, he bellowed in a most stupendous manner; and this death-song of his inspired every one of us with joy, on account of the victory we had gained: and so thoroughly steeled is frequently the human heart against the sufferings of the brute creation, that we halted forwards, in order to enjoy the pleasure of seeing the buffalo struggle with the pangs of death. I happened to be the foremost amongst them; but think it impossible for anguish, accompanied by a savage fierceness, to be painted in stronger colours than they were in the countenance of this buffalo. I was within ten steps of him when he perceived me, and bellowing raised himself suddenly again on his legs. I had reason to believe since, that I was at the time very much frightened; for before I could well take my aim, I fired off my gun, and the shot missed the whole of his huge body, and only hit him in the hind legs, as we afterwards discovered by the size of the ball. Immediately upon this I flew away like lightning; in order to look out for some tree to climb up into. Notwithstanding the tedious prolixity it might occasion me to be guilty of, I thought the best and readiest method of giving my reader an idea of the nature of this animal, and of the method of hunting it, as well as of other contingent circumstances, would be to adduce an instance or two of what occurred during the chase. My Hottentots cut up the buffalo with their usual alacrity and ardour; but as they had a great way to carry the flesh to the waggon, they took it thither in a rather unusual way. This was as follows: they cut out large lips of flesh, whole and entire, with holes in the middle, wide enough for them to put their heads and arms through, and loaded themselves with it in this manner before, behind, and on every side of them; the meat all the while dangling about their bodies in a manner ludicrous enough, though not much adapted to create an appetite in the spectator. In this way, their hands being entirely disengaged, excepting that each man carried a stick, they clambered up the brow of the hill that overhung the vale, and thus walked on towards the waggon, whither one might trace them all the way by the blood.

IV. The grunniens, or hog-cow, has cylindrical horns bent backwards. The body is so hairy, that the hair hangs down upon its knees like a goat. The colour of the body is black, but the front is white. It has bristles on its back, tail, and hind-legs, and it grunts like an hog. It is an inhabitant of the north of Asia.

A variety of this species is the Indian ox, with a vast hump on the shoulders. They differ much in size and in the form of their horns. Some are very large, and of a reddish colour; with horns short, and bending close to the neck; others very small, with horns almost upright, bending a little forward. In Surat is a minute kind not bigger than a great dog, which have a very fierce look, and are used to draw children in small carts. In Celebes is a small species not bigger than a middle-sized sheep, called Anoa, very fierce and wild, of a dark ash-colour, inhabiting the rocks. Mr Loten, when in India, put some of them into a paddock, and in one night's time they killed 14 or 15 of his deer by ripping up their bellies.

V. The bubalus, or common buffalo, has large black horns bent backward and inward, and plain before. The hair on the back is very hard, but thinly scattered over the body. It is a native of Asia; but they are tamed in Italy, and used for the same purposes as black cattle in other countries. They draw carriages, and are guided by a rope tied to a string thrust through their noses. This buffalo is larger than an ox, has a thicker body, and a very hard hide. His pace is slow; but he will carry a great burden. They feed in herds like cows; and yield plenty of milk, of which very good butter and cheese is made. Their flesh is pretty good, but not to be compared to beef. The wild buffalo is a very fierce and dangerous animal; he often attacks travellers, and tears them in pieces. However, they are not so much to be feared in woods as in the plains, because their horns, which are sometimes ten feet long, are apt to be entangled in the branches of trees, which gives those who are surprised by them time to escape. They are excellent swimmers, and will cross the largest rivers without any difficulty. They run wild in great troops on the coast of Malabar; for which reason strangers are allowed to hunt and kill them at pleasure.

VI. The indicus, or little Indian buffalo, has horns shorter than its ears, a bunch on its back, and no mane. It is about the size of a calf six months old, and used in the East Indies for drawing coaches.

in antiquity, was peculiarly used for an ancient Greek silver coin, which was didrachmus, or equivalent to two drachms. It was so called as having on it the impression of an ox, and chiefly obtained among the Athenians and Delians; being sometimes allo truck of gold. From this arose the phrase Bos in lin- gua, applied to those who had taken bribes to hold their tongue.