frequently be seen stationed
on his back, engaged in freeing it from the ticks and other pests which
attach themselves to his leathery hide, the smooth brown surface of
which, unprotected by hair, shines with an unpleasant polish in the
sunlight. When in motion he throws back his clumsy head till the huge
horns rest on his shoulders, and the nose is presented in a line with
the eyes. When wild they are at all times uncertain in disposition, but
so frequently savage that it is never quite safe to approach them, if
disturbed in their pasture or alarmed from their repose in the shallow
lakes. On such occasions they hurry into line, draw up in defensive
array, with a few of the oldest bulls in advance; and, wheeling in
circles, their horns clashing with a loud sound as they clank them
together in their rapid evolutions, the herd betakes itself to flight.
Then forming again at a safer distance, they halt as before, elevating
their nostrils, and throwing back their heads to take a cautious survey
of the intruders. The sportsman rarely molests them, so huge a creature
affording no worthy mark for his skill, and their wanton slaughter
adding nothing to the supply of food for their assailant.

In the Hambangtotte country, where the Singhalese domesticate the
buffaloes, and use them to assist in the labour of the rice lands, the
villagers are much annoyed by the wild ones, which mingle with the tame
when sent out to the woods to pasture; and it constantly happens that a
savage stranger, placing himself at the head of the tame herd, resists
the attempts of the owners to drive them homewards at sunset. In the
districts of Putlam and the Seven Corles, buffaloes are generally used
for draught; and in carrying heavy loads of salt from the coast towards
the interior, they drag a cart over roads which would defy the weaker
strength of bullocks.

In one place between Batticaloa and Trincomalie I found the natives
making an ingenious use of them when engaged in shooting water-fowl in
the vast salt marshes and muddy lakes. Being an object to which the
birds are accustomed, the Singhalese train the buffalo to the sport,
and, concealed behind, the animal browsing listlessly along, they guide
it by ropes attached to its horns, and thus creep undiscovered within
shot of the flock. The same practice prevails, I believe, in some of the
northern parts of India, where they are similarly trained to assist the
sportsman in approaching deer. One of