is always a stream or a pond near, the buffaloes can go into
the water or the mud whenever they like.

So, as you understand, the buffaloes very soon become quite tame. Why?
Because they are treated kindly. Please remember that. _Most wild
animals can be tamed if treated kindly._

Now I am coming to the nicest part about the buffaloes. It is the
nicest part because it shows how the buffaloes can even be made to
love us.

I have just told you that the buffaloes are taken out into the fields
to graze. Well, then, somebody has to do that in the morning, and
somebody has to bring them home in the evening.

Can you tell who does that? Why, there is a herdsman to do it, you may
say. Quite true. But the herdsman does not bother to do a simple thing
like that every day.

_Little Boys Take Charge of Buffaloes_

Then who does it? I shall tell you. The little boys of the village!
They are about five or six years of age. They are not old enough to go
to school, and not old enough to do any work; so they can play all
day.

The most useful thing they can do is to take charge of the buffaloes.
The boys soon learn all the buffalo calls--"Come out to graze," "Come
to wallow," or "Come home now." And the wonderful thing is that these
huge animals soon learn to obey these calls. When the boys call to
them, the buffaloes do just as they are ordered.

The buffaloes soon learn to love the little boys. You know how fond of
us an animal can become--especially a dog or a horse. Still, I do not
think that any animal can show such love for us as the huge buffaloes
do for the little boys who act as their herdsmen.

Why? Because the little boys _share the same mud_ with the buffaloes!
Boys and buffaloes mix very well with mud! The little boys tumble
about in the mud on the side of the bank where the buffaloes may be
wallowing. Or the boys will splash about in the water where the
buffaloes are lying neck deep to keep cool. Or they will climb up on
the buffaloes' backs for a while, then tumble off and play again.

Even when the buffaloes are grazing in the field, the boys may be near
them, playing hide and seek, and running in and out between the
buffaloes' legs, or under their horns. So the boys are with the
buffaloes all day long.

_How the Big Buffaloes Love the Little Boys_

It is quite wonderful to see a little boy actually twisting a huge
buffalo's tail. As I have told you, a buffalo is often more than ten
feet long, and ta