And as the country is hot, they may want to drink more than once in the day.
Still, there is another reason why they like to be near water. Can you tell what it is?
"To bathe in the water, when it is hot," you may say.
That is quite true; the buffaloes do enjoy a good bath. In fact, they like to remain in the water for a long time, when the sun is very hot. Then they lie down in the shallow part, and remain neck deep in the water. And every now and again they dip their heads in the water to keep them cool.
But even when the sun is not at all hot, when the sky is cloudy, the buffaloes like to go into a stream or a pond. Why?
"Of course to wash themselves, and make themselves clean," you may say.
No, my dear, you are wrong this time! Like some little boys, buffaloes do not want to make themselves clean! In fact, the buffaloes go into the stream or the pond to cover themselves with mud! To wallow, as it is called. They do that by rolling in the mud where the water is shallow.
And why do they want to cover themselves with mud? Because of the tormenting flies! Buffaloes of this kind do not have long hair on their necks, like the American buffaloes. In fact, they do not have much hair anywhere on their bodies—just like the ordinary cows which you have seen near your home. So they are very much tormented by the flies.
I have told you that an elephant can "swat" the flies with a bough which he holds in his trunk. But the buffalo has no trunk, and his tail can whisk off the flies for only a yard around. So, what can the buffalo do to guard other parts of his body from the flies?
The only thing he can do is to go down into the mud, roll about, and cover himself with the mud. Then he does not feel the flies at all, even if they swarm all over him. And he need not trouble to work his tail at all, as he is protected all over by the mud.
And when he comes out to feed again, if the sun happens to be very hot at that time, he does not mind it. Why? Because the mud on his body keeps off the sun. So, you see, the mud is useful to the buffalo in two ways.
But now come with me into the jungle while I show you all that the buffaloes do.
You must imagine that I am taking you quietly through the jungle, where the buffalo herd is grazing right ahead of us. We are following them from behind. You must be careful not to make a sound. If you should tread on a rotten twig, the buffaloes would hear the sound as far away as a quarter of a mile.
In another book I shall tell you why all animals that keep their ears close to the ground while they are feeding can hear a sound a long way off.
But now let us hide behind this bush for a minute, and watch the herd. They are eating the grass as they walk along. But do you see the wonderful way in which they are arranged? It is just like the shape of the moon when it is new, that is, something like the letter C, and which we call a crescent.
You saw at the midnight pool that, when the buffaloes drink or march, they are in rows close together, like soldiers. But when they are eating grass, they could not be in rows; because then they would be too close together to pick out the best bits of grass. So, how could they have enough to eat, and yet guard themselves from danger? To do this they thought of arranging themselves in the form of a crescent.
It is a big crescent, as there are so many buffaloes that make it up. The ends of the crescent bend in toward each other, just as if the two tips of the letter C were to close up a little, leaving only a small opening between the tips.
The buffaloes have their faces toward the outside of the crescent. So, as we are following the buffaloes from behind, we are looking at them through the gap between the tips.
There are only bulls in the line making up the crescent; the cows and the calves come behind them, so that they are inside the crescent. So you see, while the buffaloes are grazing and moving along, if they meet any danger, the Papa buffaloes will face the danger. And as the Mammas and the children are inside the crescent, they are quite safe.
This is the way the buffaloes feed and move along:
The Papas on the outside of the crescent tear off a mouthful of grass, with one or two bites, and walk on a step or two while they are munching the mouthful. Then, with another bite or two, they take a fresh mouthful and walk on a step or two while they are munching that. In this way they leave enough grass for the Mammas and the young buffaloes that are following them.
But now let us come out of this thicket, and go after the herd very quietly from behind. We shall see some wonderful things.
You notice at once that the Mammas and the children do not show any fear at all, as they graze along; they are quite sure that the Papas are taking good care of them all the time. The little ones even play about here and there.
See that very young calf! He is playing about near the middle of the space. He is only a few weeks old, and not much bigger than the calf of the ordinary cow. Watch and see how playful he is! He is just like any other calf. His Mamma is grazing along quietly, and he is now standing still for a minute, looking at nothing. A calf and a baby can do that quite well—just stare, and yet look at nothing.
But now this buffalo calf rushes to his Mamma very suddenly, and has a mouthful of milk. He does not seem to want more than a mouthful at a time. So he looks up suddenly, and stares. Then just as suddenly he plunges into a frantic race over the ground, all by himself.
The race also ends suddenly—after going only ten yards. Then he stops there for a minute, stares, and trots back to his Mamma for another mouthful of milk. After that he looks up again for a minute, stares at nothing, and plunges into another mad gallop all by himself.
So you see that he spends his time doing two things—having a mouthful of milk, and then a mad gallop. And he does both very suddenly. He likes to have his joys suddenly.
A kitten or a puppy dog is different, and is nearly always doing something. It tumbles head over heels, or chases its own tail, or keeps frisking about in some way or other most of the time. But the buffalo calf is not like this; and when you see him standing quite still, staring at nothing, you can never tell whether he is going to be hungry for a mouthful of milk the next minute, or whether he is going to break into a frantic race.
But, you may ask, while he and all the other calves are playing about like that, is there no danger?
No, there is no danger, for the Papas are taking good care of the Mammas and the children, as I have told you before.
But, you may say, the Papas do not seem to be doing anything; they are just feeding and moving along. Then how are they taking care of the Mammas and the children?
Yes, but look carefully! See how close the horn of one Papa is to the horn of the next one! Why, there is not more than a couple of yards between the two! If there were any sudden danger, it would not take more than two or three steps for them to close up, and stand horn to horn.
"But how could they know if any danger were coming?" you may still ask.
They could know it in three ways: they could smell the danger, or hear it, or see it. I shall tell you how they do all that.
First, if the danger came from the direction in which the wind was blowing, they would sniff the air, and so smell the danger. If the danger were a tiger, the buffaloes could smell him half a mile off; that is about as far as ten blocks in a city. And if the wind were not blowing that way, the buffaloes could still smell the tiger five blocks away. They could smell the tiger, or any other danger, even if it came from behind.
The second way of finding out the danger is to hear it. As I said a little while ago, if you should put your foot on a rotten twig, the buffaloes could hear the sound of it as far off as five blocks. And even if the danger came from behind, or from the side, or from anywhere, they could still hear it coming, if it made the least bit of sound that you and I could not hear.
The third way of finding out the danger is to see it. The buffaloes do that by keeping a lookout nearly all the time. I shall show you how.
Just watch for a minute the buffalo in the middle of the crescent; he is the leader of the herd. We can see him only from the back; but as he is the biggest and tallest buffalo there, we can make him out quite easily. He is grazing quietly, and then moving along.
But see, what is he doing now? Why, he is looking up, straight ahead of him! No, he sees no danger there. So he gives a glance to his right, and then to his left. No, there is no danger there either. So he puts down his head, and starts feeding again.
Thus, you see, every now and again he looks to see that no danger is coming from anywhere in front of the herd.
But what if any danger came from the side of the herd,—right near the end of the crescent,—or even from the back of the herd?
Let us see what the two buffaloes at the two ends of the crescent are doing. They are the watchers, or sentinels, as they are sometimes called. They keep a lookout nearly all the time.
Do you see the one on our left? After every two or three mouthfuls he stops, and takes a look around; he even looks right to the back. Then he takes four or five strides to catch up with the herd, and starts grazing again. Then in a minute or two he takes another look around in the same way.
And the sentinel on our right is doing just the same. Yes, the herd is quite safe; the two sentinels are sure to see if any danger comes from their side or from the back.
"But will not the sentinels have less to eat, if they are watching half the time?" you may ask.
Yes, that is quite true. So all the Papa buffaloes take turns being sentinels. After a while the two sentinels from the ends move up toward the middle, and the next ones then begin to keep watch. And they keep changing places like that from day to day. That makes it quite fair for everybody.
When they go to sleep also they are arranged in the form of a crescent; but the two ends are closed up, so that the Papas make a ring, while the Mammas and the children sleep inside the ring.
When the Papas lie down, they are closer together than when they are feeding; and they still keep their heads pointed to the outside of the ring, so that they can get up in a minute, and be quite ready to drive off any tiger. Of course they have sentinels keeping watch all the time.
But now let us see other wonderful things that the buffaloes do, while they are feeding.
We must be very careful how we follow the herd. The ground is now changing, and getting quite rough; so the grass is getting scarce here and there. The buffaloes have not enough grass all the way; so they have to walk on a few yards without eating, till they come to the next patch.
Some of the buffaloes are even having a bite at fresh young shrubs in passing, as they will eat anything green, when they have not enough grass.
But see! The buffaloes are spreading out, as there are not even enough shrubs in one place. You can see gaps in the line of buffaloes now. And the gaps are getting bigger and bigger! Let us watch a few minutes.
Now the gaps are very wide, as some of the buffaloes are lagging behind; and some are turning too much to the side in trying to reach a mouthful from a shrub or a bush here and there.
Why, what is happening now? Some of the buffaloes cannot even see one another now, because of the bushes between them! What are the sentinels doing? And what is the leader doing? Suppose a tiger suddenly comes—
"Moo! Moo!"
That is the leader. He has just found out that the herd is spread out too far; so he is calling. He is saying, "Where are you?"
"Moo! Moo!" Do you hear that answer? It comes from the sentinel on the right, who is very far away now; but still he has heard the call. His answer means, "Here I am!"
And "Here I am!" comes the answer also from the sentinel on the left.
"Then close up!" cries the leader.
Each sentinel moves up toward the place from which he heard the leader's voice come. And on his way there he tells all the buffaloes he meets to move up also. Besides, all the buffaloes hear the leader's voice too; so they begin to close up at once.
Is not that a wonderful way of bringing up all those that are lagging behind?
But let us watch the herd again. They have closed up now, and there is no big gap in their line. The ground is level again.
Let us move on from thicket to thicket, and come as near the buffaloes as we can.
What is that? See! The sentinel on the right is looking hard at that jungle grass far away to the side. This kind of jungle grass grows very tall, taller than a man. But why is the sentinel staring at the tall grass? What does he see there?
Yes, there, far away, something is happening! The jungle grass is waving gently, but just in one place! What is making the tall grass wave like that? Is it the wind? No, it cannot be the wind! Why not? Because if it were the wind, all the grass there would wave. Then what is making the tall grass wave in just one place?
It can be only one thing! Some animal is hiding there in the tall grass! And as the animal is coming nearer and nearer to the buffaloes, he is making the grass wave!
See, the sentinel has guessed that also! What is he doing now? Can you hear him? He gives a bellow, deep and long.
"Danger! Look out!" That is what he means.
The whole herd hears him. They all close up as near together as they can!
Quick! Let us get up on that tree near by! We are in danger as well as the buffaloes!
One branch higher—and another! Now we are quite safe! But see what the buffaloes are doing!
The two ends of the crescent have come close together, and all the Papa buffaloes have made a perfect ring around the Mammas and the children. The Papas are facing the outside of the ring; so they can meet the danger from whatever side it comes.
Why do they do that? Look again at the grass! The tall grass is waving nearer and nearer. So, the animal that is in the grass is coming nearer and nearer.
He comes right to the end of the tall grass. There he makes a gap in the grass, and walks out into the open. It is a tiger!
He was trying to sneak up to the buffaloes; but the sentinel found that out. And now the bull buffaloes are ready for him. The tiger growls in rage. He prowls round and round the ring of bull buffaloes, as you see in the picture. But he dare not try to break through those horns.
He roars with fury, shaking the ground; it is just like thunder. The jungle around is taking fright at the roar. See! All the small animals rush out in fright—wild pigs, wild goats, and all sorts of small deer.
In their fright they run hither and thither very stupidly. That is exactly why the tiger roars—he wants to make the small animals behave so stupidly, in their fright, that some of them may make a mistake and run straight into his jaws.
See! The small animals scatter to right and left, trying to reach a bush or thicket. But some are cut off from safety, as the tiger stands in their way. What can they do?
Yes, there is the ring of buffaloes! So those small animals rush straight toward the ring and creep inside—and the buffaloes raise their heads to make a way for them under the horns. Some of them, like the wild goats, jump over the buffaloes' horns to get inside the ring. Anyway, the small animals reach safety inside with the Mammas and the children of the buffaloes.
The tiger stands outside the ring, and still roars in fury. But now nobody is afraid. The bull buffaloes paw the ground impatiently with their hoofs, and rattle their horns. They are going to charge!
But that tiger does not wait for the charge. He does not want to be trampled into a mess. So he slouches away, growling and snarling.
So, as you see, the bull buffaloes guard the Mammas and the children from danger, and they also guard all small and weak animals that come to them for safety.
Did I not tell you that the buffaloes are the Knights of the Jungle?
Buffaloes do not always remain wild and wander about in the jungle. Men need buffaloes. Farmers want to use them for plowing the ground, in the same way that farmers in America use horses for plowing.
This kind of buffalo also lives in Italy, and because they are so fond of water they are called water buffaloes there. But in Italy they are not wild any more, as they have been tamed and used by men for a long time.
I shall tell you how the men catch the buffaloes from the jungle in India, where they are still wild.
They catch the buffaloes in many ways. The easiest way is to find some stream or pond where the buffaloes are fond of going. Then the men take strong nets made of ropes, and spread the nets under the water. So when the buffaloes come to bathe or roll in the mud, some of them are caught in the nets.
Then the men rush in from their hiding place and drag out the nets. Of course, those buffaloes which are not caught run away. But those that are caught struggle fiercely. After a time they get tired of struggling, as the nets are too strong for them to break.
When the buffaloes have become very weak from struggling, a lot of men rush up and tie a stout rope around the neck of each buffalo. The rope has two ends, one on each side of the buffalo, and each end is quite long.
A dozen men haul at the rope, and the buffalo has to get up and march with them. In this way the men bring the buffaloes one by one to the village.
How do the men tame the buffaloes? That is quite easy, if they already have a few tame buffaloes which they may have caught and tamed some time before. And as the people have been doing this for many, many years, they always have some tame buffaloes. So this is the way the men treat the wild buffaloes:
They put the wild buffaloes and the tame ones together in a pen, or corral. Inside the corral there is a pond. In the deep part of the pond there is plenty of good water to drink; and in the shallow part of the pond there is plenty of mud in which the buffaloes may roll about and wallow.
The men keep the buffaloes there together for many days, the wild ones and the tame ones. Every day the men throw into the corral plenty of fresh grass, which the buffaloes can eat all day.
Now, what more could the wild buffaloes want? They could not be treated any better! They have plenty to eat, plenty to drink, and plenty of mud in which to wallow. The tame buffaloes soon make friends with them, and talk to them in their own language.
"You will not be any better off in the jungle," the tame ones say to the wild ones. "Here you do not have to walk about all day to get enough to eat, and then walk a good way to find water to drink, or a place in which to wallow. And, also, we have no fear of tigers here. What more do you want?"
So in a few weeks the wild ones become quite tame. Still, even after that, the old and the new ones are always kept together, and soon they become like one herd.
Afterwards, when the farmers use them for plowing, they always hitch to the plow one buffalo that has been tame for a long time, and one that is newly-tamed. Then it becomes easy for the new one to learn the work by just doing as his friend does.
The farmer uses the buffaloes for plowing for only a few hours, and he gives them plenty of time for wallowing and enjoying themselves. So, even if they have to do a little work, the new buffaloes soon see that they are really much better off living in the village than running wild in the jungle.
After the plowing season is over, the buffaloes have no work at all. They can wallow all day, if they want to.
When all the new buffaloes are quite tame, they are not kept in the corral any more, as they would never think of running away now. They are allowed to lie about and sleep in a little plot of ground somewhere in the village. By daytime they are taken out into the fields outside the village, and allowed to graze as they please; and as there 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.
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.
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 taller than a tall man; and it has horns that reach out more than a yard from each side of the head. This huge animal could charge and smash up a big wagon as easily as if it were a match box; and yet he will stand still and let his tail be twisted by any little tot in the village.
Sometimes you may see a sight like this: A huge buffalo is grazing hungrily, and a little boy comes up and stands right in front of him.
"Put up your head!" says the boy. But the buffalo goes on feeding hungrily.
"Put up your head, or I will spank you!" says the boy. But the buffalo still goes on feeding hungrily.
Then that tot raises his small hand and spanks the huge buffalo on the jaw. The buffalo puts up his head, and rubs his nose lovingly against the boy.
Well, why not? You have seen a baby pulling his Papa's hair. The Papa just loves the baby all the more for it. So it is with the buffalo and the little tot. And it would not matter a bit whether the tot were a little boy or a little girl. The big buffalo is fond of both.
And now I shall tell you a wonderful true story about a buffalo and a boy.
In a village there were many tame buffaloes, and among them thirty bull buffaloes. The little boys of the village took charge of them every day. The smartest boy among them was called Gulab. He was six years of age.
Gulab knew quite well each of the thirty bull buffaloes, and was a friend of each. Sometimes he alone had charge of them, and took them out to graze and to wallow. That was because his father was the herdsman.
The buffaloes loved Gulab, and they did exactly as he told them to do. When he was going to take them to the fields, he would just stamp his little bare foot and call out to them "Stand in rows!" And the huge animals would stand in rows, one line behind another.
Then Gulab would come around to the side, and see if each line was straight. If the line was not quite straight, and a buffalo happened to be standing too much this way or that, Gulab would walk up to the buffalo and spank him on the jaw. Then the buffalo would move into line, exactly as Gulab wanted him to do. Or, if a buffalo happened to be standing too far behind, Gulab would come around to the back and twist the buffalo's tail, and the buffalo would move up into line.
Then, when the whole herd was in the right order, Gulab would come to the front of the herd, and walk up to the biggest bull.
"Bend down your head, Baldo!" he would order.
And Baldo, the biggest bull, in the middle of the front line, would bend down his head, and Gulab would climb up by one of the horns, scramble up Baldo's neck, and sit down on his back.
"March!" Gulab would order—and the whole herd would march.
Now, a few miles away there was a grand palace. In the palace was a little Prince, whose father was a Rajah—that is, a kind of king. The little Prince's birthday was coming, and his father ordered grand feasts for many days.
The Rajah had six English friends, who were quite big men. The Englishmen were very fond of tiger hunting, so the Rajah wanted to order a tiger hunt for them. But it is not easy to have a tiger hunt just when you want to have it. Why not? Because the tiger will not come out and be hunted just when you want him to. He would rather stay in his den.
So for a few days no one heard of a tiger prowling about. Then suddenly a strange piece of news came from that village where Gulab lived. It happened in this way:
One day Gulab took out the buffaloes to graze and to wallow. The buffaloes lay down in the shallow water for a while, and Gulab splashed about or tumbled in the mud near them. Then he got tired of doing that, and came out on the bank and played about there for a while.
Suddenly he heard a strange sound. It was one of the buffaloes, who had stood up in the water and was giving a low, deep bellow. Two or three other buffaloes stood up also, and gave a low, deep bellow. Then all at once the whole lot of them began to come out of the water.
Gulab stopped in his play to see what was wrong. But he could see nothing.
"What's the matter, Baldo?" he asked. "What's wrong, Chando?"
But the two biggest bulls scrambled up the bank, and came rushing toward the boy. All the other bulls came also, and some went past him on the right side, and some went past him on the left side. Then suddenly Gulab knew what it all meant!
A snarl—a growl—a roar, he heard. A flash of yellow leaped out of the jungle, and came toward him with a huge jump. It was a tiger!
But already the buffaloes were making a ring around Gulab. Then he knew what had happened. The tiger had seen him from the jungle beyond, and had been trying to creep up to him quietly from thicket to thicket. But the buffaloes had smelled the tiger in time, and had run out of the pond to save Gulab. And now they had made a ring around him.
Gulab stood in the ring and looked with large round eyes, for he was more frightened than he had ever been in his life. He was only a little boy, and had never seen a tiger face to face.
The tiger growled and snarled and roared. Then it came round and round the ring, trying to find a gap between the horns to get at the boy. But there was no gap between the horns.
Then little by little the fear left Gulab's heart. Something inside him told him to be brave. He walked up to Baldo.
"Baldo, let me up!" Gulab said to him, standing behind the buffalo. And Baldo lowered his body behind, and bent his hind legs at the knees.
Gulab took hold of Baldo's tail in both hands, and put his foot on Baldo's hind knee, which was now bent quite low. In that way Gulab climbed up to the buffalo's back, and sat on it, holding on to Baldo's shoulders.
Then, being quite safe on the buffalo's back, Gulab glanced around and called to the buffaloes at the back of the ring, "Open out!" And the buffaloes opened out at the back of the ring, and made a crescent. Then they moved still farther around, and the crescent became one long line, facing the tiger.
Gulab gave one glance to right and left, to see that all were ready. Then—
"Charge, brothers, charge!" he cried to the buffaloes.
Then his big brothers, the buffaloes, charged with thundering hoofs and fiery nostrils. The tiger gave a huge leap to the side to get away; but the buffaloes on that side opened out and headed off the tiger. On to the front again the tiger was forced to turn—and run for his life before the furious herd.
The buffaloes chased and chased that tiger, across field and jungle, over hedges and ditches, through brambles and bushes and thickets, till at last the tiger jumped across a ravine and ran away growling and howling and snarling, like a low thief who is chased out of a village at night.
The ravine was a deep hollow in the ground, like a huge ditch; and it ran all the way across the ground; so the buffaloes could not get over it, as they cannot jump as far as a tiger. Then the buffaloes returned to the village, and Gulab gave the news about the tiger.
Some of the village people ran to the palace, and said that the tiger might be still hiding somewhere on the other side of the ravine. So the six Englishmen went around to that side to hunt the tiger. They found him and wounded him four or five times. But it takes a lot more than that to kill a tiger. The tiger ran out, got past the hunters, and came back again across the ravine. Here he hid in a dense thicket, and would not come out and be hunted to please anybody.
Now, when a tiger is hiding in a thicket and will not come out and be hunted, there is only one way to make him come out.
What is that way? Can you tell?
Why, of course, the bull buffaloes!
So the herdsman brought up the thirty bull buffaloes, and drew them up in a long line in front of the thicket. And on the other side of the thicket the six Englishmen got up into trees, and pointed their guns at the thicket.
Then the herdsman ordered the buffaloes to charge, and they charged right through the thicket, trampling it down and cutting it up into lanes; so the tiger had to run out on the other side. But on that side the six Englishmen were waiting for him; and they all fired at the tiger at once, and all hit him. They used a kind of bullet that broke up into a hundred pieces right inside the tiger.
But the tiger still kicked and kicked, and would not agree to be dead at once, as any other animal would. People say that a cat has nine lives; then a tiger must have ninety-nine lives. So this tiger jumped about, torn up as he was, and glared at the Englishmen in the trees, trying to get at them, while they were loading their guns for another shot.
But the buffaloes went on charging, and caught up with the tiger. They rushed upon him, and now the torn-up tiger could not get away. So the buffaloes trampled upon him, and then the tiger agreed to lie still and be dead, really and truly.
The six Englishmen began to climb down from the trees, as they thought the excitement was all over. But the herdsman called out to them at once:
"Please go up again—quick! Don't let my buffaloes see you!"
For I must tell you now that buffaloes do not like strangers. They may be very fond of their own friends in the village; but if they should see a stranger, they would charge him just as quickly as they would charge a tiger. And the Englishmen would look quite strange to the buffaloes.
So the Englishmen remembered that, and stayed up in the trees till the buffaloes were taken away.
The buffaloes were taken to the pond; and as the herdsman would not bother to stay with them there, he left the buffaloes in the pond to do as they pleased till evening.
The six Englishmen had their lunch there, when they got down from the trees. They gave their guns to their servants, to carry away to the palace. Afterwards the Englishmen walked about, smoking their cigars, as they did not want to return to the palace so soon.
But four or five hours passed, and still they had not come back to the palace. It was nearly evening, and still they had not come.
And in the village Gulab said to his Papa, who was the herdsman, "Papa, I shall bring the buffaloes home now."
He went to the pond. But the buffaloes were not there! He shouted, whistled, and gave all the buffalo calls he knew. But no answer!
He looked about, and searched everywhere, but he could not see the buffaloes. What had become of them?
Then he happened to look far to the side, toward a lot of tall trees. Something was happening under the trees! He could see a lot of things moving there, but he was too far away to see what they were.
He ran toward the trees. Yes, they were the buffaloes! But why were they there? And why were they behaving like that?
For he saw that they were pawing the ground angrily, and tossing their heads and rattling their horns. And what was very strange, the buffaloes were not looking at anything on the ground in front of them. They were looking up, at the trees!
Then Gulab glanced up into the trees, and saw at once why the buffaloes were behaving like that. But he did not waste a minute. He ran to the buffaloes, shouting:
"Down, Baldo! Down, Chando!"
But the two biggest bulls and all the others glared at the trees and snorted in fury.
"Down!" Gulab shrieked. "Down, or I shall spank you!"
He rushed to Baldo, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed to Chando, and spanked him on the jaw. He rushed from buffalo to buffalo, and spanked each one on the jaw.
Then the huge animals that had charged the raging tiger, and that were now fierce themselves, obeyed the little boy. They blinked, then one by one lowered their heads. Gulab climbed up by Baldo's horns, and seated himself on his back.
"Now turn around, all!" he ordered. And the buffaloes slowly turned away from the trees.
Gulab looked back over his shoulder, and said to the six Englishmen who were up in the trees: "You may come down now. My buffaloes won't hurt you a bit, because if they try to I will spank them!"
Then the little boy took away the buffaloes, and the six big Englishmen came down from the trees quite safely.
And now, do you understand what had happened? I shall tell you. The Englishmen had forgotten what the herdsman had told them—about keeping away from the buffaloes. The Englishmen had walked about, and had finally come near the pond where the buffaloes were.
Then the buffaloes had come out and charged them. The Englishmen had run and run, and had just managed to reach the trees. But the buffaloes had come there after them! So the big Englishmen had to stay up in the trees, and wait for some little village boy to come and take away the furious buffaloes.
I have told you this story, my dear (and it is a true story) just to show you what kind of an animal the buffalo is—at least, this sort of buffalo. Even when he is furious, he will do anything for the little boy whom he loves.
But as it is a true story, I must tell you one more thing that happened—and I am sure you will be delighted to hear about it. The six Englishmen went to the palace, and laughed and laughed, and told all about it to the little Prince whose birthday it was.
Then the Rajah, who was the little Prince's father, said that Baldo and Chando should not be made to plow any more, or do another bit of work in their lives. Why? Because Baldo and Chando had first helped to save Gulab from the tiger at the pond, and then afterwards they had helped to hunt the tiger.
So after that, Baldo and Chando were allowed to walk about the village as they pleased, and nibble at anybody's hay or grass, and splash in anybody's pond, and wallow in anybody's ditch, rut, or mire.
And what was little Gulab's reward for saving the six Englishmen? Well, the little Prince, whose birthday it was, came and took Gulab by the hand, and brought him to the grand palace, and gave him lots and lots to eat—cakes and ice cream and candy—so that Gulab went home that night very full and very happy.
The buffalo has many relatives among other animals which also have horns. In fact, all animals that have horns are some relation to each other—first cousin, second cousin, third cousin, and so on.
The buffalo's nearest relatives are the ordinary cows and bulls that you see in the fields.
"But the sheep and the goat also have horns," you may say. "Are they also cousins?"
Yes, they are. In the same way the deer and the antelope are also cousins to each other. I am now going to tell you about them.
The deer and the antelope are not exactly the same kind of animal, as you might perhaps think. As I said, they are only cousins. If you look at them carefully in the pictures on pages 103 and 109 you will see which is the antelope and which is the deer—just as you can tell a sheep from a goat.