The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-09-27

the south and east of Spain. Hungary, Turkey and western Asia as far as the
 borders of Afghanistan. By some un-
 known route it has reached the west
 coast of Africa and is established>as a beast of draught and cultivation on the
 Niger It has travelled far up the Nile,
 and will go further, for it would De ln- valuable on the great sWamps Fasho- | da way. In the far east the emma
 man has made it his own peculiar pet,
 having, it is believed, first learned it's
 value in the rice grounds of the north.
 It has been taken to Japan, where 1t
 now works in the rice grounds; to the | Philippines and the islands of the Malay | Archipelago; and there is no doubt that | it would be useful in British Guiana. Possibly the Italians who are crowding | over into South America will introduce | it in the lower Mississippi valley; but | it is by nature brown and yellow | mans beast, and only appreciated in Europe by the south Latin races.
 How did the buffalo get from India to Africa? Who first took it to Egypt?
 How did it get from Egypt round to the West Niger. And who brought it to Italy, and from whence? All these are most interesting questions, and as the distance of time which has elapsed since the animals were introduced into Europe does not fall beyond the his toric period, may possibly be answered.
 In Egypt, for instance, there exists a
 pictorial record on the tombs and else where covering many thousands of
 years, in which pictures of animals play
 an important part. If the first appear
 ance of the water buffalo in these
 paintings were noted the date of it's
 importation from India to Egypt would
 be known. From inquiries kindly
 made by M. Maspero at the suggestion
 of Lord Cromer, it appears that mo-
 where in the long picture history of
 ancient Egypt does the water buffalo
 appear. The African buffalo Is seen
 there; not so the domesticated Asiatic
 one. This is very interesting negative
 evidence that this domesticated animal
 was not known in ancient Egypt. It is surmised, probably rightly, that it was
 imported after some great epidemic of cattle plague, or 1t may have been
 taken from the west coast of India up the Euphrates valley, and thence down
 the Jordan valley to Egypt.
 Arab dhows have for ages done reg ular trade In carrying horses from the west coast of India to the Persian Gulf. It is probably one of the oldest forms of shipping which evists, and the Arabs who now ship horses from Bombay to the Persian Gulf may have been in the cattle trade in very early days. It is also probable that in the era of Hindu maritime enterprise these creatures were taken both to the far east and to the east coast of Africa The circum- stances which led to their introduction into Italy and Spain are probably to be found in some existing record; but it is not one generally known. the nearest surmise being that they may have been given to a Longobardian king with oth- CT animals by the chief of horde of Asatic invaders. There were not | known in Italy in Roman times. But if they had been introduced as recently | as the camels which are still used on l one of the royal estates in Tuscany Gan enterprise due to the Medici. the fact | would probably have been matter of | owledge.-London Spectator. |