Taming the Buffalo
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:
_Wild Buffaloes Tamed Quickly by Kindness_
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 gra.s.s, 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. .h.i.tch 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.
_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 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.
CHAPTER VIII
The Buffalo and the 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.