File:Ridpath's history of the world; being an account of the ethnic origin, primitive estate, early migrations, social conditions and present promise of the principal families of men (1897) (14803554883).jpg

Identifier: ridpathshistoryo01ridp (find matches)
Title: Ridpath's history of the world; being an account of the ethnic origin, primitive estate, early migrations, social conditions and present promise of the principal families of men ..
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Ridpath, John Clark, 1840-1900
Subjects: World history Ethnology
Publisher: New York, Merrill & Baker
Contributing Library: Mugar Memorial Library, Boston University
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston University

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aur of the Western Ghats of the Indian ,. , t1 buffalo. to the gayal of the north-eastern frontier. In the latter regionthe bison has been domesticated, and isused by the aboriginal tribes in theirsacrifices. In Burmah the buffalo isfound, large and fierce. The heads ofsome bulls captured in modern times- 694 GREAT RACES OE MANKIND. have been as much as thirteen feet sixinches in circumference and fully sixfeet and a half between the tips of thehorns. The animal reaches a height ofsix feet, and compares favorably in mag-nitude with the tremendous creaturesformerly inhabiting the great Americanplains of the West. Of birds, there are an endless variety. generally innocuous. The inhabitant ofthe safe countries of Europe has littleapprehension of the deadly work of thoseIndian serpents, of which the cobra decapello is the imperial and venomousking. The fatality from snake-biting iseverywhere increased by the supersti-tion of the people, who generally re-gard the snake with veneration. The
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INDIAN BUFFALOES.-Dr.-uvn by Mesvel. The reptiles of India have been knownfrom the earliest ages for Prevalence of , . reptiles; loss of their tremendous size and life thereby. . ... r~, poisonous bite. I he mostdeadly serpents to be found, in any partof the world lurk in the dank jungles,along the river banks, and even in theuplands of the Deccan. It is said thatall the salt water snakes of India are poi-sonous, while those of fresh waters are census of 1877 returned a total of six-teen thousand seven hundred and sev-enty-seven persons killed in a singleyear by the bites of serpents. It is against this great phalanx of an-imal life, fierce and malign, that the In-dian races have flung themselves forthousands of years. It has been a warat once offensive and defensive, and thebattle has not infrequently gone against THE INDICANS.—ANIMAL LIFE. 695 the man. In no other quarter of thehabitable globe does the wild animallife peculiar to the primeval world standforth against the human rac

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