Note 10 — Chapter I · Nature
Reading edition
A further development of the Malay theory of the earth declares it to be carried by a colossal buffalo upon the tip of its horns.10 When one horn begins to tire the buffalo tosses it up and catches it upon the tip of the other, thus causing periodical earthquakes. This world-buffalo, it should be added, stands upon an island in the midst of the nether ocean.11 The universe is girt round by an immense serpent or dragon (Ular Naga), which “feeds upon its own tail.”