1898] Prince— The Vanished Buffalo. 75 



even terrible aspect from the few living specimens that yet 

 survive. Those survivors, like the couple of hundred in the 

 Yellowstone Park, Montana U. S. are either in a practically wild 

 state, under protection more or less effective, or in a confined 

 park, securely fenced in, as at Silver Heights, near Winnipeg, 

 where a herd of sixteen or seventeen roam in an extensive 

 enclosure* Col. Bedson, ten years ago had 70 or 80 of them, 

 pure bred, at Stony Mountain, near Winnipeg but they have 

 been sold and form part of the herd of Mr. C. J. Jones, Garden 

 City, Kan., which probably numbers about 150 full blood buffalo. 

 Mr. W. F. Cody and others have a few specimens, but there can 

 hardly now be more than 1000 of these noble animals remaining 

 of the countless myriads which not long ago peopled the plains. 

 Lord Strathcona had kindly suggested on my visits to the 

 west that I should view his herd at Silver Heights, but the 

 opportunity did not occur until last August, and my notes, made 

 at the time may be of interest although nothing that is new or 

 of scientific importance can now be said of the buffalo. The 

 herd have a fenced reserve covering eight or ten square milesr 

 and over this grassy park they wander with as much freedom as 

 in nature. Some horses feed on this ground ; but, while the 

 buffalo do not associate with them much, there appears to be no 

 animosity between them. One of the horses was injured, I 

 learned, some months before, but the animal was possibly lame 

 or weak, and unable to quickly get out of the way of the 

 buffalo. Weak members of their own tribe are invariably 

 attacked and killed. The principle of the survival of the fittest 

 finds rigorous fulfilment among the buffalo. When a friend 

 and myself reached the farm, the buffalo had not been seen for 

 some hours, and were said to be several miles away. We de- 

 termined to find out their whereabouts, but like other visitors 

 who departed disappointed at not seeing the buffalo, we were 

 just beginning to share in the same feeling, and were about to 

 give up hope of viewing the herd, when we observed two 



*Since these notes were jotted down Lord Strathcona has gifted his herd to the 

 Dominion for the Banff National park. 



