ANIMAL GIANTS 19 



represent all the game that might have been obtained, and it must 

 be borne in mind that upon his expedition various animals had of 

 necessity to be procured for the purposes of both food and barter. 



AMERICAN BISON.— It seems difficult to imagine that a fine, 

 noble animal such as this, which only a few years ago was to be 

 counted in vast herds consisting of millions of individuals, is, as a 

 pure wild beast of to-day, reduced to comparatively small numbers. 



That it has not been totally abolished from the face of the 

 habitable globe is due to the praiseworthy efforts made by both the 

 American and Canadian Governments, and although in confinement 

 the Bison is ill-tempered and ferocious — and the bull shown in 

 Fig. ii particularly so — it is far too interesting an animal to be 

 swept from the world without, so to speak, any warning. 



The year 1867 seems to have been the time when this, the largest 

 of the North American hoofed animals, became doomed, for the 

 immense herd that roamed the prairies at the date named was cut 

 in two by the construction of the first trans-continental railway line. 

 This having been done, it only took a few years to exterminate the 

 two portions of the original herd, for in 1884 tne deed was practically 

 accomplished. Whilst there are said to be a few survivors in a wild 

 condition to-day, there is little doubt that but for timely Government 

 assistance the American Bison would have been lost to us ere this. 

 This would have been more regretable in view of the fact that its 

 European brother is also very rare, being now confined to the 

 preserved forests of Lithuania and in the Caucasus. 



Covered with a thick, warm coat of shaggy hair, which is well 

 shown in the coloured plate of this fine beast, the Bison is in many 

 respects a remarkable giant of the animal kingdom, but our photo- 

 graph depicts the bull with his winter coat peeling off, and giving 

 him somewhat the appearance of a large French poodle ! 



More bulky and formidable than the European species, our 

 American friend has a more prominent head, and its coat is longer, 

 being composed of much shaggier hair. When the thick covering 

 is shed, as partly shown in Fig. 11, the Bison does not look nearly 

 so big nor so bulky as when he possesses his full coat. At such 

 time he is indeed a noble creature, possessing, as has been well 

 said, "a grandeur and nobility of presence which are beyond all 

 comparison among ruminants." 



For all that, the keeper of the cow, bull and calf now housed at 

 the London Zoo told me recently that he would not trust himself 



c 2 



