68 THE AMERICAN BISONS. 
animals surrounding an old or wounded bull, where it would seem, from ap- 
pearances, that they had been for several days in attendance, and at intervals 
desperately engaged in the effort to take his life. But a short time since, 
as one of my hunting companions and myself were returning to our encamp- 
ment with our horses loaded with meat, we discovered at a distance a huge 
bull, encircled with a gang of white wolves; we rode up as near as we could 
without driving them away, and, being within pistol-shot, we had a remark- 
ably good view, where I sat for a few moments and made a sketch in my 
note-book (plate exiv); after which we rode up and gave the signal for them 
to disperse, which they instantly did, withdrawing themselves to the distance 
of fifty or sixty rods, when we found, to our great surprise, that the animal 
had made desperate resistance, his eyes being entirely eaten out of his head, 
the gristle of his nose mostly gone, his tongue half eaten off, and the skin 
and flesh of his legs torn almost literally into strings. In this tattered 
and torn condition, the poor old veteran stood bracing up in the midst 
of his devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a few minutes to enjoy a sort 
of parley, recovering strength and preparing to resume the attack in a few 
moments again. In this group, some were reclining to gain breath, whilst 
others were sneaking about and licking their chops in anxiety for a renewal 
of the attack; and others, less lucky, had been crushed to death by the feet 
or the horns of the bull. I rode nearer to the pitiable object as he stood 
bleeding and trembling before me, and said to him, ‘ Now is your time, old 
fellow, and you had better be off. Though blind and nearly destroyed, 
there seemed evidently to be a recognition of a friend in me, as he straight- 
ened up, and, trembling with excitement, dashed off at full speed upon the 
prairie, in a straight line. We turned our horses and resumed our march, 
and when we had advanced a mile or more we looked back, and on our left, 
where we saw again the ill-fated animal surrounded by his tormentors, to 
whose insatiable voracity he unquestionably soon fell a victim.” 
The buffalo, when taken young, is easily tamed, and soon becomes thor- 
oughly domesticated. With this fact so well known, it seems remarkable 
that this animal should not have long since been added to our list of domes- 
ticated and useful animals. The few experiments that have been made seem 
to have met with encouraging results, as will be shown in a later portion of 
the present memoir,* and to have failed simply through lack of interest and 
persistency. Through crossing them with domestic cattle they have even 
* See the chapter on “ The Domestication of the Buffalo.” 
