5/i EXPEDITION TO THE 



distinguish men very well, they are not aware of their na- 

 ture by sight alone. It is the odour of man which is prin- 

 cipally required to drive them off. We have seen bulls ap*» 

 proach to windward of our line with the greatest compo- 

 sure, pass near us, but the moment they fell to leeward, 

 the smell would set them galloping with the greatest 

 speed. The quickness of their olfactory nerves is well 

 known ; sometimes when the wind is strong, they will bo- 

 made aware of the presence of men, at two or more miles 

 to windward of them. Buffaloes and elks ai*e seen on the 

 same prairies, and do not appear to be affected by each 

 other's presence, they do not however herd together; each 

 associates only with the animals of its own kind. We saw 

 on the prairies with the buffalo, besides the elk, only the 

 common prairie wolf, which appears to be the common at- 

 tendant on the buffalo. Among the birds which we re- 

 marked were the bald eagle, (Falco leucocephalus,) and 

 the hooping crane. The buffalo is often seen wallowing 

 and throwing up the dust, which at a great distance re- 

 sembles the spouting of a whale. 



The difficulty of killing this animal is very great, and 

 may be judged of by the fact that Mr. Peale fired fourteen 

 balls into the chest of a buffalo before he killed him, and 

 Mr. Scott, with a view to ascertain whether a ball fired at 

 the head would break the frontal bone, discharged his 

 rifle at a dead bull within ten paces ; the ball did not pene- 

 trate, but merely entangled itself in the hair where it was 

 found. It had, however, struck the forehead, and left a 

 mark before it rebounded. This agreed with the general 

 impression which Mr. Scott had formed on the subject, 

 having been stationed more or less for the last ten years in 

 a buffalo country, and having had frequent oprportunities of 

 firing at them in every direction. His skill and address 



