American Big-Game Hunting 



The buffalo was a timid creature, but 

 brought to bay would fight with ferocity. 

 There were few sights more terrifying to the 

 novice than the spectacle of an old bull at 

 bay: his mighty bulk, a quivering mass of 

 active, enraged muscle ; the shining horns ; 

 the little, spiky tail ; and the eyes half hidden 

 beneath the shaggy frontlet, yet gleaming 

 with rage, combined to render him an awe- 

 inspiring object. Nevertheless, owing to 

 their greater speed and activity, the cows 

 were much more to be feared than the bulls. 



It was once thought that the buffalo per- 

 formed annually extensive migrations, and 

 it was even said that those which spent the 

 summer on the banks of the Saskatchewan 

 wintered in Texas. There is no reason for 

 believing this to have been true. Undoubt- 

 edly there were slight general movements 

 north and south, and east and west, at cer- 

 tain seasons of the year; but many of the 

 accounts of these movements are entirely 

 misleading, because greatly exaggerated. In 

 one portion of the northern country I know 

 that there was a decided east and west sea- 

 sonal migration, the herds tending in spring 



