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THE AMERICAN BISONS, 



buffalo on the Atlantic slope^ north of the Potomac^ are the foUowing^ One 

 often quoted is that contained in a letter from Mr. Anthonie Parkhurst to 



Eichard Hakluyt^ dated 1578, concerning the ^^true state and commodities of 



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tliey say some Lyons also ; for they have been seen at Cape Anne. Also here are severall sorts of Deere, 

 some whereof bring three or four young ones at once, which is not ordinarie in England. Also Wolves, 

 Foxes, Beavers, Otters, Martins, great wild Cats, and a great Beast called a Molke [moose] as bigge as an 

 Oxe. I have seen the skins of all these Beasts since I came to this Plantation, excepting Lyons. Also 

 here are great store of Squerrels, some greater, and some smaller and lesser ; there are some of the lesser 



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sort, they tell me, that by a certaine Skin will fly from Tree to Tree though they stand farre distant." 

 Force's Coll. Hist. Tracts, Yo\. I, No. 12, p. 8. 



Thomas Morton, in his "New English Canaan," printed in 1632, devotes six pages to a description of 

 the " beasts," giving yery quaint and curious descriptions of all the more important, but makes no refer- 



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ence to any animal like the buffalo. 



Father Andrew White, in describing Maryland in 1632, says, "But so great is the abundance of swine 

 and deer that they are rather troublesome than advantageous. Cows also are innumerable, and oxen suit- 

 able for bearing burdens or for food ; besides five other kinds of large beasts unknown to us, which our 

 nei^-hbors admit to their table. Sheep will have to be taken hence or from the Canaries ; asses also, and 

 mules and horses. The nei2;hborino; forests are full of wild bulls and heifers, of which five hundred or six 



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hundred thousand are annually carried to Saville from that part which lies towards New Mexico. As 

 many deer as you wish can be obtained from the neighboring people. Add to this muskrats, rabbits, 

 beavers, badgers, and martens, not however destructive, as with us, to eggs and hens. ' — A Relation offJte 

 Colony of the Lord Baron of Baltimore, in Maryland, near Virginia, etc. (Force's ColL Hist. Tracts, Yol. 



IV, No. 12, pp. 6, 7.) 



In " A Perfect Description of Virginia," printed in London in 1649, is given a list of the " Beasts great 

 and small as followeth : above 20 severall kinds," including all the larger species, but no reference is made 



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to the buffalo. — Fokce's ColL Hist. Tracts^ Vol. II, No. 8, p. 16. 



In an "Account of Vlrginlain Generall, but particularly Carolana, which comprehends Roanoak and the 

 Southern parts of Virginia,^' printed in 1650, it is said, ''Nor is the Land any lesse provided of native 

 Flesh, Elkes bigger then Oxen, whose hide is admirable Buffe, flesh excellent, and may be made, if kept 

 domesticke, as usef uU for draught and carriage, as Oxen. Deere in a numerous abundance, and delicate 

 Venison, Kacoones, Hares, Conyes, Bevers, Squirrell, Beares, all of a delightfuU nourishment for food, and 



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their Furres rich, warme, and convenient for clothino- and Merchandise." — Force's Coll. Hist. Tracts, 

 Vol. Ill, No. 11, pp. 11, 12. ' 



Clayton, in his very detailed account of the natural products of Virginia, written in 1688, says, '* There 

 were neither Horses, Bulls, Cows, Sheep, or Swine, in all the Country, before the coming of the English^ 

 as I have heard, and have much reason to believe Wild Bulls and Cows there are now in the unin- 

 habited Parts, but such only as have been bred from some that have strayed, and become wild, and have 

 propagated their kind, and arc difficult to be shot, having a great Acuteness of Smelling." — Force's Colt 

 Hist Tracts, Vol. HI, No. 12, p. 35. 



This leads to the inference that the frequent allusions to wild hulls and wild cows in the early accounts 

 of Virginia, etc., often really refer to domestic cattle that had run wild. 



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Many citations of a similar character might be added, containing curious and interesting descriptions of 



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the " beasts," but none of the enumerations include the buffalo. As these descriptions of the country and 

 its products were mostly prepared for the purpose of encouraging emigration, it is not presumable that 

 so important an animal as the buffalo would have been omitted if these early writers had ever heard 

 of it as existing in any part of the countries they describe. 



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