198 



THE AMERICAN BISONS. 



falo,"^ Brackenridge, in a work published in 1814, says : "The wool of the 

 buffaloe has a peculiar fineness, even surpassing that of the merino. I have 

 seen gloves made of it, little inferior to silk. But for the difficulty of sepa- 



rating the hair^ it might become a very .important article of commerce. 

 Should any means be discovered of effecting this, or should it be found that 

 at certain seasons there is less of this mixture, the buffalo wool must become 

 of prime importance in manufactures." This author adds in a footnote as 

 follows: "It is curious to observe, that in the instruction to Iberville by the 

 King of France, two things were considered of the first importance, the pearl 

 fishery and the liiffcdoe tvooL Charlevoix observes, that he is not surprised 

 that the first should not have been attended to, but he thinks it strange that 

 the second should be neglected even to his time."t 



The early explorers of the country east of the Mississippi evidently very 

 generally looked upon the buffalo as an animal that w^ould prove of \evy 

 great economic value. M. de la Galissonniere, in a ■^"Memoir on the French 

 Colonies in North America," written in 1750, speaks especially of the pro- 

 spective value of the buffalo to the French settlers of the Illinois country. 

 After describing the vast prairies "waiting only for the plough," he refers to 



their being "covered with an innumerable multitude of buffaloes 



a spe- 



cies," he says, "which will probably not run out for many centuries hence, 

 both because the country is not sufficiently peopled to make their consump- 

 tion perceptible and because, the hides not being adapted to the same uses 



as those of the European race, it will never happen that the animals wull be 

 killed solely for the sake of their skins, as is the practice among the Sj)an~ 

 iards of the River de la Plata. 



"If the Illinois buffaloes do not supply the tanneries with much," M. Gal- 

 issoniere continues, " eventually, advantages at least equivalent may reason- 

 ably be expected, on which w^e cannot prevent ourselves dwelling for a 



moment. 



1'*^- These animals are covered with a species of wool^ sufficiently fine to 



a 



be employed in various manufactures, as experience has demonstrated. 



"2'^' It can scarcely be doubted that, by catching them young and geld- 

 ing them, they would be adapted to ploughing; perhaps, even, they would 

 possess the same advantage that horses have over domestic oxen, that is, 

 superior swiftness; they appear to be as strong, but perhaps are indebted for 



* Kip's Early Jesuit Missions^ p 199. 

 f Views of Louisianaj p. 57. 





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