THE BOVINE DWELLERS OF OTHER LANDS. 173 



3. The European bison, or ure-ox, is one of the largest 

 of terrestrial mammals. It coexisted with the extinct 

 mammoth, and would have been swept out of existence 

 long ago but for the order of the Emperor of Russia 

 against its destruction. The American bison, commonly 

 called buffalo, needs no description. Its story has often 

 been written. It is an inmate of the zoological gardens, 

 and an attache of the common showman. Though it 

 wears a fierce and menacing look, it never attacks man. 

 But when the long procession of buffaloes starts for the 

 distant watering-place, and the black column moves with 

 dashing power across the plain, then both the man and 

 the railway-train must clear the track. 



4. Mr. Ernest Ingersoll, in "The Popular Science 

 Monthly," says of this animal : " As is well known, the 

 buffalo is pre-eminently gregarious herds numbering 

 millions of individuals, and blackening the whole land- 

 scape, having formerly been met with on the plains. 

 Emigrant-trains used to be delayed by the passing of 

 dense herds, and during the first years of the Kansas- 

 Pacific Railway its trains were frequently stopped by the 

 same cause. These masses seem to have some sort of 

 organization, consisting of small bands which unite in 

 migration or when pursued, but separate when feeding. 

 The cows with their calves and the younger animals are 

 generally toward the middle of the small herd, while the 

 older bulls are found on the outside, and the patriarchs 

 of the herd bring up the rear. . The real guardians are 

 the vigilant cows, who usually lead the movements of the 

 herd. 



5. " The behavior of buffaloes is very much like that of 

 domestic cattle, but their speed and endurance seem to be 

 far greater. When well under way, it takes a fleet horse 

 to overtake them ; and they raise a column of dust, which 



