122 



THE TWO-TOED ARTIODACTYLA. 



flash fire, even at that distance, walk uneasily to 

 and fro, menacing the intruder by pawing the earth 

 and tossings of their huge heads. 



"The enemy still approaching, some bull will face 

 him, lower his head, and start on a most furious 

 charge. But alas for brute courage! When he has 

 gone twenty or thirty yards Mr. Bull thinks better 

 of it, stops, stares an instant, and then trots back 

 to the herd. Another and another will try the 

 same game, with the same result; and if, in spite 

 of these ferocious demonstrations, the hunter still 

 approaches, the whole herd will incontinently take 

 to its heels." 



The professional hunter, when desiring to load 

 his teams with meat, advances as close to the herd 

 as he can, concealed as far as possible by the grass 

 and the inequalities of the ground, and "will rarely 

 make his first shot at a greater distance than fifty 

 to seventy-five yards. If the shot result fatally, 

 the herd rarely moves more than fifty yards before 

 stopping to look for the cause of the mishap to 

 their fallen companion, and turning half round to 

 get a good view rearward, they thus present them- 

 selves in the best possible position to the hunter 

 at still short range. Here others fall before the 

 hunter's shots; the herd, again slightly startled, 

 moves on a few paces, and again stops to gaze. 

 The hunter, still keeping prostrate, approaches, if 

 necessary, under cover of those already killed, and 

 continues the work of destruction. The shots are 

 thus often repeated till fifteen, twenty, or even 

 thirty buffaloes are killed before the herd becomes 

 thoroughly alarmed and, in hunter's parlance, 

 'stampedes.' By keeping prostrate the hunter is 

 able to creep up to the herd again as it recedes, till 

 he has killed enough to furnish loads for his teams; 

 and even sometimes he has to rise and drive away 

 the stupid creatures to prevent the living from 

 playfully goring the dead! When the hunter is 

 thus successful, it is termed 'getting a stand on the 

 herd.' A 'stand' is most surely made in nearly 

 level ground. In shooting from ravines, the herd 

 usually runs away after three to five or six of their 

 number have fallen. During the rutting season, if 

 a cow falls at the first shot, the hunter is pretty 

 sure of a 'stand;' and of getting a dozen or more 

 shots, if he keeps prostrate and uses due caution. 

 As soon as he rises the buffaloes seem at once to 

 recognize the cause of their trouble, and generally 

 immediately stampede; but so long as he re- 

 mains prone they seem to have no perception of 

 the character of their enemy, and often do not 



notice him at all." Allen: The American Bisons, 

 sec. 3. 



"Buffalo hunting on horseback," however, "is a 

 very different thing, and, to a novice, full of excite- 

 ment. A buffalo can run only about two-thirds 

 as fast as a good horse; but what he lacks in 

 speed he makes up in bottom or endurance, in 

 tenacity of purpose, and in most extraordinary 

 vitality. 



"A herd will stand staring at an approaching 

 horseman until he is within about three hundred 

 yards. It will then begin to move off slowly, and, 

 when he is within about two hundred and fifty 

 yards, it will probably break into a gallop. This 

 is the sportsman's moment. A good horse ridden 

 by a man who knows his business will be among 

 them before they have gone two hundred yards, to 

 shoot and slaughter at his pleasure. A poor horse, 

 or careful rider, and the hunter will find to his sor- 

 row that 'a stern chase is a long chase.' If a herd 

 is not overtaken in five or six hundred yards the 

 chase had better be abandoned, if any regard is to 

 be had for the horse. The difficulty in this hunting 

 is that the herd is enveloped in a cloud of dust, 

 which prevents very careful aim ; the explosion of 

 the pistol creates a turmoil, confusion, and change 

 of places among the flying animals, rendering it 

 almost impossible to shoot at any individual buffalo 

 more than once; and their vitality is so great, that 

 it is an exceedingly rare exception when one is 

 brought down by a single shot. 



"The danger is not so much from the buffalo, who 

 rarely makes an effort to injure his pursuer, as from 

 the fact that neither man nor horse can see the 

 ground, which may be rough or broken and per- 

 forated with prairie-dog or gopher holes. This 

 danger is so imminent that a man who runs into 

 a herd of buffalo may be said to take his life in 

 his hand. 



"I have never known a man hurt by a buffalo in 

 such a case. I have known of at least six killed, 

 and a very great many more or less injured, 

 some very severely, by their horses falling with 

 them. 



"The knowledge of the danger, the rush of the 

 horse, the thundering tread of the flying brutes, the 

 turmoil, the dust, the uncertainty, and, above all, 

 the near proximity and ferocious aspect of the 

 lumbering throng, furnish excitement enough to set 

 wild the man who is new to it. There is, however, 

 a sameness about it which soon palls, and an old 

 buffalo hunter rarely runs buffalo." Dodge.} 



