374 Sport and Life. 



carried concealed, and when the animals became demonstrative they were 

 jabbed into the tough hides or hurled at the big humps with all the force 

 possible. At first the burly fellows received these attacks with a pained 

 surprise, but in time they apparently concluded that these mysterious prods 

 were a part of man and they had better not provoke attack. At any rate, 

 they have become quite docile under that treatment. Men go among them 

 freely, separating them or driving them about as readily as though they 

 were so many cows. 



In connection with his work of domestication Mr. Jones has 

 experimented with the buffalo's fur, and has succeeded in making a cloth 

 as fine as lamb's wool. Under the long coarse hair of the animal is a 

 soft fur of the softness of swansdown. When the hair is shed in the 

 summer the under fur either falls off or is plucked by hand. In the latter 

 case the animals are tied, and the more unruly are thrown to the ground 

 and their legs fastened by ropes to posts fore and aft. There are ten to 

 twelve pounds of fur on an animal enough to make a big brown blanket 

 as warm as an old-time buffalo robe and as light as a bedspread. This 

 cloth sells as high as 2odols. a yard. Mr. Jones wears in winter -an 

 overcoat made of it and trimmed with f he glossy fur of the catalo, and 

 underclothing, stockings, and other garments have been woven of the 

 same material. He presented one of the blankets to the Prince of Wales 

 for use as a lap robe, and received a grateful acknowledgment of the 

 unique gift. 



In his several expeditions Mr. Jones captured 130 buffaloes, eighty -two 

 of which survived. Full-grown animals taken wild invariably died in 

 captivity. He had no success saving any over six months old. Many 

 animals, even among the younger ones, died apparently in fits of anger. 

 When they found themselves prisoners they went into a fearful rage, 

 stiffened their limbs as though in cramps, lay down, and died. Others 

 broke their necks in trying to escape. 



On his first expedition Mr. Jones captured eleven buffaloes, but saved 

 only four. He was 200 miles from a ranch having a cow, and he had to 

 feed the little fellows on condensed milk, which did not agree with them. 

 On his third trip he took cows with him to the staked plains of Texas, and 

 out of thirty-seven buffaloes saved thirty --two. 



Most of the animals that survived were from three weeks to four 

 months old. The buffalo calf is of a tawny colour, resembling the hues 

 of the sand and the grass and the shrubbery of the great plains. For the 

 first three weeks of its life it is hidden by its mother, and its colour blends 

 so closely with its surroundings that wolves and other enemies may pass 

 within a rod of it without discovering its presence. 



