The Lordly Buffalo. 26 7 



mud. I was off at once and floundered to the bank, 

 loosening the lariat from the saddle-bow ; and both of us 

 turning to with a will, and bringing the other pony in to 

 our aid, hauled him out by the rope, pretty nearly stran- 

 gling him in so doing ; and he looked rather a melancholy 

 object as he stood up, trembling and shaking, and plas- 

 tered with mire from head to tail. 



So far the trip had certainly not been a success, al- 

 though sufficiently varied as regards its incidents ; we had 

 been confined to moist biscuits for three days as our food ; 

 had been wet and cold at night, and sunburned till our 

 faces peeled in the day ; were hungry and tired, and had 

 met with bad weather, and all kinds of accidents ; in ad- 

 dition to which I had shot badly. But a man who is fond 

 of sport, and yet is not naturally a good hunter, soon 

 learns that if he wishes any success at all he must both 

 keep in memory and put in practice Anthony Trollope's 

 famous precept : " It 's dogged as does it." And if he 

 keeps doggedly on in his course the odds are heavy that 

 in the end the longest lane will prove to have a turning. 

 Such was the case on this occasion. 



Shortly after mid-day we left the creek bottom, and 

 skirted a ridge of broken buttes, cut up by gullies and 

 winding ravines, in whose bottoms grew bunch grass. 

 While passing near the mouth, and to leeward of one 

 of these ravines, both ponies threw up their heads, and 

 snuffed the air, turning their muzzles towards the head 

 of the gully. Feeling sure that they had smelt some 

 wild beast, either a bear or a buffalo, I slipped off my 

 pony, and ran quickly but cautiously up along the valley. 



