190 BUFFALO LAND. 



Let me say, en passant, that I am trying to chron- 

 icle minutely the events which befel our half-scien- 

 tific, half-sporting, and somewhat incongruous party 

 on its* trip through Buffalo Land ; and, although my 

 readers may think us particularly unfortunate, we 

 really suffered no more than amateurs usually do. 

 My object is to set up guide boards at the dangerous 

 places, that other travelers may avoid the pitfalls 

 and the perils into which we fell. And to every 

 amateur hunter we beg to offer this advice : Never 

 tie dead game upon a strange horse unless you owe 

 the rider a grudge. 



" Young men," said the Doctor, from his saddle, 

 "you have seen a beautiful illustration in the theory 

 of development. The hound and the antelope may 

 have been originally an oyster and a worm. From 

 their first slow motion, when one only opened its 

 jaws to seize the other, they have progressed until 

 the speed of to-day results. Should the hound ever 

 become wild, and pursuit and flight change to an 

 every-day matter instead of a holiday-sport, develop- 

 ment would still continue. A giraffe-like antelope, 

 with the speed of the wind, would fly before a hound 

 the size of a stag." The Doctor's "clinic," as 

 Sachem called it, was suddenly cut short at this 

 point by a struggle for mastery between himself and 

 the human spirit concealed in his horse. 



" How much," exclaimed the Professor, when Py- 

 thagoras had at length come off triumphant, and we 

 again moved forward " How much the race that we 

 have witnessed is like that we all run. Powerful and 

 eager as the greyhound, man sees flying before him, 



