76 LIFE IN THE FAR WEST 



throwing his lasso on the ground to trail behind when 

 he wished to catch her. Then, rifle in hand, he ap- 

 proached the huge animals, and, being a good hunter, 

 knew well to take advantage of the inequalities of the 

 ground and face the wind ; by which means he crawled 

 at length to within forty yards of the buffalo, which 

 quietly cropped the grass, unconscious of danger. Now, 

 for the first time, he gazed upon the noble beast he had 

 so often heard of, and longed to see. With coal-black 

 beard sweeping the ground as he fed, an enormous bull 

 was in advance of the others, his wild brilliant eyes 

 peering from an immense mass of shaggy hair, which 

 covered his neck and shoulder. From this point his 

 skin was smooth as one's hand, a sleek and shining dun, 

 and his ribs were well covered with shaking flesh. 

 Whilst leisurely cropping the short curly grass, he 

 occasionally lifted his tail into the air, and stamped 

 his foot as a fly or mosquito annoyed him flapping the 

 intruder with his tail, or snatching at the itching part 

 with his ponderous head. 



When La Bonte had sufficiently admired the buffalo, 

 he lifted his rifle, and, taking steady aim, and certain of 

 his mark, pulled the trigger, expecting to see the huge 

 beast fall over at the report. What was his surprise 

 and consternation, however, to see the animal only flinch 

 when the ball struck him, and then gallop off, followed 

 by the others, apparently unhurt. As is generally the 

 case with greenhorns, he had fired too high, ignorant 

 that the only certain spot to strike a buffalo is but a few 

 inches above the brisket, and that a higher shot is rarely 



