THE BUFFALO-RUNNERS 79 



wary hunters trampled to death under a multitude of 

 hoofs; wounded buffalo turning with fury on their 

 assailants till the pursuer became pursued and only the 

 fleetness of the pony saved the hunter s life. 



A retired officer of the North-West mounted police, 

 who took part in a Missouri buffalo-run forty years ago, 

 described the impression at the time as of an earth 

 quake. The galloping horses, the rocking mass of flee 

 ing buffalo, the rumbling and quaking of the ground 

 under the thunderous pounding, were all like a violent 

 earthquake. The same gentleman tells how he once 

 saw a wounded buffalo turn on an Indian hunter. The 

 man s horse took fright. Instead of darting sideways 

 to give him a chance to send a last finishing shot home, 

 the horse became wildly unmanageable and fled. The 

 buffalo pursued. Off they raced, rider and buffalo, the 

 Indian craning over his horse s neck, the horse blown 

 and fagged and unable to gain one pace ahead of the 

 buffalo, the great beast covered with foam, his eyes 

 like fire, pounding and pounding closer and closer to 

 the horse till rider and buffalo disappeared over the 

 horizon. 



&quot; To this day I have wondered what became of that 

 Indian,&quot; said the officer, &quot; for the horse was losing and 

 the buffalo gaming when they went over the bluff.&quot; 



The incident illustrates a trait seldom found in wild 

 animals a persistent vindictiveness. 



In a word, buffalo-hunting was not all boys play. 



After the hunt came the gathering of skins and 

 meat. The tongue was first taken as a delicacy for the 

 great feast that celebrated every buffalo-hunt. To this 

 was sometimes added the fleece fat or hump. White 

 hunters have been accused of waste, because they used 



