The Lordly Buffalo 267 



their speed was not such as to enable them to flee 

 from a horseman ; and their size and strength merely 

 made them too clumsy either to escape from or to 

 contend with their foes. Add to this the fact that 

 their hides and flesh were valuable, and it is small 

 wonder that under the new order of things they 

 should have vanished with such rapidity. 



The incoming of the cattlemen was another 

 cause of the completeness of their destruction. 

 Wherever there is good feed for a buffalo, there is 

 good feed for a steer or cow ; and so the latter have 

 penetrated into all the pastures of the former; and 

 of course the cowboys follow. A cowboy is not 

 able to kill a deer or antelope unless in exceptional 

 cases, for they are too fleet, too shy, or keep them- 

 selves too well hidden. But a buffalo neither 

 tries nor is able to do much in the way of hiding 

 itself; its senses are too dull to give it warning in 

 time; and it is not so swift as a horse, so that a 

 cowboy, riding round in the places where cattle, and 

 therefore buffalo, are likely to be, is pretty sure to 

 see any of the latter that may be about, and then can 

 easily approach near enough to be able to overtake 

 them when they begin running. The size and value 

 of the animal make the chase after it very keen. 

 Hunters will follow the trail of a band for days, 

 when they would not follow that of a deer or ante- 

 lope for a half hour. 



Events have developed a race of this species, 

 known either as the wood or mountain buffalo, 

 which is acquiring, and has already largely ac- 



