The Lordly Buffalo 271 



falo. The animal is so tough and tenacious of life 

 that it must be hit in the right spot; and care must 

 be used in approaching it, for its nose is very keen, 

 and though its sight is dull, yet, on the other hand, 

 the plains it frequents are singularly bare of cover; 

 while, finally, there is just a faint spice of danger 

 in the pursuit, for the bison, though the least dan- 

 gerous of all bovine animals, will, on occasions, 

 turn upon the hunter, and though its attack is, as 

 a rule, easily avoided, yet in rare cases it manages 

 to charge home. A ranchman of my acquaintance 

 once, many years ago, went out buffalo hunting on 

 horseback, together with a friend who was unused 

 to the sport, and who was mounted on a large, un- 

 trained, nervous horse. While chasing a bull, the 

 friend's horse became unmanageable, and when the 

 bull turned, proved too clumsy to get out of the way, 

 and was caught on the horns, one of which entered 

 its flank, while the other inflicted a huge, bruised 

 gash across the man's thigh, tearing the muscles all 

 out. Both horse and rider were flung to the ground 

 with tremendous violence. The horse had to be 

 killed, and the man died in a few hours from the 

 shock, loss of blood, and internal injuries. Such an 

 accident, however, is very exceptional. 



My brother was in at the death of the great 

 southern herds in 1877, an d had a good deal of ex- 

 perience in buffalo hunting; and once or twice was 

 charged by old bulls, but never had any difficulty 

 in either evading the charge or else killing the brute 

 as it came on. My cousin, John Roosevelt, also 



