The Bison or American Buffalo 13 



When camp was pitched the horses were 

 turned loose to graze and refresh themselves 

 after their trying journey, during which they 

 had lost flesh wofully. They were watched 

 and tended by the two men who were always 

 left in camp, and, save on rare occasions, were 

 only used to haul in the buffalo hides. The 

 camp-guards for the time being acted as cooks; 

 and, though coffee and flour both ran short 

 and finally gave out, fresh meat of every kind 

 was abundant. The camp was never without 

 buffalo-beef, deer, and antelope venison, wild 

 turkeys, prairie-chickens, quails, ducks, and 

 rabbits. The birds were simply "potted," as 

 occasion required; when the quarry was deer 

 or antelope, the hunters took the dogs with 

 them to run down the wounded animals. But 

 almost the entire attention of the hunters was 

 given to the buffalo. After an evening spent 

 in lounging round the camp-fire and a sound 

 night's sleep, wrapped in robes and blankets, 

 they would get up before daybreak, snatch a 

 hurried breakfast, and start off in couples 

 through the chilly dawn. The great beasts 

 were very plentiful; in the first day's hunt 

 twenty were slain; but the herds were restless 

 and ever on the move. Sometimes they would 

 be seen right by the camp, and again it would 



