The Bison or American Buffalo. 241 



five or fifty yards away. They fired together, each 

 mortally wounding his animal, and then, rushing in as the 

 herd halted in confusion, and following them as they ran, 

 impeded by numbers, hurry, and panic, they eventually 

 got three more. 



On another occasion the same two hunters nearly met 

 with a frightful death, being overtaken by a vast herd of 

 stampeded buffaloes. All animals that go in herds are 

 subject to these instantaneous attacks of uncontrollable 

 terror, under the influence of which they become perfectly 

 mad, and rush headlong in dense masses on any form of 

 death. Horses, and more especially cattle, often suffer 

 from stampedes ; it is a danger against which the cowboys 

 are compelled to be perpetually on guard. A band of 

 stampeded horses, sweeping in mad terror up a valley, 

 will dash against a rock or tree with such violence as to 

 leave several dead animals at its base, while the survivors 

 race on without halting ; they will overturn and destroy 

 tents and wagons, and a man on foot caught in the rush 

 has but a small chance for his life. A buffalo stampede 

 is much worse or rather was much worse, in the old days 

 because of the great weight and immense numbers of 

 the beasts, which, in a fury of heedless terror, plunged 

 over cliffs and into rivers, and bore down whatever was 

 in their path. On the occasion in question, my brother 

 and cousin were on their way homeward. They were just 

 mounting one of the long, low swells, into which the 

 prairie was broken, when they heard a low, muttering, 

 rumbling noise, like far-off thunder. It grew steadily 

 louder, and, not knowing what it meant, they hurried for 



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