THE niTFALO. 197 



crs followed them, they took excellent care not to go too 

 near for fear of the consequences. The two had not trav- 

 elled far before .they met a herd, and this they joined, the 

 youngster taking its place in the middle with the cows and 

 calves. It is no unusual incident for wounded buffaloes to 

 be protected from wolves by those that are not; and the 

 bulls are certainly entitled to be classed in some charac- 

 teristics with the knights of old, who fought for love, not 

 gold. I saw a bull come to the aid of a wounded cow that 

 was being pursued by a horseman, run with her for a mile 

 or two, and change sides whenever the pursuer did, as if 

 he would guard her from all danger. His gallantry would 

 have been rewarded but for the fact that his companion 

 was so badly injured that she could not live, and the hunt- 

 er thought it better to kill her than leave her to be wor- 

 ried to death by wolves. Even cows show courage occa- 

 sionally, especially if assembled in numbers, and boldly 

 charge wolves that may threaten themselves or their young. 

 I knew one to dash after a hunter who was trying to lasso 

 her calf, and he only escaped her horns by killing her with 

 a lucky shot just as she was about attacking him. It is a 

 common idea among hunters that the cows have little af- 

 fection for their calves, and that they will desert them in a 

 moment if threatened by any danger. While this is gen- 

 erally true, yet there are some notable exceptions ; and any 

 person who has ever seen a mother lick and fondle her 

 young one must know she has a deep feeling for it. I 

 have known a cow which left her calf in a little dell come 

 bounding and bellowing about our party to see if we had 

 captured it, and, when she did not find it, go dashing back 

 again in a state of the greatest excitement, and bellowing 

 loudly for it. 



A mother has even been known to charge headlong into 

 a small valley in which her young one was concealed, on 

 finding a hunter there, and cause him to run for his life; 

 and another not only charged a body of mounted hunters, 

 on suspicion that they had stolen her calf, but dashed 

 wildly up and down, and circled round a flying column 



