American Big-Game Hunting 



herds had been broken up and scattered, and 

 the miserable survivors had been so chased 

 and harried that at last they learned to start 

 and run even at their own shadows. 



Another peculiarity of the buffalo was its 

 habit, when stampeded, of dashing blindly 

 forward against, over, or through anything 

 that might be in the way. When running, a 

 herd of buffalo followed its leaders, and yet 

 these leaders lost the power of stopping, or 

 even of turning aside, because they were con- 

 stantly crowded upon and pushed forward 

 by those behind. This explains why herds 

 would dash into mire or quicksands, as they 

 often did, and thus perish by the thousand. 

 Those in front could not stop, while those be- 

 hind could not see the danger toward which 

 they were rushing. So, too, they ran into 

 rivers, or into traps made for them by the 

 Indians, or against railroad cars, or even 

 dashed into the rivers and swam blindly 

 against the sides of steamboats. If an ob- 

 stacle lay squarely across their path, they 

 tried to go through it, but if it lay at an angle 

 to their course, they would turn a little to 

 follow it, as will be shown further on. 



164 



