THE BUFFALO. 207 



range. The best buffalo-hunters burn the hair on nearly 

 every one they slay, so close do they approach, and they 

 generally aim for the spinal column or the ribs. The nov- 

 ice, in running them, might not do much better than to hit 

 them in the fore-shoulder, for that soon causes them to 

 halt, as the fore-quarters are so heavy that they cannot be 

 sustained long by only one leg; and if wounded in that 

 part, the hunter can finish them when he pleases. A very 

 necessary element to attain success in hunting the buffalo 

 is a fast and courageous horse that can be kept under con- 

 trol, and will not lose his head in a stampede or be afraid 

 of ranging along-side a herd when it is in motion. For this 

 purpose an American horse — as all horses are called that 

 do not belong to the Indians, or, rather, that do not come 

 under the head of cayuse — is preferable to a mustang, so 

 far as my experience goes ; for he has greater speed for a 

 long run, is more intelligent, more tractable, and will go 

 until he drops; whereas the other is liable to bolt at any 

 moment, unless very well trained, and will often stop when- 

 ever he feels that he has done enough. I have been with 

 a party that ran buffaloes for four days, at an average rate 

 of fifty miles a day ; and those who rode American horses 

 killed more than those who rode mustangs, and their ani- 

 mals were also fresher when the run was over. 



I heard of even a better case than this from an army of- 

 ficer, who is now on the high-road to fame; for he told me 

 that he had ridden an average of fifty miles a day for ten 

 days after buffaloes with two American horses, whereas 

 some of his troopers, who were mounted on mustangs, 

 could scarcely keep in sight of the herds after the fourth 

 or fifth day. The most famous scouts and buffalo-hunters 

 that I met in the West were dubious about using pure mus- 

 tangs in a long buffalo chase, and I know for a fact that 

 those deemed to be the most successful did not employ 

 them. I have ridden mustangs in the chase on various oc- 

 casions; but the greatest fault I found with them was then- 

 propensity to bolt suddenly at a right angle whenever a 

 wounded buffalo assumed a threatening attitude; and if a 



