240 



SPORTING ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



had ascertained their extent, I vaulted into the saddle 

 and started for camp, as I was a little bit shaken, and my 

 horse seemed to be unsteady and nervous. After a refresh- 



BirFKALO-UirNTINa. 



ing drink of water, 

 which I procui'ed in 

 a thread-like brook, 

 I moved south once 

 moi'e, and, on reach- 

 ing the hillock from 

 which I had started 

 on the last run, saw herd after herd of buffaloes come 

 thundering toward me. The many puffs of whitish smoke 

 which hung over them proved that they were being pur- 

 sued by white men, and the black dots on the prairie 

 proved how destructive the shooting was. The picture 

 presented by the advancing hosts might have been appre- 

 ciated at any other time; but just then it was anything 

 but agreeable, as I feared I would be entangled in their 

 midst; for my horse was too tired to flee before them, 

 and the columns were too wide to cross their front be- 

 fore they could reach me ; so there was nothing left but 

 to try and pass between two herds, or open a gap by scar- 

 ing the animals with voice and weapon. When the mul- 

 titudes came near my position some of the leaders winded 

 me; and the moment they did so they gave way to the 

 left, and they were followed by those directly behind, while 

 others swerved to the right and divided up into groups. I 

 darted into one of the lanes, and, by using voice and re- 

 volver, produced such an effect that the herds forced them- 



