MAMMALS OP MINNESOTA. 265 



is no perceptible ridge outside the hollow. This feature is 

 doubtless due to the pawing of buffaloes in former years while 

 rubbing upon the boulders, the dust loosened in this manner be- 

 ing blown away by the winds. Mr. Pierre Bottineau, a very ex- 

 perienced and observing voyageur and guide, still living at Red 

 Lake Falls, attributes the polished surface of such projecting 

 boulders, and of the ledges of rock in Pipestone and Rock coun- 

 ties to rasping by the hair and horns of buffaloes in this way; 

 which seems more probable, than that this polishing was 

 done by wind-blown particles of sand and dust. (See Geol. Nat. 

 Hist. Surv. Minn., vol. i, pp. 63, 66 and 541; 1884). Catlin's 

 descriptions make it certain that the polished rock-surfaces in 

 the vicinity of the Pipestone quarry were much more noticeable 

 in his time than now. " Similar observations and explanations are 

 recorded by Dr. George M. Dawson in the region of the Bow 

 and Belly rivers east of the Rocky mountains in British America, 

 where he states that "all the larger boulders of the district are 

 surrounded by a shallow saucerlike depression, caused by the 

 pawing of the buffalo, and their angles are worn quite smooth 

 and glossy by the rubbing of these animals upon them." (Rep. 

 Prog. Geol. Surv. Canada, 1882-'84, p. 149c.) 



Mr. Upham also writes, "another notable feature ascribed 

 to buffaloes is the very rough surface often found on areas of 

 slightly moist land in the Red river valley, the ground being 

 indented by many hollows and holes five to twenty feet across, 

 and one to five feet deep, with steep sides. These are com- 

 monly called 'buffalo-wallows'." This propensity to wallow 

 and roll in the mire reminds one of the buffalo proper of warm 

 regions, and is not found in the animals of the genus Bos. 

 Allen says, ' ' their especial delight is to roll in che mud, or in 

 'wallowing' as it is called, from which exercise they arise 

 looking more like an animated mass of mud than their former 

 selves. The object of these peculiar ablutions is doubtless to 

 cool their heated bodies and to free themselves from trouble- 

 some insects. When not finding a muddy pool ready at hand, 

 an old bull proceeds to prepare one. Finding in the low parts 

 of the prairies, says Catlin, a little stagnant water amongst the 

 grass, and the ground underneath soft and saturated with 

 moisture, an old bull lowers himself upon one knee, plunges 

 his horns into the ground, throwing up the earth and soon 

 making an excavation into which the water trickles, forming 

 for him in a short time a cool and comfortable bath, in which 

 he wallows ' like a hog in the mire.' In this 'delectable lava ' 

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