BUFFALO. 127 



250 yards, it will probably break into a gallop. This is the 

 sportsman's moment. A good horse ridden by a man who 

 knows his business will be among them before they have 

 gone 200 yards, to shoot and slaughter at his pleasure. A 

 poor horse, or careful rider, and the hunter will find to his 

 sorrow that ' a stern chase is a long chase.' If a herd is not 

 overtaken in 500 or 600 yards 'the chase had better be aban- 

 doned, if any regard is to be had for the horse. The diffi- 

 culty in this hunting is that the herd is enveloped in a cloud 

 of dust, which prevents very careful aim ; the explosion of 

 the pistol creates a turmoil, confusion, and change of 

 places among the flying animals, rendering it almost 

 impossible to shoot at any individual buffalo more than 

 once ; and their vitality is so great, that it is an exceed- 

 ingly rare exception when one is brought down by a 

 single shot. 



The danger is not so much from the buffalo, which 

 rarely makes an effort to injure his pursuer, as from the 

 fact that neither man nor horse can see the ground, which 

 may be rough and broken or perforated with prairie dog 

 or gopher holes. This danger is so imminent that a man 

 who runs into a herd of buffalo may be said to take his 

 life in his hand. 



I have never known a man hurt by a buffalo in such 

 a chase. I have known of at least six killed, and a very 

 great many more or less injured, some very severely, by 

 their horses falling with them. 



The knowledge of the danger, the rush of the horse, 

 the thundering tread of the flying brutes, the turmoil, the 

 dust, the uncertainty, and, above all, the near proximity 

 and ferocious aspect of the lumbering throng, furnish 

 excitement enough to set wild the man who is new to it. 

 There is, however, a sameness about it which soon palls, 

 and an old buffalo hunter rarely runs buffalo. It is very 

 good for an occasional ' flyer,' but frequent repetition is 

 like eating quail on toast every day for a month mono- 

 tonous. However ardent the sportsman, however ardent 



