136 GAME. 



Hiding his every movement, the heavy rifle is brought 

 to bear, and a bullet sent into the heart of the nearest 

 buffalo. The animal makes a plunge forward, walks a 

 few steps, and stops with the blood streaming from his 

 nostrils. The other buffalo, startled at the report, rush 

 together, but, neither seeing nor smelling danger, stare 

 in uneasy wonder. Attracted by the blood they collect 

 about the wounded buffalo. Another bullet is now sent 

 in ; another buffalo plunges, stops, and bleeds. The 

 others will stare, and, seeming to think the wounded 

 animals responsible for the unusual noise, concentrate 

 their attention on them. Again and again the rifle 

 cracks. Buffalo after buffalo bleeds, totters, and falls. 

 The survivors stare in imbecile amazement. 



The game is so near, and the shooter so well under- 

 stands his business, that but one shot is necessary for 

 each life. The wounded animal may walk off some dis- 

 tance, but is sure to come down. 



When the shooter has killed or mortally wounded 

 as many as his party can skin, he crawls off as cautiously 

 as he approached, and returns, well satisfied, to camp. 



This is called in hunters' language ' getting a stand ;' 

 and the number killed by the hunter, under such circum- 

 stances, is only limited by the number of animals in the 

 herd, or the capacity of the hunting party to skin. 



I have myself counted 112 carcasses inside of a semi- 

 circle of 200 yards radius, all of which were killed by 

 one man from the same spot, and in less than three- 

 quarters of an hour. 



Sometimes the buffalo will stand even when they see 

 their enemy. Two such instances have occurred to me. 

 Once returning down the Arkansas Eiver from an ex- 

 ploring expedition, I had arrived within a day's journey 

 of my post, and wished to take in a quantity of meat. 

 A herd of some seventy-five finding itself on the wrong, 

 or river, side of me, dashed past at full speed. I fired. 

 The herd disappeared on to a table land to my left. I 



