18 TONGU1NG A BUFFALO. 



and then my horse began to forge ahead, and I saw that I 

 should have the first shot. I was soon alongside (for a good 

 horse can very soon overhaul a buffalo) and fired, aiming well 

 forward as I had been told to do, missing him clean and cutting 

 up the dust in front of him. I was now a little in front of 

 the bull, which putting his tail up charged me, and for a few 

 seconds seemed to be awfully near, I climbing on the front 

 of the saddle, as all " tenderfeet " do under such circum- 

 stances, having the idea that I was getting faster out of the 

 animars reach. As I got away and tried to turn my horse 



for a second shot, I saw M range up and fire, hitting 



the buffalo, which stumbled and stood still for a moment, and 



then seeing C close to him he made a desperate rush at 



him, and the two disappeared over a rise in the prairie, it 

 seemed to me within three feet of one another. 



On regaining control of my horse, I rode after them and 



found M and C standing over the bull, which it seems 



M had killed, and we decided that as he was old and thin, 



we would only take the tongue, this being always good eating. 

 We had not been shown how to do this, so we supposed it 

 was done from the mouth, and with great trouble we prized 

 the jaws open, putting a wooden stirrup to keep them so, and 

 then pulled at the tongue, only succeeding in getting about three 

 quarters of it, and even this very much hacked about; the 

 proper way being to set the animal's head nose in the air, by 

 sticking the horns in the ground, and then to cut the skin from 

 the under side of the jaw and take the tongue out from below, 

 and in this way it is very easily done. 



We found no more buffalo that day, but we got Laronde to 

 go with us on the morrow, and soon came across a small band 



