WESTERN WILD SPORTS. 149 



cept in the vicinity of a few of the larger western cities, utterly 

 unknown and unpractised. 



Of these fine animals, I shall proceed to give brief geologi- 

 cal descriptions from the best authorities, and shall then close 

 this volume and the work, by a short narrative of the various 

 modes in use of pursuing and capturing each secundum artem, 

 reserving only space for a few hints on the fish and fishing of 

 the continent, and for a small appendix on various things re- 

 garding field sports generally, which could not properly be 

 introduced under special heads, or which have casually escaped 

 ray attention in the body of the work. 



THE BISON — VULGO, BUFFALO. 



Bos. Americanus ; Gemel. Taurus Mexicanus ; Hernand. Mex. 

 587. Tauri Vaccaeque ; Ibid, Anim. p. 10. The Buffalo ; 

 Cateshy, Carol. 28, tab. 20. Boeuf. Savage ; Dupratz, Loui- 

 siane, ii. 66. American Bull ; Penn. Quad. 



" From other species of the Ox kind, the Bison is well dis- 

 tinguished by the following peculiarities. A long, shaggy hair 

 clothes the fore parts of the body, forming a well-marked beard, 

 beneath the lower jaw, and descending behind the knee in a 

 tuft. This hair rises on the top of the head in a dense mass, 

 nearly as high as the extremities of the horns. Over the fore- 

 head it is closely curled, and matted, so thickly, as to deaden the 

 force of a rifle ball, which either rebounds, or lodges in the 

 hair, merely causing the animal to shake his head as he heavily 

 bounds along. 



" The head of the Bison is large and ponderous, compared to 

 the size of the body; so that the muscles for its support, neces- 



