THE BISON. 27 



shoulders; and the size of these animals varies so com- 

 pletely, that it is difficult to give an idea of their height. 



Upon taking a slight survey of this creature, he bears 

 some resemblance to the lion's race; he has a thick long 

 shaggy mane, and a beard extending from the throat 

 to the chin ; his head is small ; his eyes fiery and red, 

 and so full of fury and ill-nature that they absolutely 

 intimidate with their glare ; the forehead is extremely 

 wide ; the horns large, and placed so far asunder that 

 three men might easily sit in the space ; on the middle 

 of the back there rises a hump, nearly as high as a ca- 

 mel's, and covered with hair ; and those who hunt the 

 animal for the sake of its food, consider it as a most de- 

 licate and luxurious treat. In a state of nature this 

 creature is so wild, that the hunters are obliged to fly 

 for safety to those trees where their thick foliage secures 

 them from his sight; and he can only be taken by 

 digging deep pits in the earth, and covering them 

 over with grass and boughs of trees, when the noise of 

 the hunters impel him forward, and he is suddenly pre- 

 cipitated into their snare. 



Though this creature seems so untameable in its na- 

 tural state, it may easily be made subservient to the will 

 of man ; and the Hottentots, in particular, have so com- 

 pletely subdued them, that they seem to consider them 

 as domestic friends ; they bend their knees to receive 

 all burdens, and are as completely gentle as the most 

 docile of our steeds. 



The bisons, or cows with a hump, differ according to 

 the parts of the world in which they are found ; though 

 it is generally allowed that the tame ones diminish very 

 much in size when compared with the wild. Some have 

 horns, and some are without; some have them de- 

 pressed, and others raised: but all become docile and 



