BUFFALO COW AND HER CALF. 31 



but man's voice always lias its effect in cases of this 

 kind. The vermin, with startled stare, plainly asking 

 what the deuce right I had to interfere, sulkily trotted 

 off as I advanced ; while the persecuted, in return for 

 my kindness, lowered his head, and pushed rapidly 

 for me, compelling me to seek safety in flight. Such 

 conduct in the buffalo was scarcely commendable, and 

 very unusual. I accounted for it by the harassing his 

 temper had suffered, as well as his feeling how inade- 

 quate his strength was for escape by flight. Poor old 

 creature, his days were numbered ; for as soon as my 

 back was turned, and a safe distance intervened 

 between us, the wolves returned, and as I rode home- 

 wards, occasionally turning and halting to watch the 

 gradually more indistinct belligerents, the victim was 

 still emplo3 T ed in battling for life. After all, was he 

 not paying the debt of nature, and dying as his 

 ancestors for generations had died before him ? Man 

 yields his spirit to the source from whence it ema- 

 nates, on a luxurious couch or humble straw bed, 

 after frequently suffering from protracted and painful 

 illness. The veteran buffalo, effete from age, after a 

 long and happy life, when unable to keep with his 

 companions, dies in a gallant and short struggle, over- 

 powered by his too numerous enemies, a death worthy 

 of a hero. 



The cow calves in spring, although I have, on several 

 occasions, met with a mother as late as the end of July 

 with a youngster by her side, not over a couple of weeks 

 old. The attachment shown by the parent for her off- 

 spring, and the solicitude she evinces for its safety, 

 impart a touching lesson, which even the human family 

 would do well to follow. I remember on one occasion 



