PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



I had been setting traps in a small stream with abundant 

 signs that beaver were numerous in the vicinity. I 

 had waded up this watercourse for upwards of a mile, 

 all the time being hidden from the view of the animals on 

 the prairie by the bluffness of the banks. Having per- 

 formed my task, I left the stream and ascended to the 

 level of the country. The first glance I took dis- 

 closed a beautiful and interesting picture, for a young 

 cow, with her calf almost between her legs, stood de- 

 terminedly facing several wolves. The baby was 

 evidently sick, and the instinct of the party of 

 prowlers told them so. My sympathies, of course, were 

 not with the aggressors ; and, the better to prove it, I 

 picked out the apparent ringleaders, doubling one up 

 with the first barrel, and accelerating the retreat of 

 another with a second ; for although he did not drop, 

 an ominous " thud " gave me the information that 

 he had received a hint that the neighbourhood 

 was dangerous, and that he had better leave it while 

 he had the power. In September the rutting 

 season commences, and furious encounters between 

 the bulls take place ; their actions on these occasions 

 remind the spectators very much of domestic cattle. 

 The combatants at first stand apart, eyeing each other 

 with flashing orbs, while they paw up the soil with 

 their feet, throwing it frequently over their withers ; 

 their short tails lash their sides, their horns are dug 

 into the soil, and the vegetation scattered to the 

 winds ; occasionally bellowing in a low guttural voice, 

 apparently using every effort to work themselves into 

 a fury. At length they rush at each other ; the shock 

 sometimes brings one or both to their knees ; this is 

 repeated again and again ; for over thirty minutes 



