12 RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 



shaggy monarchs of the wild still survive. Continual 

 slaughter by the half-breed hunters, and the ceaseless 

 war waged against them by the Indians, who live 

 almost solely on their flesh, have at last told upon 

 their numbers. 



Before the Pacific Railway was made, the buffalo 

 herds ranged from the Great Slave Lake in the north 

 to the fertile prairies of Texas in the south. But now 

 the myriad droves which formerly blackened the plains 

 no longer exist, and the few survivors of the southern 

 herds find temporary security in the wild territories 

 of New Mexico, Arizona, and Panhandle Texas, while 

 those in the north are driven deeper and deeper into 

 the wilderness each successive year. 



In the extensive forests of the Athabasca, there is 

 an anknal of the same species the wood bison 

 larger and fiercer than his brethren of the plains ; but 

 he too is scarce. It is possible that this animal was 

 originally identical with the common buffalo, but that, 

 forced by circumstances to the shelter of the forests, 

 he, as has occurred in the case of other animals, be- 

 came somewhat modified in habit and appearance, in 

 order to conform to the requirements of his new habitat. 



In the immense regions lying north-west of Mani- 

 toba many other valuable animals are to be found. 

 These we shall describe in the course of this narrative 

 of adventure. 



The geography of these wild regions is little known 

 to the general reader. Chartographers, and the few 



