260 WALL STREET AND THE WILDS 



upon the ground as I was I could have put a 

 dozen consecutive bullets within a four inch cir- 

 cle at that distance, but the missile I sent with 

 careful aim produced no visible effect. The buf- 

 falo stood unmoved by shock of missile or report 

 of rifle. It had ceased feeding and my wonder- 

 ing gaze rested upon it for minutes as it seemed 

 to me. Then throwing a cartridge from maga- 

 zine to barrel I was again taking careful aim 

 when the grand old bull sank slowly to the earth, 

 dead, with a bullet through his heart! 



Several times in the past forty years have I 

 witnessed a similar phenomenon. In Colorado 

 I sent a bullet through the heart of an elk which 

 stood unmoving until I had followed it with four 

 others and later found that the palm of my hand 

 would have covered the five bullet holes in the 

 body of the creature. With a similar result I 

 struck a tarpon with a harpoon off Cape Sable. 

 Instead of the leap that would not have failed to 

 follow once in a thousand times, the tarpon lay 

 dead with no more motion of fin or muscle than 



