288 BUFFALO LAND. 



ing about, wiili head down, made a dart for the open 

 space between Sachem and the guide. As they closed 

 to prevent his escape, our fat friend went down with 

 a butt in the stomach, which, although far from 

 pleasant, was nevertheless the occasion of sufficient 

 delay on the part of the calf to enable the guide and 

 Semi-Colon to lay firm hold upon him. It was 

 wonderful what a warlike little fellow he proved, 

 butting undauntedly at our legs, and uttering, as he 

 did so, a hissing noise. "But me no butts," ex- 

 claimed the Professor, with a facetiousness which 

 from him was almost as amusing to the rest of us as 

 the pugnacity of the calf, as he sprang aside to avoid 

 a blow on the knee, and suddenly recognized Duty's 

 call in another direction. It was not long, however, 

 before the little animal was securely bound, and laid 

 in one of the wagons, which by this time had come 

 up. 



The work of skinning and cutting up our game 

 now began, the robe of the cow proving finer than 

 that from either of the others. Our men told us that 

 from one position old hunters sometimes shoot down 

 a dozen buffalo before the herd takes flight. Success 

 is much more probable if the first victim is a female. 



Other herds invited our attention, and by three 

 o'clock in the afternoon we had twenty quarters se- 

 cured, and were returning to camp. Onh^ the first 

 three robes had been taken off, the skin being left on 

 the rest of the meat, the better to preserve it from 

 soiling. 



Such hunting fatigues one, and we were glad 

 enough to see the smol^e of our fire rising from the 



