286 BUFFALO LAND. 



near her, was not at all frightened. Almost simul- 

 taneously, the guns of the whole party were at 

 shoulder, and just as the cow lifted her head again, 

 to watch the movement, we fired. The fate of that 

 bison was as effectually sealed as that of the con- 

 demned army horse which was first used to tell 

 Paris and the world the terrors of the mitrailleuse. 

 The poor creature gave a quick whirl to the right, 

 made two convulsive jumps, and then stood still. 

 She dropped her nose, a gush of blood following 

 fast; her whole frame shuddered, as the air from the 

 lungs tried to force its way through the clotted tide, 

 and then she fell dead, almost crushing the calf 

 also. The smell of the blood seemed to excite the 

 bulls more than the report of the guns, which had 

 only startled them for an instant. Some stood 

 stupidly snuffing about the prostrate victim, while 

 others, straightening out their tails, marched un- 

 easily around. 



Lying on the ground, and our heads only visible, 

 we kept up a constant firing. It was almost im- 

 possible not to hit some of the old bulls. The 

 veterans were wounded rapidly, and in all portions 

 of their bodies. One old fellow, who had been 

 standing with his rear to us, suddenly took it into 

 his head to ^ run for dear life, and away he went 

 accordingly, with his hams looking very much like 

 the end of a huge pepper-box. Two or three others 

 soon began to show signs of grogginess, being drunk 

 with the blood which was collecting internally from 

 their many wounds. 



One bulky and distressed specimen suddenly 



