BUFFALO HUNTING. 71 



the gradually more indistinct belligerents, the victim 

 was still employed in battling for life. After allj was 

 he not paying the debt of nature, and dying as his 

 ancestors for generations had died before him ? Man 

 yields his spirit to the source from whence it emanates, 

 on a luxurious couch or humble straw bed, after fre- 

 quently suffering from protracted and painful illness. 

 The veteran buffalo, effete from age, after a long and 

 happy life, when unable to keep with his companions, 

 dies in a gallant and short struggle, overpowered by 

 his too numerous enemies, a death worthy of a hero. 



The cow produces her calf in spring, although I 

 have, on several occasions, met with a mother as 

 late as the end of July with a youngster by her side, 

 not over a couple of weeks old. The attachment 

 shown by the parent for her offspring, and the 

 solicitude she evinces for its safety, impart a touching 

 lesson, which even the human family would do well 

 to follow. I remember on one occasion I had been 

 setting traps in a small stream that had abundant 

 signs that beaver were numerous in the vicinity. 

 I had waded up this watercourse for upwards of a 

 mile, all the time being hid from view of animals 

 on the prairie by the bluffness of the banks. Having 

 performed my task, I left the stream and ascended 

 to the level of the country. The first glance I took 



