The Bison or American Bttffalo. 237 



they were flying directly overhead from one cliff to the 

 other. He had in his hand a thirty-eight calibre Ballard 

 rifle, and, as the gobblers winged their way heavily by, he 

 brought both down with two successive bullets. This was 

 of course mainly a piece of mere luck ; but it meant good 

 shooting, too. The Ballard was a very accurate, handy 

 little weapon ; it belonged to me, and was the first rifle I 

 ever owned or used. With it I had once killed a deer, the 

 only specimen of large game I had then shot ; and I pre- 

 sented the rifle to my brother when he went to Texas. In 

 our happy ignorance we deemed it quite good enough for 

 buffalo or anything else ; but out on the plains my brother 

 soon found himself forced to procure a heavier and more 

 deadly weapon. 



When camp was pitched the horses were turned loose 

 to graze and refresh themselves after their trying journey, 

 during which they had lost flesh wofully. They were 

 watched and tended by the two men who were always left 

 in camp, and, save on rare occasions, were only used to 

 haul in the buffalo hides. The camp-guards for the time 

 being acted as cooks ; and, though coffee and flour both 

 ran short and finally gave out, fresh meat of every kind was 

 abundant. The camp was never without buffalo-beef, deer 

 and antelope venison, wild turkeys, prairie-chickens, quails, 

 ducks, and rabbits. The birds were simply " potted," as 

 occasion required ; when the quarry was deer or ante- 

 lope, the hunters took the dogs with them to run down the 

 wounded animals. But almost the entire attention of the 

 hunters was given to the buffalo. After an evening spent 

 in lounging round the camp-fire and a sound night's sleep, 



