50 Bird-Nesting 



These trails are from two to three feet wide, and were caused 

 by the buffaloes running over the prairie, one behind the other 

 in Indian file. The weight of two or three hundred buffaloes 

 running one behind the other soon wore a deep pathway on 

 the prairies. Their skulls and horns are scattered all over the 

 prairies, and those in a good state of preservation are collected 

 by the Indians, who polish them carefully and sell them at 

 75 cts. a pair. In Winnipeg buffalo horns sell for $2 a pair, 

 and in Toronto they are $4 a pair. As the buffalo is now al- 

 most extinct, in a wild state, their horns will soon become very 

 valuable. 



An antelope appeared on a hill-top before us, so we crouched 

 down in a buffalo wallow, and, making the dog lie down, Mac- 

 donald said he would bring that antelope close up to us, so he 

 told me to keep myself and the dog out of sight. He then took 

 out his handkerchief and began to wave it in the air, keeping 

 his body down in the buffalo wallow. The antelope saw it and 

 began to advance a few paces, and then stood staring at the 

 moving handkerchief. Macdonald kept on waving, and the 

 antelope walked a few paces closer, still staring at the hand- 

 kerchief, and in this way it gradually advanced until it was 

 within thirty yards, when the setter caught sight of him and 

 sprang out after the antelope, which bounded away as swift as 

 an arrow over the hills out of sight. He told me that this is 

 the way the Indians obtain antelope for food ; they put a stick 

 in the ground and tie a piece of rag to it, and then lie down. 

 The antelope approaches the object out of curiosity, and is then 

 shot down at close range by the concealed Indian. As it was 

 beginning to get dark, we turned round and descended the 

 hills homeward. On arriving at the station-house I found 

 eight railway hands playing cards ; they represented different 

 nationalities, all living under one roof. There was a Russian, 

 a Swede, a Scotchman, a Yankee, a Frenchman, two Cana- 

 dians, and a London cockney, quite an assortment. Every 

 twenty miles eight men are appointed by the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway Company to look after the tracks and keep them in 

 repair, and these section-houses are built for their accommoda 



