THE BUFFALO. 221 



CHAPTER XVII 



THE BUFFALO. 



TT7"HETHER, we consider this noble animal 

 ^ ^ as an object of the chase, or as an article 

 of food for man, it is decidedly the most im- 

 portant of all our contemporary American quad- 

 rupeds ; and as we can no longer see the gigan- 

 tic mastodon passing over the broad savannas, 

 or laving his enormous sides in the deep rivers 

 of our wide-spread land, we will consider the 

 buffalo as a link (perhaps sooner to be forever 

 lost than is generally supposed) which to a 

 slight degree yet connects us with larger Ameri- 

 can animals, belonging to extinct creations. 



But ere we endeavour to place before you the 

 living and the breathing herds of buffaloes, you 

 must journey with us in imagination to the vast 

 western prairies, the secluded and most inacces- 

 sible valleys of the Rocky Mountain chain, and 

 the arid and nearly impassable deserts of the 

 western table lands of our country ; and here 

 we may be allowed to express our deep, though 

 19* 



