IN THE FAR WEST. 173 



than the males, though they too will often carry an enormous 

 load of lead before falling. I have known an old bull to be 

 perforated with fourteen bullets and escape alter all, and I saw 

 a cow pierced with ten bullets, which were scattered all over 

 her body, run for three miles and fall only when she broke 

 her leg- by treading- in the hole of a prairie dog-. The head is 

 the worst place to aim at, as it is covered with a dense 

 plastron of matted hair, which seems to absorb the ball before 

 it reaches the skull, unless the rifle is of heavy calibre, or it 

 is fired at close range. A twelve-bore is a capital weapon for 

 buffalo shooting, but it seems too inconvenient for use on 

 horseback. In running them I have found a large revolver 

 a good weapon, as it is compact, and will kill readily at close 

 range. The best buffalo-hunters burn the hair on nearly every 

 one they slay, so close do they approach, and they generally 

 aim for the spinal column or the ribs. The novice, in running 

 them, might not do much better than to hit them in the fore- 

 shoulder, for that soon causes them to halt, as the fore-quarters 

 are so heavy that they cannot be sustained long by only one 

 leg ; and if wounded in that part, the hunter can finish them 

 when he pleases. A very necessary clement to attain success 

 in hunting the buffalo is a fast and courageous horse that can 

 be kept under control, and will not lose his head in a stam- 

 pede or be afraid of ranging alongside a herd when it is 

 in motion. For this purpose an American horse as all horses 

 are called that do not belong to the Indians, or rather that 

 do not come under the head of cat/iotc is preferable to a 

 mustang, so far as my experience goes, for he has greater speed 

 for a long run, is more intelligent, more tractable, and will go 

 until he drops, whereas the other is liable to bolt at any 

 moment, unless very well trained, and will often stop whenever 

 he feels that he has done enough. I have been with a party 

 that ran buffaloes for four days, at an average rate of fiftv miles 

 a day ; and those who rode American horses killed more than 

 those who rode mustangs, and their animals were also fresher 

 when the run was over. 



I heard of even a better case than this from an armv otlicer, 

 who is now on the high road to fame, for he told me that he had 



