1 76 SrOX TING A D VRN TURES 



strong 1 , they cannot endure much hardship. By giving the 

 figures in round numbers, we may estimate that a quarter of a 

 million b'son are destroyed annually. At this rate of destruc- 

 tion they cannot last long, so the next generation will probably 

 witness the decimation of the animal most characteristic of the 

 fauna of North America one with which the history of the 

 plains, pioneers, and trappers is most closely blended.''' 



This assertion may seem extraordinary, yet everything points 

 to it as a fact, and although buffaloes still roam in millions 

 over the western plains, their fate is already sealed, as the hide- 

 hunters kill even gravid females, and leave their carcasses on 

 the prairie to feed carnivorous birds and quadrupeds. 



I counted as many as thirty carcasses of cows one day in 

 Southern Nebraska, and in each case the udder was full of 

 milk. The Vandals in this heedless destruction were the hide- 

 hunters, from whom no game is safe if they can only get a few 

 pence for either the flesh or the skin. The death of over five 

 million buffaloes iu four years proves how successfully and 

 assiduously these men work, and how stupid the bison must 

 be. I have seen a small herd almost decimated by regular 

 hunters before the remainder took the precaution to leave, yet 

 thev saw whence the deathly missiles came by the pulfs of 

 smoke. They would not have fled in all probability when 

 thev did, had not one of the men. shown himself uninten- 

 tionally ; but the moment his head peered above the ravine 

 in which he was stationed, they swaggered away at their 

 best pace. 



The animals which are so much afraid of man show no fear of 

 their satellites, the wolves, and this trait of their nature is used 

 to good advantage by the Indians, for they sometimes dress 

 themselves up in wolf-skins, and approach an unsuspicious 

 herd from the leeward to within arrow range, and squatting 

 themselves on their heels ply their bows to such good 

 purpose that they soon have a good stock of meat lying on 

 the ground before them. They prefer using their swift and 

 noiseless primitive missiles in such cases to lire-arms, as the 

 noise of the latter is liable to scare the animals, and produce 

 a stampede that may last for two days. The rifle detonations 



