THE HUNTING-SADDLE. 53 



his interest, my equine companions got several feeds of 

 corn, to which they had long been unaccustomed. The 

 night passed discussing old friends, a flask of brandy, and a 

 package of kinnjkinic tobacco ; and when, on the morrow, 

 I shook his sterling hand at parting, before recommencing 

 my journey, he presented me with a few more feeds of 

 grain, which, without doubt, materially assisted my four- 

 footed friends in rapidly traversing the balance of the de- 

 batable ground. 



The visitor to the plains desirous of hunting buffalo, and 

 doing so comfortably and under the most advantageous cir- 

 cumstances, should always take his saddlery with him. A 

 hunting-saddle from Peat, or Wilkinson and Kidd, made 

 of the best pig-skin, would be my choice, remembering al- 

 ways to be provided with spare girths. The high-peaked 

 saddle generally used in the West has advantages for front- 

 ier use ; but for a firm seat, hard and rough riding, give me 

 our English production. A double-reined snaffle I would 

 take in preference to all bridles. At the same time, much 

 depends on how a horse's mouth has been made. If the 

 nag in his youth had his jaws dislocated with a barbarous 

 Mexican bit, a snaffle will have no more power of control 

 over his actions than officers over a panic-stricken regiment. 

 I once possessed such a beast. The rider with a snaffle 

 might as well have pulled at a stalwart oak as at this crea- 

 ture's mouth. He was a light-necked, star-gazing, hot-tem- 

 pered beast. The scrapes he got me in were so numerous, 

 that to this day I wonder he did not break my neck. Of 

 the arms most suitable for buffalo-shooting from horseback, 

 I believe the large-bore breeoh-loading revolver the best. 

 They are easily loaded while on the gallop ; for the muzzle 

 can be placed between your thigh and the flap of the sad- 

 dle, and thus held. For my part, I used a double-barreled 

 shot-gun, with the barrels reduced to twenty-two inches in 



