156 SPORT AND TRAVEL 



open and grassy, but as we were still high above the 

 plains of the Bighorn Basin, I was rather surprised 

 when Graham pointed out to me a bleached bison skull. 

 We soon, however, came across several more, one of 

 them with the horn still on the one core, and we also 

 saw an old trail and several wallows once used by 

 these animals. I may here say that all over the Big- 

 horn Basin and along the foot-hills of the Rocky 

 Mountains I subsequently found numbers of bison 

 skulls in a perfect state of preservation, many of them 

 with the horns still on the cores, and several with 

 portions of the skin of the head and neck (with the 

 hair still on it) adhering to the bone. Now, I believe 

 that the last bisons seen alive in this part of America 

 were killed in 1884, therefore none of the skulls which 

 I saw could have been lying on the ground, exposed 

 to all the disintegrating influences of summer sun and 

 winter frost for less than fourteen years. I should 

 certainly never have believed that even the hardest of 

 bone, let alone horn and skin, could have withstood 

 the ravages of time and exposure so well. In the 

 climate of Africa no organic matter lasts very long 

 when exposed to the weather, and even the skull and 

 leg bones of an elephant would, I think, crumble to 

 dust and absolutely disappear in less than fifteen years 

 from the date of the animal's death. 



As we advanced towards the Bighorn Basin, the 

 pine forests completely disappeared and the country 

 gradually became more and more sterile. The cast 



