54 TOSSED BY A BUFFALO. 



or two, and I though!; he was about to fall, so I waited 

 for a little while, but as he did not come down I deter- 

 mined to go up and finish him. Walking up, therefore, 

 to within thirty paces of him, till I could actually see his 

 rolling eyes, I fired for the fourth time directly at the 

 region of the heart, as I thought, but to my utter amaze- 

 ment up went his tail and down went his head, and with 

 a speed I thought him little capable of, he was upon me 

 in a twinkling. I ran hard for it, but he rapidly over- 

 hauled me, and my situation was becoming any thing but 

 pleasant. Thinking he might, like our own bulls, shut 

 the eyes in making a charge, I swerved suddenly to one 

 side to escape the shock, but to my horror, I failed in 

 dodging him, for he bolted round quicker than I did, and 

 afforded me barely time to protect my stomach with the 

 stock of my rifle, and to turn myself sideways as I sus- 

 tained the charge, in the hope of getting between his 

 horns, he came plump upon me with a shock like an 

 earthquake. My rifle-stock was shivered to pieces by one 

 horn, my clothes torn by the other ; I flew into mid-air, 

 scattering my prairie hens and rabbits, which had hitherto 

 hung dangling by leathern thongs from my belt, in all 

 directions, till, at last, I fell unhurt in the snow, and 

 almost over me fortunately not quite rolled my infu- 

 riated antagonist, and subsided in a snow-drift. I was 

 luckily not the least injured, the force of the blow having 



