American Big-Game Hunting 



boat, we saw on the opposite side of the 

 river, about half-way down the bluffs, which 

 were here about fifteen hundred feet high, a 

 large buffalo bull. The bluffs were almost 

 vertical, and this old fellow was having some 

 difficulty in making his way down to the 

 water. He went slowly and carefully, at 

 times having pretty good going, and at 

 others slipping and sliding for thirty or forty 

 feet, sending the clay and stones rolling 

 ahead of him in great quantities. We 

 watched him for a little while, and then it oc- 

 curred to some malicious spirit among us that 

 it would be fun to see whether the bull could 

 go up where he had come down. A shot was 

 fired so as to strike near him, — for no one 

 wanted to hurt the old fellow, — and as soon 

 as the report reached his ears, he turned 

 about and began to scramble up the bluffs. 

 His first rush carried him, perhaps, a hundred 

 feet vertically, and then he stopped and 

 looked around. He seemed not to have the 

 slightest difficulty in climbing up, nor did he 

 use any caution, or appear to pick his way at 

 all. A second shot caused another rush up 

 the steep ascent, but this time he went only 



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