In Buffalo Days 



northern herd, however, recognized the true 

 state of the case, which was that the buffalo, 

 during the last years of their existence, were 

 so constantly pursued and driven from place 

 to place that they never had time to lay on 

 fat as in earlier years, and that, as a conse- 

 quence of this continual running, the animal's 

 form changed, and instead of a fat, short- 

 backed, short-legged animal, it became a 

 long-legged, light-bodied beast, formed for 

 running. 



This specialization in the direction of 

 speed at first proceeded very slowly, but at 

 last, as the dangers to which the animals 

 were subjected became more and more press- 

 ing, it took place rapidl)^, and as a conse- 

 quence the last buffalo killed on the plains 

 were extremely long-legged and rangy, and 

 were very different in appearance — as they 

 were in their habits — from the animals of 

 twenty years ago. 



Buffalo running was not a sport that re- 

 quired much skill, yet it was not without its 

 dangers. Occasionally a man was killed by 

 the buffalo, but deaths from falls and from 

 bursting guns were more common. Many 



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