172 Tin; AMERICAN BISONS. 



from the "great central prairie land," he says: -Far in the northern forests 

 of the Athabasca a few buffaloes may for a time bid defiance to man. but 

 they, too, must disappear, and nothing be left of this giant beast save the 

 bones that for many an age will whiten the prairies over which the great 

 herds roamed at will in times before the white man came."* 



Mr. Iluyshe. writing in 1S71 o!' the region about Fort Garry, says : ••Buf- 

 falo are no longer found nearer than three hundred miles west of Fort 

 Garry, and are gradually being driven further and further west by the ad- 

 vancing stream of civilization." t 



In a valuable communication respecting the present and former range of 

 the buffalo in the British Possessions, kindly sent me by Mr. J. W. Taylor, 

 U. S. Consid at Winnipeg, Mr. Taylor, under date of "United States Con- 

 sulate, Winnipeg, B. X. A., April 26, 1873," writes as follows: -In preparing 

 this reply to your note requesting information respecting the comparative 

 numbers and present range of the buffalo, 1 have consulted Mr. Andrew 

 McDermott, an old and intelligent residenl of Selkirk Settlement, now known 

 as the province of Manitoba. This gentleman, when a very young man. was 

 in the service of the Hudson Bay Company, — from 1812 to 1821, — and 

 has since been a successful trader. His position in the Country is attested 

 by his recent appointment as the Manitoba Director of the Canada l'acilie 

 Railway Company. 



••My informant, in IMS. was in the midsl of a large herd, only two miles 

 west of Fort Garry, where I am writing. Ilis parly stood for an hour in the 

 midst of the black moving mass, with difficulty preventing themselves, by 

 ill'- constant discharge of lire-arms, from being trampled to death. Now, in 

 L873, the nearest point where the animal is found is at the Woody Hills, 

 upon the International frontier, three hundred miles southwestwardly, while 

 you mii-t go five hundred miles wesl to meet large bands. Formerly a 

 variety called the wood buffalo was very numerous in the forests surround* 

 in- Lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba, the losl Burvivor baving been killed only 

 two years ago, on Sturgeon Creek, ten mile- wesl of Fori Garry. The wood 

 bufialo b Bmaller than it* congener of the plains, with liner and darker wool, 

 ami a superior quality of flesh. It more resembles the -bison ' of naturalists. 



" The Saskatchewan plains, near the Rockj Mountain-, have always been 

 ,i resort of the bufialo, ami although the traditions of their immense 



• 'II. I .in.l. pp. :ti 



t Harsh k. I. ). II,. Red River Expedition, p. MO, 1871 



