﻿472 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  to 
  have 
  mounted 
  a 
  billiard 
  -table, 
  from 
  whicli 
  he 
  was 
  not 
  easily 
  dislodged 
  ; 
  

   at 
  another 
  time 
  he 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  ascended 
  the 
  stairs 
  leading 
  to 
  the 
  

   second 
  story, 
  and 
  -was 
  with 
  great 
  difficulty 
  induced 
  to 
  descend 
  again. 
  

   His 
  excesses, 
  lack 
  of 
  proper 
  care, 
  and 
  unnatural 
  diet 
  at 
  length 
  seemed 
  

   to 
  seriously 
  impair 
  his 
  health, 
  as 
  he 
  soon 
  grew 
  thin, 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  long 
  

   survive. 
  

  

  The 
  herds 
  of 
  cattle 
  that 
  are 
  driven 
  from 
  Texas 
  to 
  Wyoming 
  and 
  other 
  

   Northern 
  Territories 
  are 
  sometimes 
  accompanied 
  by 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  young 
  

   tamed 
  buffaloes. 
  Two 
  two-year 
  old 
  buffaloes 
  thus 
  reached 
  Percy, 
  Car- 
  

   bon 
  County, 
  Wyoming, 
  in 
  December, 
  1871, 
  en 
  route 
  for 
  Utah. 
  One 
  of 
  

   them, 
  however, 
  was 
  killed 
  by 
  some 
  hunters 
  near 
  Percy, 
  who 
  claimed 
  to 
  

   have 
  mistaken 
  it 
  for 
  a 
  wild 
  animal, 
  — 
  a 
  fate 
  which 
  not 
  unfrequently 
  be- 
  

   falls 
  the 
  tamed 
  buffaloes 
  of 
  the 
  frontier. 
  The 
  other 
  was 
  shipped 
  west- 
  

   ward 
  by 
  rail 
  with 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  herd. 
  These 
  individuals 
  mixed 
  as 
  

   freely 
  with 
  the 
  domestic 
  cattle 
  as 
  any 
  other 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  herd, 
  and 
  

   were 
  as 
  easily 
  managed,, 
  and 
  had 
  no 
  greater 
  fear 
  of 
  man 
  than 
  the 
  others. 
  

  

  The 
  very 
  young 
  buffalo 
  calf, 
  when 
  separated 
  from 
  its 
  mother, 
  often 
  

   evinces 
  the 
  utmost 
  stupidity 
  and 
  lack 
  of 
  discernment 
  ; 
  sometimes 
  thrust- 
  

   ing 
  its 
  nose 
  into 
  a 
  tuft 
  of 
  herbage, 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  imagine 
  itself 
  wholly 
  hid- 
  

   den 
  from 
  view, 
  and, 
  in 
  its 
  fancied 
  security, 
  will 
  stand 
  and 
  allow 
  itself 
  

   to 
  be 
  captured. 
  A 
  horse 
  seems 
  to 
  possess 
  for 
  it 
  a 
  strange 
  fascination, 
  

   and 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  apt, 
  when 
  one 
  is 
  lost 
  from 
  the 
  herd, 
  to 
  follow 
  one 
  when- 
  

   ever 
  opportunity 
  for 
  it 
  offers. 
  In 
  this 
  way 
  buffalo 
  calves 
  have 
  frequently 
  

   been 
  known 
  to 
  follow 
  a 
  horse 
  and 
  its 
  rider 
  into 
  the 
  nearest 
  military 
  or 
  

   trading-post, 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  herd. 
  Catlin 
  speaks 
  of 
  several 
  that 
  he 
  sent 
  

   down 
  the 
  Missouri 
  bj' 
  steamers 
  to 
  friends 
  in 
  Saint 
  Louis, 
  which 
  had 
  un- 
  

   wittingly 
  in 
  this 
  way 
  made 
  themselves 
  prisoners. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  here 
  be 
  added, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  stupidity 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  as 
  

   well 
  as 
  its 
  sagacity, 
  has 
  been 
  by 
  some 
  writers 
  greatly 
  overstated. 
  A 
  

   herd 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  certainly 
  possesses, 
  in 
  an 
  eminent 
  degree, 
  the 
  sheep-like 
  

   propensity 
  of 
  blindly 
  following 
  its 
  leaders, 
  whenever 
  a 
  large 
  affrighted 
  

   herd 
  is 
  fleeing 
  from 
  some 
  real 
  or 
  fancied 
  danger. 
  It 
  certainly 
  seems 
  a 
  

   stupid 
  thing 
  for 
  a 
  whole 
  herd 
  to 
  rush 
  into 
  destruction 
  instead 
  of 
  turn- 
  

   ing 
  aside 
  and 
  avoiding 
  the 
  danger. 
  A 
  little 
  reflection, 
  however, 
  will 
  

   show 
  that 
  in 
  such 
  instances 
  as 
  the 
  rushing 
  of 
  a 
  herd 
  over 
  a 
  precipice 
  or 
  

   into 
  a 
  pound 
  prepared 
  especially 
  to 
  entrap 
  them 
  the 
  act 
  is 
  not 
  wholly 
  

   one 
  of 
  stupidity, 
  but 
  comparable 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  panic-stricken 
  crowd 
  of 
  

   human 
  beings 
  rushing 
  pell-mell 
  from 
  a 
  public 
  building 
  when 
  an 
  alarm 
  

   of 
  fire 
  is 
  given, 
  at 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  limbs 
  and 
  lives, 
  when 
  more 
  deliberate 
  ac- 
  

   tion 
  would 
  avoid 
  such 
  accidents. 
  In 
  the 
  case 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  the 
  indi- 
  

   viduals 
  in 
  the 
  front 
  ranks 
  of 
  a 
  herd, 
  rushing 
  to 
  the 
  verge 
  of 
  a 
  ijrecipice 
  

   or 
  into 
  a 
  pound, 
  discover 
  the 
  danger 
  too 
  late 
  to 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  turn 
  aside 
  if 
  

   they 
  would, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  irresistible 
  i^ressure 
  of 
  the 
  mass 
  behind, 
  who 
  

   are 
  not 
  in 
  position 
  to 
  be 
  aware 
  of 
  the 
  danger 
  toward 
  which 
  they 
  are 
  

   moving. 
  Their 
  crowding 
  together 
  on 
  weak 
  ice 
  may 
  result 
  in 
  disasters 
  

   they 
  can 
  hardly 
  be 
  expected 
  to 
  foresee. 
  Their 
  crowding 
  forward 
  into 
  

   quicksands 
  is 
  presumably 
  the 
  blind 
  action 
  of 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  excited 
  herds 
  ; 
  

   a 
  rashness 
  a 
  single 
  animal 
  or 
  a 
  few 
  together 
  would 
  avoid. 
  

  

  Many 
  other 
  details 
  respecting 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo 
  might 
  be 
  ap- 
  

   propriately 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  account, 
  especially 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  their 
  

   behavior 
  in 
  captivity 
  and 
  when 
  pursued 
  or 
  attacked 
  by 
  their 
  human 
  

   foes 
  ; 
  but 
  as 
  most 
  of 
  these 
  points 
  will 
  be 
  noticed 
  quite 
  fully 
  incidentally 
  

   in 
  subsequent 
  portions 
  of 
  this 
  memoir, 
  it 
  is 
  perhaps 
  unnecessary 
  to 
  refer 
  

   to 
  them 
  further 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  connection. 
  

  

  