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38 NEW TIL\.CKS IN NOETH AMERICA. 



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in liancl, cocked and ready. As soon as ho saw a fresh enem " 

 approaching^ he stopped^ suryeyed the position for an instan 

 jerked his huge head to one side, which seemed to swing hi 

 body round, and rushed off in the opposite direction. I wa^ 

 soon alongside^ watching his every moyement. 



"What curious freaks of nature these T^orth American huffalc ^ 

 are ! The small hind-quarters look out of all proportion tc 

 the massive strength of the shoulders and chest ; smooth; an 

 apparently shaven, like the back of a French poodle, they d 

 not seem to belong to the same animal. The hind legs ar 

 smallj and stand close together ; the fore legs thick, short} 

 and far apart. Between them the huge head hangs low ; it ly 

 complctoly covered with, long shaggy hair, matted together, 

 wliich hides the features, and only allows the tips of the 

 crescent-shaped little horns to appear. Thick hair, for the 

 most part, conceals the hump from sight, but both add 

 immensely to tbe massive effect of the fore-part of the body: 

 the little corkscrew tail, ends in a tuft. Hy antagonist 

 kept lashing his naked flanks, while at moments I could see, 

 by the sideward toss of his head, that he was having a look at 

 me, though his eyes were completely hidden by the hair. My 

 first shot, I presume, passed harmlessly over his back ; with 

 my second, from the distance of half-a-dozen yards, I planted 

 a ball in his side, but too high up to take immediate effect. 

 He tlirew himself angrily round for an instant, and on 

 swerved the mare, for she evidently knew her friend and his 

 habits well. He did not cliarge, however, but made straight 

 for Little Big Creek, which was swollen to a deep toiTcnt by 

 the heavy rains of the pre^dous week. My companion m the 

 chase, who had with his last shot brought down the fat cow 

 he was following, then dashed by, and planted a second ball 

 in the brute's carcass. The ball did not, however, lessen his 



