THE BISON, OR BUFFALO. 



43 



body to reach the vital parts. But this is a com- 

 plete mistake ; to slay a Bison, he must hit be- 

 tween the two omoplates, near the dorsal verte- 

 brae. The shot is then sure to be fatal. 



It is much to be desired that the American 

 Government would find some means of prevent- 

 ing the disappearance of these noble quadrupeds, 

 which are so great an ornament of the rolling 

 praries, and so valuable a source of supply to the 

 caravans that venture into their depths en route 

 for Santa F^ or California. 



My readers will form some idea of the num- 

 bers killed, when I inform them that every year, 

 in Canada and the United States, upwards of 

 nine hundred thousand hides are sold ; yet these 

 hides are all female, the hide of the male being 

 too thick, and not easily tanned. 



The Indians, whose revenue wholly consists of 

 the proceeds obtained from the sale of these 

 hides, preserve, moreover, a certain quantity for 

 their own use, which they employ in their tents, 

 beds, canoes, and domestic utensils. I ought to 

 add, ill concluding the statistics of this systematic 

 destruction, that the caravans which cross the 

 prairies seem to find a pleasure in strewing their 

 route with the carcasses of Bisons. 



Finally, it is the mission of eagles of all sizes, 

 of the bustards and the vultures, to whiten the 

 skeletons of the bovine race, which in certain 

 passes westward of the Rocky Mountains are so 

 numerous, that the region has been appropriately 

 called the " cemetery of the Buffaloes." 



In general the Bison has no reason to fear any 

 of the other animals that frequent the regions it 

 inhabits, for if an individual should be attacked, 

 the Bulls rally to its assistance, and compel the 

 assailant to flee before the blows which they in- 

 flict with their armed heads. It is only when 

 wounded by the Indian's arrow, or by the bullet 



of the white man's rifle, or else from becoming 

 sick from any cause, that this great beast falls a 

 victim to its four-footed enemies. 



The cunning White Wolf is the one it has the 

 most to dread ; for these stealthy, thick-coated 

 Arabs of the Prairies soon ascertain when a Bison 

 is in feeble condition, and, banding together, 

 they pull it to the ground and tear it to pieces. 



But the Bison does not succumb to its foes 

 without an effort to preserve its fast-ebbing life. 

 Bold and gallant to the last, staggering to his 

 sole remaining spot of vantage-ground, the feeble 

 knees bending beneath the weight of the mighty 

 body — weak with loss of blood, yet still uncon- 

 quered — the noble Bull tosses his fierce-looking 

 head and bids defiance to his lurking foes. 



With eager, blood-shot eyes, and the keen 

 white fangs glistening in their powerful jaws, the 

 Wolves set on him from every side. By sudden 

 springs they seize and tear his flesh with their 

 sharp teeth, darting away too quickly to be in- 

 jured by horn or hoof. 



Vain are his efforts to reach the nimble as- 

 sailants, until, summoning all his remaining 

 strength, he rushes upon one, that, more daring 

 than the rest, attacks him in front, and even in 

 the act of trampling him down, falls upon the 

 body of his prostrate foe, too feeble to carry on 

 the unequal combat. Never will he rise again, 

 for instantly the hungry Wolves fairly swarm 

 upon him, and soon nothing will be left to tell 

 of the once mighty Bison but a well-picked skel- 

 eton whitening in the summer sun. 



But one other animal may, perhaps, be able to 

 dispute the mastery of his native fields with the 

 full-grown, powerful Bison-bull, and that one 

 is the terrible Grizzly Bear. Nearly if not 

 quite his equal in weight, armed with fearful 

 claws and strong teeth, this dreaded inhabitant 



