378 WILD ANIMALS. 



tent, the medicine-man was sent for, and they smoked him and 

 kept up incantations over him day and night for a week. When 

 he came out he believed that he had a very narrow escape from 

 death. In 1859 a white buffalo was killed by a white man on the 

 north fork of the Eed river, J.T., and the hide presented to 

 Gen. Grrierson. He desired to have it dressed to preserve it, but 

 failed to get any Indian to undertake the task for a long time. 

 At last he prevailed on a Comanche chief, named ' Horseback,' to 

 have the operation performed. ' Horseback ' selected one of 

 his squaws, had the 'medicine-man' of his band go through 

 various ceremonies over her to preserve her life, and then placed 

 her in a teepee some distance from his camp, where the hide was 

 taken to her by a soldier and brought away by him when dressed. 

 No other Indian would look at the hide much less touch it. Her 

 food was left for her at some distance from her teepee, and when 

 the robe was dressed, ' medicine ' ceremonies were held over her 

 before she was allowed to rejoin the camp. I twitted ' Horseback ' 

 about the fear of the robe, calling his attention to the fact that 

 no harm befell any of the white men who handled it, but he 

 answered that such might be the case, but what was ' bad medi- 

 cine ' for a Comanche might be ' good medicine ' for a white man, 

 and vice versa. He proposed to take no risks in the matter." 



Buffaloes were pre-eminently gregarious animals, for not only did 

 they congregate together in herds, but different herds -would often 

 unite — hence the vast numbers which were so frequently seen, and 

 that travellers used to describe as blackening the plains for miles, 

 or as far as the eye could see, were in fact one large herd composed 

 of a congeries of smaller ones. They each possessed distinct organi- 

 zation, which they seemed to retain even when so massed, for the 

 • calves were generally to be seen near the centre, with the older bulls 

 flanking the whole, and thus forming powerful protectors against 

 a common danger. Unlike the cow of domestic cattle, the buffalo 

 one seems to possess but little maternal affection for her calf, for 

 when alarmed she abandons it without the slightest hesitation> 

 and the duty of protecting it devolves on the bulls. 



These herds were nomadic and rarely remained many hours in the 

 same locality. At certain seasons they migrated from one territory 



