The Last of tlu Buffalo 



earlier years, and which was also peculiar 

 in that the animals never became fat. In- 

 telligent hunters of the northern herd, 

 however, recognized the true state of the 

 case, which was that the buffalo, during 

 the last years of their existence, were so 

 constantly pursued and driven from place 

 to place that they never had time to lay 

 on fat as in earlier years, and that, as a 

 consequence of this continual running, the 

 animal's form changed, and instead of a 

 fat, short-backed, short-legged animal, it 

 became a long-legged, light-bodied beast, 

 formed for running. 



This specialization in the direction of 

 speed at first proceeded very slowly ; but 

 at last, as the dangers to which the ani- 

 mals were subjected became more and 

 more pressing, it took place rapidly, and 

 as a consequence the last buffalo killed on 

 the plains were extremely long-legged and 

 rangy, and were very different in appear- 

 ance — as they were in their habits — 

 from the animals of twenty years ago. 



Buffalo running was not a sport that re- 

 quired much skill, yet it was not without 

 its dangers. Occasionally a man was killed 

 by the buffalo, but deaths from falls and 

 from bursting guns were more common. 

 Many curious stories of such accidents are 



243 



