THE EXTERMINATION OF THE AMERICAN BISON. 165 



Mr. J. A. Allen's larger work on the American Bisons living 

 and extinct, which was published in 1876, will of course be fresh 

 in the recollection of all who are interested in this subject, and 

 must be referred to for fuller details of the natural history of 

 this fine animal than are to be found in Mr. Hornaday's Report. 

 As this, however, contains the latest information, and has been 

 issued in a smaller and more portable form, it will doubtless 

 command a wider circulation than the heavier quarto. 



Writing on May 1st, 1889, on the completeness of the exter- 

 mination, Mr. Hornaday says : — 



" Although the existence of a few widely-scattered individuals 

 enables us to say that the Bison is not yet absolutely extinct in 

 a wild state, there is no reason to hope that a single wild and 

 unprotected individual will remain alive ten years hence. The 

 nearer the species approaches to complete extermination, the 

 more eagerly are the wretched fugitives pursued to the death 

 whenever found. Western hunters are striving for the 

 honour (?) of killing the last Buffalo, which, it is to be noted, 

 has already been slain about a score of times by that number of 

 hunters. 



The Buffaloes still alive in a wild state are so very few, and 

 have been so carefully ' marked down' by hunters, that it is possible 

 to make a very close estimate of the total number remaining. In 

 this enumeration the small herd in the Yellowstone National Park 

 is classed with other herds in captivity and under protection, for 

 the reason that, had it not been for the protection afforded by the 

 law and the officers of the Park, not one of these Buffaloes would 

 be living to-day. Were the restrictions of the law removed now, 

 every one of those animals would be killed within three months. 

 Their heads alone are worth from 25 to 50 dollars each to 

 taxidermists, and for this reason every Buffalo is a prize worth 

 the hunter's winning. Had it not been for stringent laws, and a 

 rigid enforcement of them by Captain Harris, the last of the Park 

 Buffaloes would have been shot years ago by Vic. Smith, the 

 Bea Brothers, and other hunters, of whom there is always an 

 able contingent around the Park. 



In the United States the death of a Buffalo is now such an 

 event that it is immediately chronicled by the Associated Press 

 and telegraphed all over the country. By reason of this, and 

 from information already in hand, we are nble to arrive at a very 



