10 THE WONDERS OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



says Mr. Hearne, et I have many times been an eye-witness. I once had the vanity to think that I 

 could have kept pace with them, for although I was at that time celebrated for running fleetly in snow 

 shoes, I soon found that I was no match for the Bisons, notwithstanding they were plunging through 

 such deep snow, that their bellies made a trench as large as if many heavy sacks had been hauled 

 through it." When the land is moist, they frequently leave so deep an impression of their feet as to 

 be traced and shot by the artful Indians. In this undertaking, however, it is necessary that the men 

 should be particularly careful, for when they are only wounded, the animals become excessively furious. 

 The hunters march against the wind, as the faculty of smell in the Bison is so exquisite, that the 

 moment they get scent of their enemy, they retire with the utmost precipitation. In taking aim, the 

 hunter directs his piece to the hollow of the shoulders, by which means he generally brings down the 

 animal at one shot, but if not killed, the Bison immediately runs upon him, and with his horns and 

 hoofs tears him in pieces, or tramples him to death. 



The sagacity which is exhibited by the Bison, in defending itself from the attack of the wolves, is a 

 surprising instance of natural instinct. Whenever the Bisons scent the approach of a drove of those 

 ravenous creatures, the herd throws itself into the form of a circle, having the weakest in the middle, 

 and the strongest ranged on the outside, thus presenting an impenetrable front of horns. 



In Canada, the hunting of the Bison is a common employment of the natives: they draw up in a 

 large square, and commence their operations by setting fire to the grass, which at certain seasons is 

 very long and dry. As the fire burns onward, they advance, closing their ranks as they proceed. The 

 animals, alarmed by the light, gallop confusedly about till they are hemmed in so closely, that 

 frequently not a single beast is able to escape. 



In Louisiana, the system of hunting the Bison is pursued by men mounted on horses, each man being 

 armed with a sharp-pointed spear. The hunters approach with the wind, and as soon as the animals 

 smell them, they instantly seek to escape, but the sight of the horses checks their fear; and the greater 

 number of the Bisons are, at a certain time of the year, so fat and unwieldy as easily to be enticed 

 to slacken their pace. As soon as the hunters overtake them, they endeavour to plunge the spear just 

 above the ham, in such a manner as to cut through the tendons, and render them afterwards an easy prey. 

 The uses of the Bison, when dead, are various. Powder-flasks are made of the horns. The skins 

 form an excellent buff leather, and, when dressed with the hair on, serve the Indians for clothes and 

 shoes. The Europeans of Louisiana use them for blankets, and find them light, warm, and soft. 

 The flesh is used as food, and the hump on the shoulders is esteemed a great delicacy. The bulls, 

 when fat, frequently yield each a hundred and fifty pounds weight of tallow, which forms a considerable 

 article of commerce. The hair is spun into gloves, stockings, and garters, that are very strong, and 

 look as well as those made of the finest sheep's wool. We are assured by Governor Pownal that a most 

 luxurious kind of clothing may be manufactured from it. 



Mr. Turner, who resided a long time in America, is of opinion that the Bison is superior even to 

 our domestic cattle for the purposes of husbandry, and has expressed a wish to see this animal 

 domesticated on the English farms, or at all events that a breed might be obtained by an intermixture 

 with our common cow, with which the Bison has been known to breed; for, speaking comparatively of 

 the ox and the Bison, Mr. Turner says, " that to judge from the extraordinary size of his bones, and 

 the depth and formation of his chest, I should not think it unreasonable to assign nearly a double 

 portion of strength to this powerful inhabitant of the forest. Reclaim him, and you gain a capital 

 quadruped both for the draught and for the plough ; his activity peculiarly fits him for the latter in 

 preference to the ox." 



