BUFFALO. 
3G 
ages ago, they are supposed to have dvrelt. Let us however hope, that our 
humble efForts may at least enable us to perpetuate a knowledge of such 
species as the Giver of all good has allowed to remain with us to the pre- 
sent day. And now we will endeavour to give a good account of the ma- 
jestic Bison. 
In the days of our boyhood and youth, Buffaloes roamed over the small 
and beautiful prairies of Indiana and Illinois, and herds of them stalked 
through the open woods of Kentucky and Tenne.ssee ; but they had dwindled 
down to a few stragglers, which resorted chiefly to the “ Barrens,” to- 
wards the years 1808 and 1809, and soon after entirely disappeared. Their 
range has since that period gradually tended westward, and now you 
must direct your steps “ to the Indian country,” and travel many hundred 
miles beyond the fair valleys of the Ohio, towards the great rocky chain 
of mountains which forms the backbone of North- America, before ymu can 
reach the Buffalo, and see him roving in his sturdy independence upon the 
vast elevated plains, which extend to the base of the Rocky Mountains. 
Hie with us then to the West ! let us quit the busy streets of St. Louis, 
once considered the outpost of civilization, but now a flourishing city, in 
the midst of a fei-tile and rapidly growing country, with towns and villages 
scattered for hundreds of miles beyond it ; let us leave the busy haunts of 
men, and on good horses take the course that will lead us into the Buffalo 
region, and when we have arrived at the sterile and extended plains which 
we desire to reach, we shall be recompensed for our toilsome and tedious 
journey : for there we may find thousands of these noble animals, and be 
enabled to study their habits, as they graze and ramble over the prairies, 
or migrate from one range of country to another, crossing on their route 
water-courses, or swimming rivers at places where they often plunge from 
the muddy bank into the stream, to gain a sand-bar or shoal, midway in 
the river, that affords them a resting place, from which, after a little time, 
they can direct their course to the opposite shore, when, having reached it, 
they must scramble up the bank, ere they can gain the open prairie 
beyond. 
There we may also witness severe combats between the valiant bulls, 
in the rutting season, hear their angry bellowing, and observe their saga- 
city, as well as courage, when disturbed by the approach of man. 
The American Bison is much addicted to wandering, and the various 
herds annually remove from the North, at the approach of winter, although 
many may be found, during that season, remaining in high latitudes, their 
thick woolly coats enabling them to resist a low temperature, without suf- 
fering greatly. During a severe winter, however, numbers of them perish, 
especially the old, and the very young ones. The breeding season is gen- 
