48 
BUFFALO. 
.Although large, heavy, and comparatively clumsy, the Bison is at times 
brisk and frolicksome, and these huge animals often play and gambol about, 
kicking their heels in the air with surprising agility, and throwing their 
hinder parts to the right and left alternately, or from one side to the other, 
their heels the while flying about and their tails whisking in the air. They 
are very impatient in the fly and mosquito season, and are often seen kick- 
ing and running against the wind to rid themselves of these tormentors. 
The different Indian tribes hunt the Buffalo in various ways : some pur- 
sue them on horseback and shoot them with arrows, which they point with 
old bits of iron, or old knife blades. They are rarely expert in loading or re- 
loading guns, (even if they have them,) but in the closely contested race 
between their horse and the animal, they prefer the rifle to the bow and 
arrow. Other tribes follow them with patient perseverance on foot, until 
they come within shooting distance, or kill them by stratagem. 
The Mandan Indians chase the Buffalo in parties of from twenty to fifty, 
and each man is provided with two horses, one of which he rides, and the 
other being trained expressly for the chase, is led to the place where the 
Buffaloes are started. The hunters are armed wdth bows and arrows, their 
quivers containing from thirty to fifty arrows according to the wealth of 
the owner. When they come in sight of their game, they quit the horses 
oil which they have ridden, mount those led for them, ply the whip, soon 
gain the flank or even the centre of the herd, and shoot their arrows into 
the fattest, according to their fancy. When a Buffalo has been shot, if the 
blood flows from the nose or mouth, he is considered mortally wounded ; 
if not, they shoot a second or a third arrow into the wounded animal. 
The Buffalo, when first started by the hunters, carries his tail close 
down between the legs ; but when wounded, he switches his tail about, espe- 
cially if intending to fight his pursuer, and it behooves the hunter to watch 
these movements closely, as the horse will often shy, and without due care 
the rider may be thrown, which when in a herd of Buffalo is almost certain 
death. An arrow will kill a Buffalo instantly if it takes effect in the heart, 
but if it does not reach the right spot, a dozen arrows will not even arrest one 
in his course, and of the wounded, many run out of sight and are lost to the 
hunter. 
At times the wounded Bison turns so quickly and makes such a sudden 
rush upon the hunter, that if the steed is not a good one and the rider per- 
fectly cool, they are overtaken, the horse gored and knocked dov^m, and 
the hunter thrown off and either gored or trampled to death. But if the 
horse is a fleet one, and the hunter expert, the Bison is easily outrun and 
they escape. At best it may be said that this mode of Buffalo hunting is 
