The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-13 00:00:00

A BUFFALO HUNT.

The scene of my adventure is on the broad plains
in the Red River settlement. We are waiting for
the mist to rise, which it will do when the sun

comes fairly above the horizon. Ah ! there it goes,
the fog lifting like a veil. It does not evaporate, so
to speak, and disperse, but rises en masse like a
balloon, and at once becomes invisible ; and now we
can make out the buffalos scattered over the plain ;
some are busily cropping their dewy breakfast,
others are still lying down in little groups—but all
are in happy ignorance of the dire enemies lurking
behind the knoll watching their every movement.
Craftily, and with extreme caution, we walk our
horses to the windward of the herd, and as we
emerge from the cover of the ridge, the trumpet-
like notes of the older bulls tells us that we are dis-

covered. Concealment is now of no further use
the beasts are crowding
whoop, and we dash wildly scared by a dog. together sheep ltikhee snhoeweprawphidelny
The Indians give a piercing
raling nosily retreating herd, their tails upheaved, and their
horns tt
1Y against one another. The
very
plain seemsto°ishake, clouds of blinding dust,
raised by thousandsof hoofs, nearly hide the hunters
thh uont der, ee rr ,
subduedf roni
ea
c seems whilst
to a a rumblingb sorb
a n d
swallownoise,
u p
all other sounds. I soon overtake the rearmost
animals, and singling out
a young cow drop her
in her tracks ; recharge my gun, and single out
this time a fine old bull. He seems to roll
rather than gallop along, his nose nearly touch-
ing the grass, and his shaggy brown mane tossing
wildly in the breeze. My horse, though thoroughly
up to his work, appears to know by past ex-
perience that it is no mean foe he has to deal with;
laying back his ears, and pushing out his nose, as if
to make the most of every breath of air, the gallant
mustang thunders on at such a pace that I find my-
self side by side with the shaggy bull before I have
time to think of my position in reference to the other
stragglers of the herd. Now or never I must fire,
or lose my chance. Lowering my gun I pull the
trigger. It appeared to me that the cap had hardly
exploded ere my mustang wheeled short about with
such startling velocity, that it was with the utmost
difficulty I contrived to retain my seat ; but, as if
the fates were against me, two other buffalos were
directly in the way, and for a few seconds prevented
the horse from galloping away from the bull, which,
turning nearly as rapidly as the horse, charged, and
striking the horse on the point of the shoulder sent
us both rolling on the plain. I was terribly
frightened and shaken, but adapting Falstaff's
maxim, " that the better part of valour is discre-
tion," I lay still to await the issue of events. The
mustang had by this time regained his legs, and
was, with evident difficulty, limping away as
fast as his damaged shoulder permitted. That
the bull was badly wounded I could see by
his rolling gait, heavy breathing, and the bloody
froth besinearing his nostrils and lips. I do not
think he saw me, for his glaring eyes were directed
towards the horse, which he made a vigorous at-
tempt to follow ; but it proved a signal failure. The
wounded beast seemed to be perfectly aware that if
once he fell to the ground all hope for him was at
an end, so bracing his muscles firmly, and placing
his massive legs wide apart,the powerful animal
seemed determined to stand up to the last. Hurt
and frightened as I was, I felt sorry for him ; the
eyes lost all their fire, and a saddened expression
took its place. Ile tried to get glimpses of his com-
rades, by this time nearly lost in the distance ; and
I know that dying buffalo was quite aware that he
should never see them again. ii
—is great chest was
heaving convulsively, and low plaintive sounds, more
resembling sobs than anything else I know of, told
in language plain as printed words how terrible
were his sufferings. The head dropped, until the
nose was nearly touching the grass, the ponderous
body rocked like a storm-tossed ship p from side to
side, a gurgling sound replaced the stentorous breath-
ing; then suddenly the muscles seemed to lose all
further power, and with a heavy crash the king of
the plain sell dead amidst the grass and wild flowers.
The Indians soon recovered my lost steed, for his
shoulder was so much injured that he could only
contrive to limp slowly away.--.A Home in the Wil-
derness.