New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-10-29
l1AO nxCIrlNG Su1yAl6 Hu1Rv

IL hassass z1ks q Aefiza IaEf n fle sl2Tl
Charles b. Matthews, formerly OF Bunaic
sbat.naw = reajdent ef Ksnaas, in Aletter t
Tho Hsstt'm Nev fkAes, gives an aecoun
Of buffalo hunt, participated in BY him
self and wife, and Mr.. Wheeler, formerly o
LoekpoH And WIFE, from which we max
the following extract:
An hour more and our eyes were 1 glast
dened by seeing fifty or sixty butfaloes
which proved to be the outside skirmisl
line. We drove in the pickets, and in dOinI
SO We reached the summit Of eminence
from which point we believe we could dis
tinctly see through the clear air for the dis
lance of fifteen or twenty miles, and all tht
vast expanse of smooth prairie, from the
river back as far as the eye could reach
was completely black, with ,bu&alOes, and
how much further the innumerable thrOna
extended beyond our vision we could mol
tell. But without the telescope all efforts
Of ours to comprehend their vastness would
prove utterly futile. At all events, here il
them.
The ladies being anxious to participate in
the sport, Mrs. Matthews took the reins,
and Mr.. Wheeler and myself each took our
carbines in hand, and We then drove slowly
down the slope until within forty yards Of
OF the nearest squad, when an old fellow
started toward the wagon. At first we
thought him coming to pay his compliments
to the ladies, but soon he started on full
run toward the river. I then fired on him,
giving him a wound which greatly retarded
his movements. Tho-ladies then took the
shot or two from them made him shuttle
his mortal COLI li--
This affair, which, to us, was full Of ex-
element and interest, was scarcely noticed
by the buffalOes near by, but by this time
ourselves and ponies became so greatly ex-
cited that of we dashed for the herd, and
just before we reached them they parted y
little, SO that az we entered their ranks We
got good broadside shots at . distance of
from ten to fifteen rods. and ON We rushed
like the wird. ~
The ladies drove while Mr.. Wheeler and
myself fired almost as fast as we could pull
the trigger. We were so near them that
we could see the color of their eyes, and
distinctly bear the balls a. they struck them.
But driving at such rapid rate We could
take no accurate aim, as only ball through
the heart or lungs. or one breaking the back.
bone will stop buffalo. we had gone nearly
a mile before we brought one down: Our
ponies now being. quite OF breath, we
StORPCU 0uO cA00AACA AAAAA CAOoCAys A0
was one of the la gest Of the herd, and his
head and neck were covered with black hair
from four to six inches in length, and from
the shoulders back the body was without
hair. s-7"
The buffalo (as we'll as akothers ut this
season Of the year, was perfectly hide0us in
appearance. l should think good. large |
buffalo like this would weigh at least 1900
pounds. The shape and general appearance
Of the buffalo is 80 well understood by all
that need not speak further on the sub
ject. 1t now being about noon, We went .
short distance built fire and cooked some
IF our fresh-killed meat, which We relished
very much. As soon rs ourselves and
ponies were well fed We etarted of, and in |
hour we we're again among the buffalOes.
In the afternoon We had several very ami |
mated races with them, each time killing |
'0me. For some distance our ponies could |
'utrun them, but for a long run it would be |
afer to bet on the buffalo. think we |
zilled none but males, as they take the out |
ide of the herd, hence you do not see the |
Ows and calves until you get pretty welf1
INTO the herd. During all the noise and
Occasioned by our chasing and |
ring, there were thousands and thousands
4 buffaloes in sight of us that kept feeding
$ quietly ~ if all was well, but regarding
ur performance as not worth noticing.
heir numbers were go great that we seemed
D be skirmishing a little among their
uhurhs r