Year: 1860

excitement snnfing The ali, and paving thu


ground with their hoofs, needing man


strength to hold them in. All the able-bode,


men vert. speedily armed and accoutred, the


superiuous clothing thrown of, sashes tiet


tighter, and girths buckled hole or two higher


and, in less than five minutes from the time th'


rider had got to camp, the leader had given thu


order to advance, and more than three hundred


horsemcn were steadily trottihg southwark il


the direction Of the herd In few moment:


they had reached a point where the ground began


to rise gently to the height of the low ridge on


the top Of which they would be visible to the


herd. Here all drew rein while the leader, with


one or two of the old hunters, dismounted and


crept along up the slope to reconnoitre, observe
the progress Of the herd and the lay Of the land,
in order to determine from which direction the
charge had better be made There was little
time to be lost the buffalo were already oppo-
site the hunters, and the old bulls ahead might,
at any moment, take trail leading over the
ridge and in full sight Of the train. A moments
! glance told experienced eyes, peering through
the top Of the long green grass, that the ground
toward which they were moving was a rolling
prairie with abrupt ascents and dcscents, and
therefore full of badgcr-holes, dangerous alike
to the horse and his rider while the ground
which they had just passed over was very nearly
level with here and there marsh, and fenced
in, so to speak, by the stream which ran hither
and thither, and wound around by the dinner
camp-ground. Fastening down the slope and
remountng their horses few quick, low words
from the leader explained the order Of the charge
4 dozen or more of the feetest runners were
sent to the westward around the ridge to head
the herd and start them back. The rest Of the
hunters gathered under its edge dJyectis duriJus.
The ruse was successful The dozen hunters
coming boldly into sight directly in their path,
and spreading out slowly to the right and left
without chasing them, and the favorable nature
of The ground, making it harder for them TO go
TO the one side or the other than backward, turn
ed them almost in their tracks The herd was
not so large but that very many Of the buffaloes
could see the hunters. The sage and long
bearded veterans who had led them stopped,
were crowded ahead few yards by the pressure
Of those behind, and then all were huddling to-
gether, cows and calves in the centre, and the
bulls crowding around, until the leaders broke
through and led off at steady gallop on the
back track. This was the critical moment The
dozen hunters shouted at the tops of their lungs
and settled into steady gallop on their trail
The three hundred and fifty horsemen came fly
ing over the ridge and down its slope in full pur
suit, and in front of them all, not quarter of a
mile away, herd of near thousand buiialoes in
hcadong flight, tails out, heads down. and nos
trils red and flaring For the first few hundred
yards the chase was nip and tuck" The bulia-
locs were doing their best possible, as they al
ways can at the beginning Of chase, and the
horses had not SO good ground, and were hardly
settled down to their work. But soon the tre-
mcndous strides of the buflalorunners began to
tell in the chase, and the heavy hcadlong and
forehandcd leap of the buffalo to grow just per-
cepibly Stacker. One after another the swiflest
Of the runners caught up to the herd and soon
hunters and hunted were one indistinguishable
mass laundering over the plain. The green
sward is torn up, clouds of dust arise swift shots
like vOlleys of muskctry buffet the air, the hunt
crs fly along with looscned rein, trusting to their
horses to clear the badger holes that here and
there break the ground, and to keep their own
hanks and the riders legs from the horns of the
bullalocs by whom they must pass to get along
side the fat and swiftcr COW singled out for prey.
And still they keep up this tremendous gait fly
ing buffalo and pursuing horsemen. As fast as
one fires he draws the plug of his powder-horn
with his teeth pours in a hasty charge, takes one
from his mouthfll Of wet bullets and drops it
without wadding or rammer upon the powder,
settles it with blow against the saddle, keeps
the muzzle lifted till he is close to his game, then
lowers and fires in the same instant without an
aim, the muzzlc of the gun often grazing the
shaggy monsters side; then leaning off, his
horse wheels away, and loading as he flies, he
spurs on in chase of another, and another, and
another; and in like manner the three hundred
of them. One after one the bufialoes Jagged
behind, staggered, and fell, at first singly and
then by scores, till in few moments the whole
herd was slain save only few old bulls not
NOIln WHICH NSiS W Sdllop
safely away. One after one the hunters drew
rein, and dismounting from their drenched hor-
ses, walked back through the heaps of dead
buffalo and the puddles of blood singing out of
the hundreds dead with unerring certainty the
ones they had shot Not dispute arose among
the hunters as to the ownership Of any buffalo
killed. To a novice in the hunt they all looked
alike, dilferenced only by size and SEX and the
plain on which all were lying was in each square
rod the fac-simile of every other square. The
novices had thrown on their killed sash, or
coat, or knife-sheath; but the best hunters had
no need of this. To their keen eyes no two rods
were alike, and they could trace their course as
easily as if only four and not thousands of hoofs
had torn the plain.


The carts driven by the women come up,
knives are drawn, and with marvellous dexterity
the shaggy skins are stripped of, the great,
bloody frame divided, huge bones and quivering
flesh, all cut into pieces of portable size, the
carts loaded, and by sunset all are on their way
to camp.


Riding along with Michele the next morning,
half mile ahead Of the train, we caught sight Of
two buffalo bulls quietly feeding on green