iring off their guns.

My horse had got back a little before sunset. His appearance had, of
course, produced alarm, and the camp had turned out in search of me.

Several who had a relish for fresh meat galloped back to strip the two
bulls of the remaining tit-bits; but before midnight all had returned;
and to the accompaniment of the hump-ribs spurting in the cheerful
blaze, I recounted the details of my adventure.

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.

THE BISON.

The bison--universally, though improperly, called buffalo--is, perhaps,
the most interesting animal in America. Its great size and strength--
the prodigious numbers in which it is found--its peculiar _habitat_--the
value of its flesh and hide to the traveller, as well as to the many
tribes of Indians--the mode of its chase and capture--all these
circumstances render the buffalo an interesting and highly-prized
animal.

Besides, it is the largest ruminant indigenous to America, exceeding in
weight even the moose-deer, which latter, however, equals it in height.
With the exception of the musk-ox, it is the only indigenous animal of
the bovine tribe, but the latter being confined to a very limited range,
near the Arctic Sea, has been less subject to the observation and
attention of the civilised world. The buffalo, therefore, may be
regarded as the representative of the ox in America.

The appearance of the animal is well-known; pictorial illustration has
rendered it familiar to the eyes of every one. The enormous head, with
its broad triangular front--the conical hump on the shoulders--the small
but brilliantly-piercing eyes--the short black horns, of crescent
shape--the profusion of shaggy hair about, the neck and foreparts of the
body--the disproportioned bulk of the smaller hind-quarters--the short
tail, with its tufted extremity; all these are characteristics. The
hind-quarters are covered with a much shorter and smoother coat of hair,
which adds to their apparent disproportion, and this, with the long
hirsute covering of the breast, neck, hump, and shoulders, gives to the
buffalo--especially when seen in a picture--a somewhat lion-like figure.
The naked tail, with its tuft at the end, strengthens this similarity.

Some of the characteristics above enumerated belong only to the bull.
The cow is less shaggy in front, has a smaller head, a less fierce
appearance, and is altogether more like the common black cattle.

The buffalo is of a dark brown colour--so