ff at the first shot, unless the hunter discovered himself. On the
contrary, one after another might fall, and not frighten the rest, so
long as these did not get to leeward, and detect the presence of their
enemy by the scent.

The wind was in our favour, and this was a most important consideration.
Had it been otherwise the game would have "winded" us at a mile's
distance, as they can recognise the smell of man, and frequently
comprehend the danger of being near such an enemy. Indeed, it is on
their great power of scent that the buffalo most commonly rely for
warning. The eyes of these creatures, and particularly the bulls, are
so covered with the shaggy hair hanging over them, that individuals are
often seen quite blinded by it, and a hunter, if he keep silent enough,
may walk up and lay his hand upon them, without having been previously
noticed. This, however, can only occur when the hunter travels against
the wind. Otherwise he finds the buffalo as shy and difficult to
approach as most game, and many along spoil of crouching and crawling
has been made to no purpose--a single sniff of the approaching enemy
proving enough to startle the game, and send it off in wild flight.

Ike and his brother trapper urged that if the approach should prove
unsuccessful there would still be time to "run" the herd, as those who
did not attempt the former method might keep in their saddles, and be
ready to gallop forward.

All this was feasible enough; and it was therefore decided that the
"approach" should have a trial. The trappers had already prepared
themselves for this sort of thing. They were evidently desirous of
giving us an exhibition of their hunter-prowess, and we were ready to
witness it. We had noticed them busied with a pair of large wolf-skins,
which they had taken off the animals entire, with the heads, ears,
tails, etcetera, remaining upon the skins. The purpose of these was to
enable the hunters to disguise themselves as wolves, and thus crawl
within shooting distance of the buffalo herd.

Strange to say this is quite possible. Although no creature is a
greater enemy to the buffalo than the wolf, the former, as already
stated, permits the latter to approach quite close to him without making
any attempt to chase him off, or without exhibiting the slightest
symptoms of fear on his own account. The buffalo cannot prevent the
wolf from prowling close about him, as the latter is sufficiently
active, and can