erent directions, we each singled out one
and separated.

I was provided with a brace of veteran brass-barrelled pistols which I
had borrowed at Fort Gibson, and which had evidently seen some service.
Pistols are very effective in buffalo-hunting, as the hunter can ride up
close to the animal, and fire at it while at full speed; whereas the
long heavy rifles used on the frontier cannot be easily managed nor
discharged with accurate aim from horseback. My object, therefore, was
to get within pistol-shot of the buffalo. This was no very easy matter.
I was well mounted on a horse of excellent speed and bottom that seemed
eager for the chase, and soon overtook the game; but the moment he came
nearly parallel, he would keep sheering off with ears forked and pricked
forward, and every symptom of aversion and alarm. It was no wonder. Of
all animals, a buffalo, when close pressed by the hunter, has an aspect
the most diabolical. His two short black horns curve out of a huge
frontlet of shaggy hair; his eyes glow like coals; his mouth is open,
his tongue parched and drawn up into a half crescent; his tail is erect,
and tufted and whisked about in the air; he is a perfect picture of
mingled rage and terror.

It was with difficulty I urged my horse sufficiently near, when, taking
aim, to my chagrin, both pistols missed fire. Unfortunately, the locks
of these veteran weapons were so much worn that in the gallop the
priming had been shaken out of the pans. At the snapping of the last
pistol I was close upon the buffalo, when, in his despair, he turned
round with a sudden snort and rushed upon me. My horse wheeled about as
if on a pivot, made a convulsive spring, and, as I had been leaning on
one side with pistol extended, I came near being thrown at the feet of
the buffalo.

Three or four bounds of the horse carried us out of the reach of the
enemy; who, having merely turned in desperate self-defence, quickly
resumed his flight. As soon as I could gather in my panic-stricken horse
and prime the pistols afresh, I again spurred in pursuit of the buffalo,
who had slackened his speed to take breath. On my approach he again set
off full tilt, heaving himself forward with a heavy rolling gallop,
dashing with headlong precipitation through brakes and ravines, while
several deer and wolves, startled from their coverts by his thundering
career, ran helter-skelter to right and left across the waste.

A gallop across the prairies in pursui