e thinks of nothing, cares for nothing but
the game; his mind is stimulated to the highest pitch, yet intensely
concentrated on one object. In the midst of the flying herd, where the
uproar and the dust are thickest, it never wavers for a moment; he drops
the rein and abandons his horse to his furious career; he levels his
gun, the report sounds faint amid the thunder of the buffalo; and when
his wounded enemy leaps in vain fury upon him, his heart thrills with
a feeling like the fierce delight of the battlefield. A practiced and
skillful hunter, well mounted, will sometimes kill five or six cows in
a single chase, loading his gun again and again as his horse rushes
through the tumult. An exploit like this is quite beyond the capacities
of a novice. In attacking a small band of buffalo, or in separating a
single animal from the herd and assailing it apart from the rest, there
is less excitement and less danger. With a bold and well trained horse
the hunter may ride so close to the buffalo that as they gallop side by
side he may reach over and touch him with his hand; nor is there much
danger in this as long as the buffalo's strength and breath continue
unabated; but when he becomes tired and can no longer run at ease, when
his tongue lolls out and foam flies from his jaws, then the hunter had
better keep at a more respectful distance; the distressed brute may turn
upon him at any instant; and especially at the moment when he fires his
gun. The wounded buffalo springs at his enemy; the horse leaps violently
aside; and then the hunter has need of a tenacious seat in the saddle,
for if he is thrown to the ground there is no hope for him. When he sees
his attack defeated the buffalo resumes his flight, but if the shot be
well directed he soon stops; for a few moments he stands still, then
totters and falls heavily upon the prairie.

The chief difficulty in running buffalo, as it seems to me, is that of
loading the gun or pistol at full gallop. Many hunters for convenience'
sake carry three or four bullets in the mouth; the powder is poured
down the muzzle of the piece, the bullet dropped in after it, the stock
struck hard upon the pommel of the saddle, and the work is done. The
danger of this method is obvious. Should the blow on the pommel fail to
send the bullet home, or should the latter, in the act of aiming, start
from its place and roll toward the muzzle, the gun would probably burst
in discharging. Many a shattered ha