unded the plain in the distance. Not far from him a
band of veritable buffalo bulls were grazing; and startled at Shaw's
approach, they all broke into a run, and went scrambling up the
hillsides to gain the high prairie above. One of them in his haste and
terror involved himself in a fatal catastrophe. Along the foot of
the hills was a narrow strip of deep marshy soil, into which the bull
plunged and hopelessly entangled himself. We all rode up to the spot.
The huge carcass was half sunk in the mud, which flowed to his very
chin, and his shaggy mane was outspread upon the surface. As we came
near the bull began to struggle with convulsive strength; he writhed
to and fro, and in the energy of his fright and desperation would lift
himself for a moment half out of the slough, while the reluctant mire
returned a sucking sound as he strained to drag his limbs from its
tenacious depths. We stimulated his exertions by getting behind him and
twisting his tail; nothing would do. There was clearly no hope for him.
After every effort his heaving sides were more deeply imbedded and the
mire almost overflowed his nostrils; he lay still at length, and looking
round at us with a furious eye, seemed to resign himself to his fate.
Ellis slowly dismounted, and deliberately leveling his boasted yager,
shot the old bull through the heart; then he lazily climbed back again
to his seat, pluming himself no doubt on having actually killed a
buffalo. That day the invincible yager drew blood for the first and last
time during the whole journey.

The morning was a bright and gay one, and the air so clear that on the
farthest horizon the outline of the pale blue prairie was sharply drawn
against the sky. Shaw felt in the mood for hunting; he rode in advance
of the party, and before long we saw a file of bulls galloping at full
speed upon a vast green swell of the prairie at some distance in front.
Shaw came scouring along behind them, arrayed in his red shirt, which
looked very well in the distance; he gained fast on the fugitives, and
as the foremost bull was disappearing behind the summit of the swell,
we saw him in the act of assailing the hindmost; a smoke sprang from the
muzzle of his gun, and floated away before the wind like a little
white cloud; the bull turned upon him, and just then the rising ground
concealed them both from view.

We were moving forward until about noon, when we stopped by the side of
the Arkansas. At that moment Shaw