n, shouldering each other along at a clumsy gallop. We followed,
spurring our horses to full speed; and as the herd rushed, crowding and
trampling in terror through an opening in the hills, we were close at
their heels, half suffocated by the clouds of dust.

But as we drew near, their alarm and speed increased; our horses showed
signs of the utmost fear, bounding violently aside as we approached, and
refusing to enter among the herd.

The buffalo now broke into several small bodies, scampering over the
hills in different directions, and I lost sight of Shaw; neither of us
knew where the other had gone. Old Pontiac ran like a frantic elephant
up hill and down hill, his ponderous hoofs striking the prairie like
sledge-hammers. He showed a curious mixture of eagerness and terror,
straining to overtake the panic-stricken herd, but constantly recoiling
in dismay as we drew near. The fugitives offered no very attractive
spectacle, with their enormous size and weight, their shaggy manes and
the tattered remnants of their last winter's hair covering their backs
in irregular shreds and patches, and flying off in the wind as they ran.

At length I urged my horse close behind a bull, and after trying in
vain, by blows and spurring, to bring him alongside, I shot a bullet
into the buffalo from this disadvantageous position. At the report,
Pontiac swerved so much that I was again thrown a little behind the
game. The bullet, entering too much in the rear, failed to disable the
bull, for a buffalo requires to be shot at particular points, or he will
certainly escape. The herd ran up a hill, and I followed in pursuit. As
Pontiac rushed headlong down on the other side, I saw Shaw and Henry
descending the hollow on the right, at a leisurely gallop; and in front,
the buffalo were just disappearing behind the crest of the next hill,
their short tails erect, and their hoofs twinkling through a cloud of
dust.

At that moment, I heard Shaw and Henry shouting to me; but the muscles
of a stronger arm than mine could not have checked at once the furious
course of Pontiac, whose mouth was as insensible as leather. Added to
this, I rode him that morning with a common snaffle, having the day
before, for the benefit of my other horse, unbuckled from my bridle the
curb which I ordinarily used. A stronger and hardier brute never trod
the prairie; but the novel sight of the buffalo filled him with terror,
and when at full speed he was almost uncont