sked him why he did this.
He replied that it was to ascertain how far off the buffalo were: he
could judge of the distance by the sound of their feet, and their
occasional roars as the bulls engaged in combat. Not an animal,
however, was yet visible.

At last we caught sight of a number of dark objects moving on the
prairie in the far distance.

"There is the herd!" exclaimed the Indian; "we must now be wary how we
approach."

Still we went on, the animals being too busily engaged in grazing, or in
attacking each other, to observe us. At last the Indian advised that we
should halt behind a knoll which rose out of the plain, with a few
bushes on the summit. Here we could remain concealed from the herd.
So, having gained the foot of the knoll, we dismounted; and leaving our
horses in charge of the men with the cart, my father and I climbed up to
the top, where by crouching down we were unseen by the herd, although we
could observe all that was going forward.

The Indian hunters now took some wolf-skins which had been hanging to
their saddles, and completely covering themselves up, so as to represent
wolves, they began to creep towards the herd, trailing their rifles at
their sides; thus they got nearer and nearer the herd. Whenever any of
the animals stopped to look at them, they stopped also; when the buffalo
went on feeding, they advanced. At length each hunter, having selected
a cow, suddenly sprang to his knees and fired, and three fine animals
rolled over; though, had the buffalo bulls known their power, they
might, with the greatest ease, have crushed their human foes. On
hearing the shots, the whole herd took to flight.

"Well done!" cried my father. "I should like to have another, though;"
and hurrying down the hill, he mounted his horse and galloped off in
chase of the retreating herd.

Heavy and clumsy as the animals looked, so rapidly did they rush over
the ground that he could only got within range of two or three of the
rearmost. Pulling up, he fired; but the buffalo dashed on; and,
unwilling to fatigue his horse, my father came back, somewhat annoyed at
his failure.

The three animals which had been killed were quickly cut up, and we
loaded our cart with the meat; after which the Indians accompanied us
back to the camp to receive the reward we had promised. The supply of
fresh meat was very welcome, and helped to keep sickness at a distance
for some time longer.

After this we made severa