It Was A Huge Horse Pistol, That
Threw An Ounce Ball Of Exactly The Calibre Of My Double
Rifle.
I had shot several buffaloes with it, by riding close
to them in a chase; and when in danger of Indians I loaded it
with slugs.
At last I found it. It was getting late; and I
didn't rightly know where I was. I made for the low country.
But as we camped last night at least two miles from the
river, on account of the swamps, the difficulty was to find
the tracks. The poor little grey and I hunted for it in
vain. The wet ground was too wet, the dry ground too hard,
to show the tracks in the now imperfect light.
'The situation was a disagreeable one: it might be two or
three days before I again fell in with my friends. I had not
touched food since the early morning, and was rather done.
To return to the high ground was to give up for the night;
but that meant another day behind the cavalcade, with
diminished chance of overtaking it. Through the dusk I saw
what I fancied was something moving on a mound ahead of me
which arose out of the surrounding swamp. I spurred on, but
only to find the putrid carcase of a buffalo, with a wolf
supping on it. The brute was gorged, and looked as sleek as
"die schone Frau Giermund"; but, unlike Isegrim's spouse, she
was free to escape, for she wasn't worth a bullet. I was so
famished, that I examined the carcase with the hope of
finding a cut that would last for a day or two; my nose
wouldn't have it. I plodded on, the water up to the saddle-
girths. The mosquitos swarmed in millions, and the poor
little grey could hardly get one leg before the other. I,
too, was so feverish that, ignorant of bacteria, I filled my
round hat with the filthy stagnant water, and drank it at a
draught.
'At last I made for higher ground. It was too dark to hunt
for tracks, so I began to look out for a level bed. Suddenly
my beast, who jogged along with his nose to the ground, gave
a loud neigh. We had struck the trail. I threw the reins on
his neck, and left matters to his superior instincts. In
less than half an hour the joyful light of a camp fire
gladdened my eyes. Fred told me he had halted as soon as he
was able, not on my account only, but because he, too, had
had a severe fall, and was suffering great pain from a
bruised knee.'
Here is an ordinary example of buffalo shooting:
'JULY 2ND. - Fresh meat much wanted. With Jim the half-breed
to the hills. No sooner on high ground than we sighted game.
As far as eye could reach, right away to the horizon, the
plain was black with buffaloes, a truly astonishing sight.
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