THE BISON. Bus

see this with his own eyes, he desired to be taken to her
stable at evening. The man, instructed how to act, drove in
some of the other cows. The white cow drew up; not only
did she refuse to advance, in spite of all encouraging words,
but her whole frame swelled with anger and offended dignity.
She kept lowing continually. At last the cows within, as
though conscious that they had forgotten their place, began
to come out, and as they were driven out, the proud white
cow, with an evident air of gratified pride, strode in in silence.
It is almost impossible to convey the impression produced
by this exhibition of downright pride, Hidalgo pride, in what
many would call a dumb brute.

The Bison. The American Bison is a formidable animal
when engaged alone, and when charging in a pack simply
irresistible. He is about the size of an ox, one measured
by Sir J. Richardson being eight feet six inches in length,
without his tail, and more than six feet in height at his fore-.
quarters. He has an enormous head, surmounted by a huge
hump on his shoulder which is covered in winter with shagey
mane-like hair. His hinder quarters are comparatively thin
and small, and his colour is a dark brown approaching to black,
Sharp piercing eyes and short powerful horns give him a fierce
appearance and dangerous powers. He has enormous strength
in his head and neck. The Bison is gregarious, associating
in herds many hundreds strong. These herds have been
greatly reduced during late years, but a herd seen by Captains
Lewis and Clerk was numbered by them at not less than
twenty thousand. “Such was the multitude of these animals,
that, although the river, including an island over which they
passed, was a mile in breadth, the herd stretched as thick as
they could swim completely from one side to the other.” When
they join in a stampede, they are said to rush over the plains
like a cataract, with a noise resembling that of thunder. Captain
Brown says, “Bison generally prefer the open plains, and
do not resort to woods, except when attacked; they seldom