La Salle and the discovery of the great West - North Central ...

1685.] THE BUFFALO. 899up, and stared through their manes at the intruder.Joutel fired. It was a close shot; but the bullsmerely shook their shaggy heads, wheeled about,and galloped heavily away. The same luck attendedhim the next day. " We saw plenty of buffalo. Iapproached several bands of them, and fired againand again, but could not make one of them fall."He had not yet learned that a buffalo rarely falls atonce, unless hit in the spine. He continues :" I wasnot discouraged ;and after approaching several morebands, — which was hard work, because I had tocrawl on the ground, so as not to be seen, — I foundmyself in a herd of five or six thousand, but, to mygreat vexation, I could not bring one ofthem down.They all ran off to the right and left. It was nearnight, and I had killed nothing. Though I wasvery tired, I tried again, approached another band,and fired a number of shots ;but not a buffalo wouldfall. The skin was off my knees with crawling.At last,as I was going back to rejoin our men, I sawa buffalo lying on the ground. I went towards it,and saw that it was dead. I examined it, and foundthat the bullet had gone in near the shoulder. ThenI found others dead like the first. I beckoned themen to come on, and we set to work to cut up themeat, — a task which was new to us all."be impossible to write a more trueIt wouldand characteristicsketch of the experience of a novice in shootingbuffalo on foot. A few days after, he went outagain, with Father Anastase Douay; approached a