THE SKETCHER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 952, 7 May 1879, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE SKETCHER.

BUFFALO HUNTING BY RAIL. EXCITING SCENE. I enclose an account of a recent Far West battle, which may interest your readers as an unexampled record of the ferocity and wantonness which mark the advance of the pioneers of Western American civilisation. I have just received it from my friends, " The Old Hunter," in ISTova Scotia. He says : —■ " I recall to memory, when on the prairies, hearing of Fremont firing 9-pr. shot into herds of buffalo, but battalions of riflemen blazing into those most valuable animals merely to wound them, is, if anything, worse. No sportsman ever kills a bull for its meat; the barren cow is the hunter's mark." " At ten o'clock in the morning," says the Lawrence (Kansas) Journal, " our long train, loaded with three hundred eager excursionists, moved out of the Lawrence depot to the sound of music from the band, and steamed away westward towards the regions of Lo and the Buffalo. Our commissary car is loaded to the muzzle with good things for the inner man. The day is auspicious—the hunters eager for the fray. A goodly number of ladies were present, who, despite the rumors of Indian massacres, that appal the hearts of timid downeasters, are bound for the " dark and bloody ground," to become the enthusiastic spectators of deeds that shall eclipse the days of chivalry. At the 225 th mile-post we first hove in sight of the grand army advancing from the north, and for fifty miles we have not been out of sight of their dark threatening lines. No estimate can be made of the countless thousands of these shaggy monsters who have lnmg upon our right flank, checked in their southern march by the railroads and passing trains. Experienced frontier men affirm that they have never before seen such countless numbers together. A few of the advance guards had, at some points, crossed to the southward of the road, and these, as our goodly engine, the Seminole, advanced, would seek to recross to the main herd. Then would ensue such a wild race as no words can desci-ibe. Such a neck and neck race as we had at about 3 p.m. A mile away on our left about twenty were descried making for a curve in the road two miles in advance of the engine. Keeping his engine at a speed just sufficient to encourage them in their effort, the skilful engineer of the Seminole threw down the gauntlet and the race began. In an instant a hundred car windows were thrown up, and the left of our train bris.tled with two hundred guns. The engine screamed and the spectators shouted, and the earth seemed to tremble with the tread of the huge monsters, as, half enveloped in a cloud of dust, they bounded over the level plain, nearing us at every bound, and now at a distance of 600 yards, and just abreast of our train, they received the desultory fire of our eagermarksmen. And thus for more than two miles these great dark, rolling, wallowing, swaying monsters ran the fiery gauntlet till, apparently disheartened, they slackened their speed, turned defiantly at bay for a moment, and then sped away to the left out of range of our" guns, which told too well that some of our shots had taken effect. But the grand adventure of the day was yet to come. Just at dark, we ran into a vast herd spread out on both sides of the track. In an instant the whole prairie seemed in motion. Again the portion on our left sought to cross the track, and again we gave chase. The mass were too quick for us, but three immense bulls were cut off in such a way as to give them an even chance with the Seminole. In the darkness of the evening they could scarcely be discerned, except by the flash of the guns, as a little in advance of the engine, and close along the track, they drew the diagonal fire of two hundred guns. It was a race for life, and they ran as if the demon of despair was in them. But this time the Seminole was worsted, and with a lurch and a bound they sprang across the track, not twenty feet in advance of the engine. But not to escape. In a flash our gunners were on the opposite side of the train, and as their huge backs came rolliiif up to the embankment they received a full broadside from our battalion. Two were seen to stagger and fall, but rose again to their feet. " Down brakes" was whistled, and men, women, and children tumbled from the train and joined in the pursuit. Scarce a hundred yards from the train the largest one fell dead. He was shot through the heart. The other, badly wounded, escaped in the darkness. Captain Curtiss, a practical bntcher, was on hand in a jaffin, and to disembowel his majesty was the work of but a few moments. Under the direction of Captain Coombs, a rope was attached tp his horns, and two long files of men, with.

I- ■ joined hands, and preceded by the band, playing Yankee Doodle," dragged him bodily to the front car and hoisted him aboard. " Few and short were the prayers we said" last night, and brief the embraces of Morpheus. Long black lines of bulalocs were galloping all night over the level plain of our dreamland. At sunrise we stee.iceii iov the buffalo mirage. Thirty miles at. lightning speed, and we are in sight of their advance lines. Halting a lew moments, we organised by electing a colonel, and dividing the battalion into companies. The captains gave a few brief instructions to their inen, and then embarked aboard the train ami dashed in among them, scattering them to the right and the left 01 the tracic. Th-.«e on oar right flit-uk cmkavoruig v.) cut u.s o!i'. we gave chase. .V was <]c:!:vwfii in tlieir amis'... and one iV-11. A hundred ha:ids conveyed him in;;!!.!'.' to tUe car.-; :uu! :s.->i". 1, iii' was ;.i'Ov'ii; i si

charge and w« are in tiio midst oi thousands, darkening all tiie piain. If the fcnp of the train," a powerful glass, I swept til a horizon through 170 degrees, and the whole half circle wu-i literally covered with their dark masses, looking in the distance like a dumped forest of black-jack oars. The train halts, and noiselessly the different platoons d:irt out ori the double-quick among the dark masses availing themselves of the various inequalities of the ground to keep themselves covered, and seeking the most thickly-clustered herds. From our elevated look-out we could take in the entire field. To a looker-on the scene had all the interest of a battle. The plan was well conceived and faithfully executed. There was a suspense of twenty minutes preceding the conflict. Then came a shot, then two, then a pattering of shots all round the circle, and the ball was opened. There was confusion doubly confused among the countless herd. Confounded and bewildered they darted this way and that, around and among each other like the fantastic ever-changing kaleidoscope. Whenever they tried to break from the fiery column, it was only to meet the deadly rifle and its death-dealing missile. The tumult over, and fifteen carcases are stretched upon the plain. Enough of gore and glory for one day. We steamed away homeward in high spirits over the greatest hunt of the and delighted with our ' Sheridan Ride. 1 Seventeen buffaloes are the trophies of our expedition, and locks of hair, tips of tails, and tufted scalps, will be hoarded among our mementoes."