THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IX, Issue 460, 3 February 1882, Page 19

THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA.

The march of civilisation bids fair to remove the red man and the buffalo— his principal means of support— simultaneously off the face of the earth, or at least off that part of it which lies within the boundaries of the United States. The tour of the Marquis of Lome has afforded the North American Indians dwelling on British territory the opportunity of bringing prominently under the notice of the Governor-General the various grievances of these interesting people, who, although brimful of loyalty and professing gratitude for the generous treatment they have received at the hands of the Canadian Government, as compared with that experienced with tneir brethren in the States, have still certain grounds for complaint. One of these is the scarcity of buff aloe?. It is to be hoped that some steps will be taken to preserve these valuable animals in Canada from the fate which is rapidly overtaking them :n the United States. The principal resort of these animals in the States is the Yellowstone country, Montana, where last winter, owing to the severity ef the weather and the scarcity of food, they" bunched " themselves in the few valleys in which pasturage coald be found, and were shot down by the so-called " hunters "by thousands at a time. It is estimated that in this one district alone over 100.000 buffaloes were slaughtered, and, as the average number of hides collected daring the last few years has been under one-fourth of the total of last winter, the stock must have been reduced to the smallest possible proportions. There is a close time for wapitis in the maritime provinces of Canada, and it is h'gh time that there should be some legislative enactment to preserve I the noblest animal of the prairies of the West. Whether regarded from the point of view of the Red Indian, t3 whom they are both food and raiment, or of the manufacturer, to whom they supply a valuable hide, or of the hunter, in whose eyes they are among th« noblest game in the world, these magnificent animals demand that some means should be adopted to save them from utter extermination. — " Colonies and India."