Buffalo Hunt, Chase

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Indian on horseback hunting buffalo with bow and arrow (Plate 5)."In this picture we have the Indian mounted his wild horse, he is captured in the mode described above; and thus converting it to his use, as the means of procuring his subsistence. The wild horse is the swiftest animal on the American prairies; and the Indian on his well-trained horse's back, with his sinewy bow and lance, easily deals death to the quadrupeds country; having, from a lifetime of practice, rendered himself quite equal in the chase, to the most skillful of hunters, and in war, to the most efficient cavalry of lancers and bowmen in the world.The very great disparity in size between the horse and the buffalo, in this instance, which is much more than is usual, nevertheless correctly illustrates the actual difference that often occurs between and Indian poney of thirteen or fourteen hands, and a large bull, as is here represented, weighing, as they sometimes do, 1800 or 2000 pounds.In giving the arrow under these circumstances, the bow is pulled with great suddenness, and the arrow flies with terrible and almost incredible effect; generally striking the heart or the region of it, so that death is most commonly produced by one arrow; and if the first fail to enter deep enough, a second one is sent in an instant, and the huge animal, with a few leaps more, tumbles down and is dead in a few moments."