Our animals were in a high state of excitement, striving to get
through the lines of men who guarded them, and of course there was no
possibility of our breaking camp until the buffaloes had departed, for,
so father said, there was not a driver in the company who could handle
half a dozen yoke of oxen while the buffaloes were so near.
[Illustration]
Not all our people stood gazing stupidly at this sea of animals as did
Ellen and I. You may be certain Eben Jordan was among the first to go
out dangerously near the huge beasts, and he was followed by all the
men of the company, save those who were guiding our live stock.
I had supposed that the buffaloes would take to their heels when a
rifle was discharged; but much to my surprise they paid little or no
attention at first to the reports of the firearms.
I dare not venture to say how many of the animals were killed; but
certainly it seemed to me, when about noon the entire herd rushed off,
the rumbling of their hoofs on the hard earth sounding like thunder,
that there were no less than fifty carcasses spread out on the plain
within a mile of where our wagons had been drawn up to form a corral.