THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3259, 12 December 1881, Page 4

THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA.

The march of civilisation bids fair to improve 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 Stntes. 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 Gov-ernor-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 by their brethren in the States, have still certain grounds for complaint. One of these is the scarcity of buffaloes. 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 in the United States. The principal resort of these animals in the States is the Yellowstone country, Montana,, where last winter, owing to the severity of the weather and the scarcity of food, they "' bunched" themselves in the few valleys m which pasturage could 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 during the last few years has been under one fourth of the total of last winter, the stock must have been rednced to the smallestfpo9sible proportions. There is a close time for wapitis in the maritime provinces of Canada, and it is high time that there should be some legislative enactment to preserve the noblest animal of the prairies of the West. Whether regarded from the point of view of the Eed Indian, to whom they are both food and raiment, or to the manufacturer, to whom they supply a valuable hide, or of the hunter, in whose eyes they are among the noblest game in the world, these magnificent creatures demand that some means should be adopted to save them from utter extermination.—Colonies and India.