After a long pause, in thoughts too deep for words, they began the descent, which was made in a much shorter time than had been required for the opposite ascent; and the explorers soon found themselves on the slopes of the subsiding hills.  Here the hunter was in his element.  To all the party but Finley, the buffaloes incidentally seen in small numbers in the valleys, were a novel and interesting sight.  It had as yet been impossible to obtain a shot at them, from their distance or position.  It may be imagined with what eagerness Boone sought an opportunity to make his first essay in this exciting and noble species of hunting.

The first considerable drove came in sight on the afternoon of the day on which the travellers reached the foot of the mountains.  The day had been one of the most beautiful of spring.  The earth was covered with grass of the freshest green.  The rich foliage of the trees, in its varied shading, furnished its portion of the loveliness of the surrounding landscape.  The light of the declining sun lay full on the scene of boundless solitude.  The party had descended into a deep glen, which wound through the opening between the highlands, still extending a little in advance of them.  They pursued its course until it terminated in a beautiful little plain.  Upon advancing into this, they found themselves in an area of considerable extent, almost circular in form, bounded on one half its circumference by the line of hills, from among which they had just emerged.  The other sections of the circle were marked by the fringe of wood that bordered a stream winding from the hills, at a considerable distance above.  The buffaloes advanced from the skirt of wood, and the plain was soon filled by the moving mass of these huge animals.

The exploring adventurers perceived themselves in danger of what has more than once happened in similar situations.  The prospect seemed to be that they would be trampled under the feet of the reckless and sweeping body, in their onward course.

“They will not turn out for us,” said Finley; “and If we do not conduct exactly right, we shall be crushed to death.”

The inexperienced adventurers bade him direct them in the emergency.  Just as the front of the phalanx was within short rifle distance, he discharged his rifle and brought down one of the bulls, that seemed to be a file leader, by a ball between the horns.  The unwieldy animal fell.  The mass raised a deafening sort of bellow, and became arrested, as if transfixed to the spot.  A momentary confusion of the mass behind ensued.  But, borne along by the pressure of the multitudes still in the rear, there was a gradual parting of the herd direct from the front, where the fallen buffalo lay.  The disruption once made, the chasm broadened, until when the wings passed the travellers, they were thirty yards from the divisions on either hand.  To prevent the masses yet behind from closing their lines, Finley took the rifle of one of his companions, and levelled another.  This changed the pace of the animals to a rout.  The last masses soon thundered by, and left them gazing in astonishment, not unmixed with joy, in realizing their escape, “Job of Uz,” exclaimed Boone, “had not larger droves of cattle than we.  In fact, we seem to have had in this instance an abundance to a fault.”