“Buffalo-wallows, I declare!” said Basil: “some of them are quite fresh too!”
“Buffalo-wallows!” echoed François; “what are they?”
“Why, have you never heard of them, Frank?” asked Basil. “Places where the buffalo wallow and tumble like horses and farm-cattle.”
“Oh, that’s it,” said François; “but what do they do it for?”
“Well, that I don’t know. Perhaps Luce can tell.”
“Some say,” said Lucien, thus appealed to, “they do it to scratch themselves, and get rid of the flies and other insects that annoy them. Others believe that they practise this curious exercise only by way of diversion.”
“Ha! ha! ha!” laughed François, “what funny fellows they must be!”
“There is yet another more curious explanation,” continued Lucien, “which is this:—that the buffaloes make these hollows to catch water when it rains, so that they may come back to them and drink!”
“Ha! ha! ha!” again laughed François; “I can’t believe that, brother.”
“I would not have you neither,” said Lucien; “of course, the supposition is not true—as the buffalo is not an animal possessing sufficient intelligence for that. It is only offered as a curious suggestion. It is certain, however, that the water collects in these holes during rain-time, and often remains there for days; and the buffaloes, wandering about, drink out of them. Therefore, it may, in one sense, be truly said that the buffaloes dig their own wells! These often prove of service to other animals, as well as those who have made them. Lost trappers and Indians have been saved by finding water in them, when otherwise they would have perished from thirst.”