June 1, 1867.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



123 



proof of the 'value of a horse's tail, in a country 

 infested with blood-sucking'flies, I may state that I 

 once, when at Walla-Walla, a small steamer-landing 

 and town situated at the head of navigation on the 

 Columbia river, purchased a Siskyoo horse, which 

 means a horse with its ears cropped short like a 

 terrier's, and a tail cut oil' close up' to the rump. This 

 is, or once was, a common custom with the Siskyoo 

 Indians, and all horses so trimmed are designated 

 by the generic name of " Siskyoo." The object of 

 this barbarous custom was to enable these Indians 

 easily to recognise their own horses if stolen and 

 subsequently discovered herding with other bands. 

 Horse-stealing is the primary cause of nearly every 

 Indian war and quarrel. The poor Siskyoo beast, 

 although as perfect a cob as any man need have 

 looked on, was nevertheless utterly valueless during 

 the summer ; nnable to whip away his tormentors, 

 they worried him with impunity, until want of rest 

 and continuous irritation reduced him wellnigh to 

 a skeleton. ' When found make a note of.' Always 

 look out for long-tailed mules and horses in a fly 

 country." 



The author of this book was Naturalist to the 

 British North American Boundary Commission, and 

 when reading his account of one difficulty which he 

 had to surmount to the west of the Cascade moun- 

 tains, we could not help wondering what some of 



mg: po. 



our "parlour naturalists" would have done in such 

 a strait. The place is now called the Diamond 

 Tree Pass. " It certainly was an awful place up 

 which to make a trail that should be available for 

 packed mules, and, to add to the difficulty, a good- 

 sized stream of water tumbled rather than ran 

 down the hill-side. The distance from the base to 

 the summit, in a straight line, was not more than 

 three-quarters of a mile, but it was rocky and 

 densely timbered. The difficulty, too, was the more 



complicated, inasmuch as the prairie leading to the 

 pass was intersected by several streams not fordable, 

 and two swamps that must be crossed. I thought 

 the matter carefully over, climbed up and down the 

 hill, and recalling the words of Napoleon, ' Impos- 

 sible, e'esi le mot d'linfoic,' Anally made up my mind 

 to do it. By describing how this apparent impossi- 

 bility was overcome, I shall give all the practical 

 hints relating to trail-making, bridge-building, and 

 fording swamps which a wanderer can require." But 

 our space will by no means permit us to narrate 

 how it was done, and we can only recommend all who 

 desire to know, to procure the book and read it for 

 themselves. 



In compensation for omitting the details of the 

 Diamond Tree Pass, we purpose to conclude with 

 the picture of a " buffalo run" : — 



"The scene of my adventure is on the broad plains 

 in the Red River settlement. The sun is just 

 creeping from behind the eastern hills, tinting with 

 the rosy hues of morning the splintered summits of 

 many a far-off peak, and at the same time shedding 

 a paler glow over the grassy slopes ; the different 

 intensities of the light give to the flat surface of 

 the plains the appearance of being an ocean of mist. 

 A band of Red Indians with whom I am hunting 

 and living are mounted and ready for the hunt, and 

 few have ever looked upon a more picturesque 

 sight. Their only garment, a piece 

 of skin tied round the waist, makes 

 the muscular figures of the savages 

 look more like exquisite carvings 

 than real flesh and blood. Thus sit- 

 ting their prancing half-tamed horses 

 with matchless ease and grace, their 

 black hair flowing in tangled locks 

 down their backs, confined only by a 

 narrow band of ermine-skin, with an 

 eagle's feather sewn to it, they look 

 as wild and fearless as the beasts 

 they are about to chase. We are 

 waiting for the mist to rise, which it 

 will do when the sun comes fairly 

 above the horizon. Ah ! there it 

 goes, the fog lifting like a veil. It 

 does not evaporate, so to speak, and 

 disperse, but rises en masse like a 

 balloon, and at once becomes invi- 

 sible. And now we can make out the 

 buffalos scattered over the plain. Some are busily 

 cropping their dewy breakfast, others are still lying 

 down in little groups — but all are in happy ignorance 

 of the due enemies lurking behind the knoll 

 watching their every movement. Craftily, and 

 with extreme caution, we walk our horses to 

 windward of the herd, and as we emerge from 

 the cover of the ridge, the trumpet-like notes 

 of the older bulls tell us that we are discovered. 

 Concealment is now of no further use, the 



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