THE BISON. £0 



they were tokl that the animal was north of them; 

 however, they frequently met with buffalo hides, 

 particularly when west of the Mississippi; and Du 

 Pratz, who published in 1758, informs us that at 

 that time the animal did not exist in lower Louisiana. 

 We know however of one author, Bernard Romans, 

 who wrote in 1774, and who speaks of the buf- 

 falo as a benefit of nature bestowed upon Florida. 

 There can be no doubt that the animal approached 

 the Gulf of Mexico, near the Bay of St. Bernard; 

 for Alvar Nunez, about the year 1535, saw them 

 not far from the coast; and Joater, one hundred and 

 fifty years afterwards, saw them at the Bay of St. 

 Bernard. It is probable that this Bay is the lowest 

 point of latitude at which this animal has been 

 found east of the Rocky Mountains. There can 

 be no doubt of their existence west of those moun- 

 tains, though Father Venegas does not include them 

 among the animals of California, and although they 

 were not seen west of the mountains by Lewis and 

 Clarke, nor mentioned by Harmon and Mackenzie 

 as existing in New Caledonia, a country of immense 

 extent, which is included between the Pacific Ocean, 

 the Rocky Mountains, the territory of the United 

 States, and the Russian possessions, on the north- 

 west coast of America. Yet their existence at present 

 on the Columbia, appears to be well ascertained, 

 and we are told that there is a tradition among the 

 natives, that shortly before the visit of our enter- 

 prising explorers, destructive fires had raged over 

 Vol. III. 4 



