214 THE HIVE OF THE EEE-HUXTEK. 



ceit of drawing a deadly weapon upon a thing as small 

 as a woodcock, that the wild, half devil, and half Indian 

 horses on which we were mounted, pricked up their ears 

 and tails, as if they expected that the next salute would 

 be the war-whoop and a fight. 



Ahead of us we beheld the buzzards, circling in 

 groups, whirling down in aerial flights to the earth, as 

 if busy with their prey. We passed them at their gross 

 repast over a mountain of meat, which had, the day be- 

 fore, been full of life and fire, but had fallen under the 

 visitation of our guides and scarecrows ; and provided 

 the very steaks that had met with so little affection from 

 our appetites. Soon we disc-overed signs of immediate 

 vicinity of the buffalo, and on a little examination from 

 the top of a "swell of land," we saw them feeding off 

 towards the horizon, like vast herds of cattle quietly 

 grazing within the inclosure of the farm-yard. 



As distant as they were, our hearts throbbed violently 

 as we contemplated the sanguinary warfare we were 

 about to engage in, and the waste of life that would 

 ensue. 



Still, we were impelled on by an irresistible and 

 overpowering instinct to begin the hunt. 



" Breeches " and " Bags " carried over their shoulders 

 poles about six feet long ; but as they were destitute of 

 any visible spear, we looked upon them as inoffensive 

 weapons, and concluded that they had come out just to 

 act as guides. In fact, we could not imagine that such 



