HERDS OF BISONS. 255 



But the process of extirpation has not been relaxed, 

 and the bison is now driven beyond the lakes, the 

 Illinois, and southern portion of the Mississippi 

 rivers, their range extending from the country \vest 

 of Hudson's Bay to the northern provinces of 

 Mexico. They have not yet crossed the entire 

 breadth of the mountains at the head of the Mis- 

 souri, though in some parts they penetrate the most 

 accessible vallies, particularly that of Lewis river. 

 Mr. Henry and his party of hunters wintered there, 

 and subsisted chiefly upon the flesh of these ani- 

 mals, which they saw in considerable numbers; yet 

 the Indians affirmed that it was unusual for the 

 bisons to visit that neighbourhood. 



But who may reckon the vast herds that crowd 

 the boundless prairies of the river Platte ? Dr. 

 James and his companions spoke of them with 

 admiration, in their interesting Narrative of an 

 Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. Their 4 view 

 on the opposite margin of the tranquil river, had 

 been interrupted for some time by a swell of the 

 surface, which extended along its shores. On sur- 

 mounting this undulation, they saw before them, 

 upon the broad expanse of the wide prairie, an 

 innumerable multitude of bisons, grazing in undis- 

 turbed possession, and obsciiring the verdant plain 

 with the density of their numbers; right and left, 

 far as the eye could reach, the crowd seemed hardly 

 to diminish: at least ten thousand must have burst 

 upon the sight at the same instant. Small columns 

 of dust were occasionally raised by such as were 

 pawing the earth and rolling, and much amuse- 

 ment was afforded by the unwieldy playfulness of 



