B I S 



B I S 



among the high rich herbage, under the shade of a clump 

 of cotton- wood trees. The whole had the appearance of a 

 broad, beautiful tract of pasture-land, on the tkicbljr-ofna- 

 mented estate of some gentleman-farmer, with his cattle 

 grazing about the lawns and meadows.' p. 



The American male bison, when at its full size, is said to 

 weigh 2000 Ibs , though 12 or 14 cwt. is considered a good 

 t in the fur countries. Dr. Richardson gives eight 

 feet and a half as its length, exclusive of the tail, which is 

 twenty inches, and upwards of six feet as its height at the 

 fore-quarters. The head is very large, and carried low ; the 

 eyes are small, black, and piercing ; the horns are short, 

 small, sharp, set far apart, ibr the forehead is very broad, 

 and directed outwards and backwards, so as to be nearly 

 erect, with a slight curve towards the outward pointing tips. 

 The hump is not a mere lump of fatty secretion, like tli it of 

 the zebu, but consists, exclusive of a deposit of fat, which 

 varies much in quantity, of the strong muscles attached to 

 the highly-developed spinous processes of the last cervical 

 and firt dorsal vertebra), forming fit machinery for the sup- 

 port and movement of the enormous head. The chest is 

 broad, and the legs are strong ; the hind parts are narrow, 

 and have a comparatively weak appearance. The tail is 

 clothed with short fur-like hair, with a long, straight, coarse, 

 blackish-brown tuft at the end. In winter the whole body 

 is covered with long shagged hair, which in summer falls 

 off, leaving the blackish wrinkled skin exposed, except on 

 the forehead, hump, fore-quarters, under-jaw, and throat, 

 where the hair is very long and shaggy, and mixed with 

 much wool. Catesby observes that on the forehead of a 

 bull the hair is a foot long, thick and frizzled, and of a 

 dusky black colour, that the length of this hair, hanging 

 over their eyes, impedes their (light, and is frequently the 

 cause of their destruction, but that this obstruction of sight 

 is in some measure supplied by their good noses, which are 

 no small safeguard to them. A bull, says he, in summer, 

 with his body bare and his head muffled with long huir, 

 makes a very formidable appearance. In summer the 

 general colour of the hair is between dark-umber and liver- 

 brown, and lustrous. The tips of the hair, as it lengthens 

 in winter, are paler, and before it is shed in summer much 

 of it becomes of a pale, dull, yellowish-brown. In the fe- 

 male the head is smaller, and the hair on the foreparts is 

 not so long as it in in the male. 



Congregating in vast herds, these animals are said to 

 cover the wide-extended savannahs of the more southern 

 districts of the north for miles in extent. ' Such was the 

 multitude,' say Lewis and Clarke, speaking of an assem- 

 blage of bisons as they crossed the water, ' that although 

 the river, including an island over which they passed, was a 

 mile in length, the herd stretched, as thick as they could swim, 

 completely from one side to the other.' The same travellers, 

 speaking of another of these grand spectacles, say, ' If 

 it be not impossible to calculate the moving multitude which 

 darkened the whole plains, we are convinced that 20,000 

 would be no exaggerated number.' Catesby, after stating 

 that they range in droves, feeding on the open savannahs 

 morning and evening, says that in the sultry time of the 

 day they retire to shady rivulets and streams of clear water 

 gliding through thickets of tail canes. Dr. James had an 

 opportunity of observing them on such occasions, ami he 

 thus describes their march: 'In the middle of the day 

 countless thousands of them were seen coming in from every 

 quarter to the stagnant pools ;' and in another place he 

 says, that their paths arc as frequent, and almost as conspi- 

 cuous as the roads in the most populous parts of the United 



But 



The bisons, in truth, are a wandering race, the motives 

 of their restlessness being, cither disturbance by hunters 

 or change of pasture. After the fire has cleared the prairie 

 of all the old herbage, the delicately tender grass which 

 springs up in the room of the old wiry bents that fed the 

 Jlame, offer* the most grateful food to the migratory bisons : 

 such spots arc well-known to the hunter as points of attrac- 

 tion to these animals. In the winter, when the snow lies 

 deep over the variation, they scrape it away with their feet 

 ! at the grass. 



;-'-e and terrible are the fights among the bulls in the 

 rutting season, and perilous is the condition of the man who 

 then approaches them. For the greatest part of the year 

 the bulls and cows live in separate herds ; but at all seasons, 

 according to Dr. Richardson, one or two old bulls generally 

 accompany a large herd of 



These powerful beast* are in general shy, and tly from 

 the face of man till they are wounded ; they then become 

 furious, and pursue their enemy with the must vindictive 

 spirit, as we shall presently see ; but we must first say a 

 word or two on some of the different mode* of hunting 

 them. Du Pratz and Charlevoix give several particulars of 

 the chace of these animals by the Indians. If the ritle be 

 u seil the hunter is careful to go against the wind, for the 

 sense of smelling is so exquisite in the Inson that it will 

 otherwise get *cent of him and piecipitately retire. If he 

 gets within rifle-distance, he is careful so to take his aim 

 that the beast may drop at once, and not be irritated by an 

 ineffectual wound. 



But the great hunting is, or rather was, somewhat after 

 the manner of the Scottish ' tinchel.' A great number of 

 men divide and form a vast square. Each band sets fire to 

 the dry grass of the savannah where the herds are feeding. 

 When the affrighted beasts perceive the fire approaching 

 on all sides, they retire in confusion to the centre of the 

 square, where the bands close upon them, and kill them as 

 they are huddled together in heaps without hazard ; 1 500 

 or 2000 beeves have been given as the produce of such an 

 expedition. 



Captain (now Sir John) Franklin gives us the following 

 information. After stating that the Stone Indians are so 

 expert with the bow and arrow that they can strike a very 

 small object at a considerable distance, and shoot with sulli- 

 eient force to pierce through the body of a buffalo when 

 near, he thus describes a buffalo or bison pound : 



' The buffalo pound was a fenced circular space, of about 

 a hundred yards in diameter ; the entrance was banked up 

 with snow, to a sufficient height to prevent the retreat of 

 the animals that once have entered. For about a mile on 

 each side of the road leading to the pound, stakes were 

 driven into the ground at nearly equal distances of about 

 twenty yards ; these were intended to represent men, and 

 to deter the animals from attempting to break out on cither 

 side. Within fifty or sixty yards from the pound, branches 

 of trees, were placed between these stakes to screen the 

 Indians, who lie down behind them to await the approach 

 of the buffalo. The principal dexterity in this species of 

 chase is shown by the horsemen, who have to manoeuvre 

 round the herd in the plains so as to urge them to enter the 

 r- ad way, which is about a quarter of a mile broad. When 

 this has been accomplished, they raise loud shouts, and, 

 pressing close upon the animals, so terrify them that they 

 rush heedlessly forwards towards the snare. When they have 

 advanced as far as the men who are lying in ambush, they 

 also rise, and increase the consternation by violent shouting 

 and firing guns. The affrighted beasts having no alter- 

 native, run directly to the pound, where they are quickly 

 despatched, either with an arrow or gun. There was a tree in 

 the centre of the pound, on which the Indians had hung 

 strips of buffalo ncsh, and pieces of cloth, as tributary or 

 grateful offerings to the Great Master of life ; and we were 

 told that they occasionally place a man in the tree to sing 

 to the presiding Spirit as the buffaloes are advancing, who 

 must keep his station until the whole that have entered are 

 killed.' 



The same author further proceeds as follows :' Other 

 modes of killing the buffalo are practised by the Indians 

 with success ; of these, the hunting them on horseback 

 requires most dexterity. An expert hunter, when well 

 mounted, dashes at the herd, and chooses an individual 

 which he endeavours to separate from the rest. If he suc- 

 ceeds, he contrives to keep him apart by the proper manage- 

 ment of his horse, though going at full speed. Whem\rr 

 he can get sutlicicntly near for a ball toj penetrate the 

 beast's hide he fires, and seldom fails of bringing the 

 animal down; though, of course, lie cannot rest the piece 

 against the shoulder, nor take a deliberate aim. On this 

 -ei\ i.-c the hunter is often exposed to considerable danger 

 Irom the fall of his horse in the numerous holes which the 

 badgers make in these plains, and also from the rage of the 

 buffalo, which, when closely pressed, often turns suddenly, 

 and, rushing furiously on the horse, frequently succeeds in 

 wounding it, or dismounting the rider. Whenever the 

 animal shows this disposition, winch the experienced hunter 

 will readily perceive, he immediately pulls up his horse :u,d 

 goes off in another direction.' The reader will find some 

 animated description* of such encounters in 'The Tour on 

 the Prairies,' before alluded to. 



'When the buffaloes are on their guard,' a* Captain 



