BISON BISSET. 



549 



cies, that tho hunters and Indians always regard them 

 as matters of special wonder. 



The bison bull is poor, and his flesh disagreeable 

 in the months of August and September. They are 

 much more easily approached and killed than the 

 cows, not being so vigilant, though the cows are pre- 

 ferred both on account of their finer skins and more 

 tender flesh. The cow is much less than the bull, 

 mid has not so much of the long hair on the shoul- 

 ders, &c. ; her horns are not so large, nor so much 

 covered by the hair. The sexual season begins to- 

 wards the end of July, and lasts till near the begin- 

 ning of September; after this time, the cows sepa- 

 rate from the bulls in distinct herds. They calve in 

 April ; the calves seldom leave the mother until a 

 year old ; cows are sometimes seen with calves of 

 three seasons following them. 



Bison beef is rather coarser grained than that of 

 the domestic ox, but is considered by hunters and 

 travellers as superior in tenderness and flavour. The 

 hump, which is highly celebrated for its richness and 

 delicacy, is said, when properly cooked, to resemble 

 marrow. The Indian method of preparing this deli- 

 cacy is the following : The hump is cut off the 

 shoulders, the bones removed, and a piece of skin is 

 sewed over the denuded part. The hair is then 

 singed off, and the whole is now ready for the oven. 

 This is a hole in the earth, in and over which a fire 

 has been burned, and into this heated receptacle the 

 hump is conveyed, and covered, about a foot deep, 

 with earth and ashes. A strong fire is again built 

 over the spot, and, supposing these preparations to 

 be began on the evening of one day, the bump will 

 be ready for eating by the next day at noon. The 

 tongues and marrow bones are regarded, by the con- 

 noisseurs, as next in excellence. 



Herds, consisting of thousands of these fine ani- 

 mals, still roam over the far western prairies, led by 

 the fiercest and most powerful of the bulls. During 

 the sexual season, the noise of their roaring resembles 

 thunder, and the males often fight desperate battles 

 with each other. While feeding, they are often 

 scattered over a vast surface ; but, when they move 

 forward in mass, they form a dense, impenetrable 

 column, which, once fairly in motion, is scarcely to 

 be turned. They swim large rivers nearly in the 

 same order in which they traverse the plains ; and, 

 when flying from pursuit, it is in vain for those in 

 front to halt suddenly, as the rearward throng dash 

 madly forward, and force their leaders on. The In- 

 dians sometimes profit by this habit : they lure a herd 

 to the vicinity of a precipice, and, setting the whole 

 in rapid motion, they terrify them, by shouting and 

 other artifices, to rush on to their inevitable destruc- 

 tion. Numerous tribes of Indians are almost wholly 

 dependent on these animals for food, clothing, tents, 

 utensils, c. Vast multitudes of bisons are slaugh- 

 tered annually ; but it is to be deeply regretted, that 

 the white hunters and traders are in the habit of de- 

 stroying these valuable beasts in the most wanton 

 and unnecessary manner. It is common for such 

 persons to shoot bisons, even when they have abun- 

 dance of food, for the sake of the tongue or hump 

 alone, or even because the animals come so near as 

 to present a fair aim. It is, therefore, not to be 

 wondered, that, from all causes of diminution, the 

 bison should become less numerous every year, and 

 remove farther and farther from the haunts of men. 

 The preference always given to the cows, which are 

 too often shot while gravid, operates powerfully in 

 thinning the herds. 



The skins of bisons, especially that of the cow, 

 ilrrssed in the Indian fashion, with the hair on, make 

 admirable defences against the cold, and may be 

 used for blankets, &c. They are called buffalo robes ; 



the term buffalo being generally, but inaccurately, 

 applied to the bison. The wool of the bison has been 

 manufactured into hats, and has also been employed 

 in making coarse cloth. The time cannot be very 

 far distant, when this species, like the Indian tribes 

 which hover near them, will have passed away, and 

 the places which know them now shall know them 

 no more. 



BISSAGO, or BISSAUX, or BISSAO ; an island in the 

 Atlantic ocean, near the western coast of Africa, and 

 the principal of the cluster called Bissagos, 100 miles 

 in circumference; Ion. 14 10' W. ; lat. 11 24' N. 

 The ground rises imperceptibly to the middle of the 

 island. The soil is cultivated and fertile, abounding 

 with several sorts of trees, particularly fine large 

 orange and mangroves near the shore. The inhabi- 

 tants are Portuguese and negroes intermixed. The 

 island is divided into nine provinces, eight of which 

 are governed by officers appointed by the sovereign, 

 each bearing the title of king. There is another 

 cluster of islands of the same name, Ion. 15 W., lat. 

 11 30' N., 255 miles south of cape Verd. 



BISSAT, or BISSART, Peter ; professor of the canon 

 law in the university of Bononia, was born in Fife, 

 in the reign of James V. He received instructions 

 in grammar, philosophy, and the laws, at the uni- 

 versity of St Andrews, and afterwards perfected his 

 education at that of Paris. Having then travelled 

 into Italy, he was honoured by the university of 

 Bononia with the degree of doctor of laws, and 

 shortly after became professor of the canon law in 

 that seminary, in which situation he continued for 

 several years. Bissat appears to have been a man 

 of general accomplishment a poet, an orator, and 

 a philosopher; but his forte lay in the canon law. 

 His various writings were published at Venice in 

 1565, in quarto, under the title, " Patricii BissarU 

 Opera Omnia, viz. Poemata, Orationes, Lectiones 

 Feriales, et Liber de Irregularitate." The last of 

 these compositions was a commentary on that part 

 of the canon law which gives the reasons assigned 

 by the church of Rome for excluding certain laymen 

 from the clergy. Bissat died in the latter part of 

 the year 1568. 



BISSET, Charles ; an ingenious physician and writer 

 on fortification, was born at Glenalbert, near Dun- 

 keld, in the year 1717. His father was a lawyer of 

 some eminence, and a distinguished Latinist. Aftei 

 a course of medical studies at Edinburgh, he was ap- 

 pointed, in 1740, second surgeon of the military hos- 

 pital in Jamaica, and spent several years in the West 

 India islands, and in admiral Vernon's fleet, in order 

 to become acquainted with the diseases of the torrid 

 zone. Having, in 1745, contracted ill health at 

 Greenwich in Jamaica, he was under the necessity of 

 resigning his situation as second surgeon, in order to 

 return to Britain. In May, 1746, he purchased an 

 ensigncy in the 42nd (Highland) regiment, so well 

 known for a long train of military glories, and which 

 was then commanded by lord John Murray. By 

 this transition, his attention was turned from the me- 

 dical to the military profession, and fortification be- 

 came his favourite study. After a fruitless descent 

 on the coast of Brittany in September, 1748, and 

 passing a winter at Limerick in Ireland, the regiment 

 was, in the beginning of next campaign, brought into 

 action at Sandoerg, near Hulst, in Dutch Flanders, 

 where one Dutch and two British regiments suffered 

 very severely. Here Dr Bisset employed himself in 

 drawing a sketch of the enemy's approaches, and 

 some time after, in another of Bergen-op-Zoom, with 

 the permanent lines, the environs, and the enemy's 

 first parallel ; which were presented by his colonel to 

 the duke of Cumberland, the commander-in-chief. 

 The duke was so much pleased with these specimens 



