RUMINANT QUADRUPEDS. 93 



these animals constitutes a large portion of the food of 

 the Indians. Much of the pemm ican, so called, used by 

 hunters and voyagers in the far north, is made from the 

 meat of the Bison. Then the skin, the buifalo-robe, is a 

 necessary article of clothing, and is used also in construct- 

 ing tents, and the horns furnish the powder-flasks of the 

 hunters. The Buffalo or Bison hunt is therefore a great 

 item in the life of an Indian in the West. The herds of 

 these animals sometimes number thousands. Lewis and 

 Clarke supposed that there were certainly 20,000 in one 

 herd which they saw. The range of the Bison in this 

 country is becoming every year less extensive from the 

 encroachments of civilized man. 



160. The Yak, Fig. 78, is found in Tartary. It is not 



Fig. 78 Yak. 



a very large animal. The mass of hair, which, rising 

 above the shoulders, hangs like a mane almost to the 

 ground, is applied to various uses by the Tartars. They 

 weave it into cloth, which they use in making articles of 

 dress and their tents, and they also make ropes from it. 

 The hair of the tail, which is great in amount, is long and 

 fine. The tail, with an ivory or metal handle, is used in 

 India to keep off musquitoes, and is called a chowrie. 



