IN THE OLD WEST 111 



band of stragglers presenting themselves, three of 

 the hunters went in pursuit, La Bonte taking a 

 mule to pack in the meat. He soon saw them 

 crawling towards the band, and shortly two puffs 

 of smoke, and the sharp cracks of their rifles, 

 showed that they had got within shot; and when 

 he rode up, two fine buffaloes were stretched upon 

 the ground. Now, for the first time, he was in- 

 itiated in the mysteries of butchering. He 

 watched the hunters as they turned the carcass 

 on the belly, stretching out the legs to support 

 it on each side. A transverse cut was then made 

 at the nape of the neck, and, gathering the long 

 hair of the boss in one hand, the skin was separated 

 from the shoulder. It was then laid open from 

 this point to the tail, along the spine, and then, 

 freed from the sides and pulled down to the bris- 

 ket, but still attached to it, was stretched upon 

 the ground to receive the dissected portions. 

 Then the shoulder was severed, the fleece removed 

 from along the backbone, and the hump-ribs cut 

 off with a tomahawk. All this was placed upon 

 the skin ; and after the " boudins " had been with- 

 drawn from the stomach, and the tongue — a 

 great dainty — taken from the head, the meat was 

 packed upon the mule, and the whole party hurried 

 to camp rejoicing. 



There was merry-making in the camp that night, 

 and the way they indulged their appetites — or, in 

 their own language, " throwed " the meat " cold '* 



