WAPITI-RUNNING ON THE PLAINS 71 



kets, but it is not pleasant. In the morning you 

 will find your air-hole encrusted with a thick coat- 

 ing of ice, and your body by that time thoroughly 

 cold and stiff, from lying so long in one position. 

 However, that is one of the discomforts of hunting 

 that has to be put up with. 



We scoured the country for the first couple of 

 days in vain, seeing nothing, not even a fresh sign. 

 On the third afternoon we — that is, myself and a 

 friend and Buffalo Bill — were riding along, some- 

 what dispirited, a little in the rear of Texas Jack, 

 who had gone on ahead and had disappeared round 

 a hill. Presently we caught sight of him again on 

 a little bluff at some distance from us. He had 

 dismounted, and was running round and round on 

 all fours, making such extraordinary antics that I 

 imagined he had gone suddenly insane, till Buffalo 

 Bill explained that he was merely indicating to us 

 in the language of the plain that there was some 

 wapiti in sight and pretty near. So we approached 

 him very cautiously, and looking over the edge of 

 the bluff saw a sight which I shall never forget — 

 a herd of at least 120 or 130 wapiti on the little 

 plain below close to the edge of the river. They 

 looked magnificent, so many of these huge deer to- 

 gether. There were not many good heads among 



