LIFE IN THE FAR WEST. 53 



ness of the animal stir up one's choler more than in the 

 very trick this one played, and which is a daily occurrence. 

 After tugging ineffectually for several minutes, winding 

 the rope round his body, and throwing himself suddenly 

 forward with all his strength, the trapper actually foamed 

 with passion ; and although he might have subdued the 

 animal at once by fastening the rope with a half-hitch 

 round its nose, this, with an obstinacy equal to that of the 

 mule itself, he refused to attempt, preferring to vanquish 

 her by main strength. Failing so to do, the mountaineer, 

 with a volley of blasphemous imprecations, suddenly seized 

 his rifle, and, levelling it at the mule's head, shot her dead. 



Passing the Wa-ka-rasha, a well-timbered stream, they 

 met a band of Osages going " to buffalo." These Indians, 

 in common with some tribes of the Pawnees, shave the 

 head, with the exception of a ridge from the forehead to 

 the centre of the scalp, which is " roached " or hogged like 

 the mane of a mule, and stands erect, plastered with un- 

 guents, and ornamented with feathers of the hawk and 

 turkey. The naked scalp is often painted in mosaic with 

 black and red, the face with shining vermilion. This band 

 were all naked to the breech-clout, the warmth of the sun 

 having made them throw their dirty blankets from their 

 shoulders. These Indians not unfrequently levy contribu- 

 tions on the strangers they accidentally meet ; but they 

 easily distinguish the determined mountaineer from the 

 incautious greenhorn, and think it better to let the former 

 alone. 



Crossing Vermilion, the trappers arrived on the fifth day 

 at " Blue," where they encamped in the broad timber belt- 

 ing the creek, and there awaited the arrival of the re- 

 mainder of the party. 



It was two days before they came up ; but the following 

 day they started for the mountains, fourteen in number, 

 striking a trail which follows the " Big Blue " in its course 

 through the prairies, which, as they advanced to the west- 

 ward, gradually smoothed away into a vast unbroken ex- 

 panse of rolling plain. Herds of antelope began to show 

 themselves, and some of the hunters, leaving the trail, soon 



