38 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



hunters, is simply frightful, and when it is stated by one who 

 knows that during the three years of 1872-3-4 ovtx four and a half 

 viilHoHs of these beasts were slaughtered, it can be readily imagined 

 by the most uninformed that the species will soon cease to exist. 



Hunting from horseback is followed in the same manner by 

 whites as practiced by the Indians. It was our good fortune a 

 few years ago to accompany the Pawnee Indians on their grand 

 annual Buffalo Hunt, and a short description of how the hunt was 

 conducted after the herd was discovered will suffice to give the 

 reader an idea of a Bison Hunt on horseback. 



After the scouts had brought into camp notice of the proximity 

 of a herd, the men removed the saddles and bridles from their 

 horses, substituting for the latter a strip of rawhide around the 

 lower jaw. They also stripped off their own clothing and stood 

 forth as naked as when they came into the world, save for a breech 

 clout and a pair of moccasins apiece. Their bows and arrows 

 they held in their hands. At a given signal they started off, at 

 first on a slow trot, but gradually increasing their speed until the 

 trot became a canter, and the canter a swift gallop. 



At length we reach the top of the last ridge and see the buffalo 

 lying down in the creek bottom a mile beyond. The place could 

 not have been more favorable for a surround had it been chosen 

 for the purpose. A plain two miles broad and intersected by a 

 narrow stream, is encircled by high bluffs, up which the buffalo 

 must toil slowly, but which the mor-e nimble ponies can ascend 

 almost as fast as they can run on level ground. As we commence 

 to descend the face of the bluff, the pace is slightly accelerated. 

 The Indians at either extremity of the line press forward, and its 

 contour is now crescent hke. Men and horses commence to evince 

 more excitement, but the five hundred buffaloes reposing below" us 

 do not seem to notice our advance. A few wily old bulls, how- 

 ever, that occupy the tops of the lower bluffs, take the alarm and 

 commence to scud off over the hills. At last when we are within 

 half a mile of the ruminating herd a few of them rise to their feet, 

 and soon all spring up and stare at us for a few seconds ; then 

 down go their heads and in a dense mass they rush off toward the 

 bluffs. As they rise to their feet the leaders of our party give the 

 signal, and each man puts his horse to its utmost speed. The 



