THE BISON, OR BUFFALO. 273 



itself on that 27th of October, 1845, when I reached 

 the top of the hill, behind which we had concealed 

 ourselves. A torrent of monsters was rushing upon 

 us, bellowing with all their might, and galloping as 

 swiftly as possible. The Sioux raised their whoop, 

 and we all began firing as rapidly as possible. The 

 chief selected one of the largest animals in the herd, 

 and soon made an end of him. The rest of the 

 Sioux rushed on, and then the butchering com- 

 menced. From all sides came the "ping" of rifle 

 bullets, and the whistle of the arrows from those 

 who had no fire-arms. If one had had the coolness 

 to watch this scene, and examine it calmly, it would 

 have been a glorious scene for a painter ; but thrown 

 as I was in the midst of that whirlpool of men, I had 

 nothing to do but to burn powder like the rest.. 

 The rage of carnage was upon us, and we were all 

 more or less mad. 



This sport had lasted for nearly half an hour, 

 when suddenly there was a cry of " The cows ! 

 the cows ! " and presently we saw another herd of 

 bisons coming up behind that which w-e had been 

 attacking. 



The fact is, the cow bisons always separate 

 themselves from the bulls, the latter forming the 

 advance, and the. latter the rear-guard of the great 

 quadrupedal army. To get at the cows, you must 

 penetrate the serried lines of the bulls, and here is 

 the great danger. One of our Indians, who had 



VOL. I, T 



