THE BUFFALO. HI 



that composing the hump on its back, which gives it so 

 strange an aspect. It is indeed frequently killed merely for 

 the sake of this hump, and the tongue and marroAv-bones. 

 Sometimes, also, when parched with thirst, the hunter kills a 

 l)uffalo to obtain the water contained within certain honey- 

 combed cells in its stomach. The buffalo is provided with 

 this reservoir, in which a large quantity of pure water can be 

 stored, that it may traverse, without the necessity of drinking, 

 the wide barren plains where none can be obtained. Vast 

 numbei*s, without even these objects in view, are wantonly 

 slaughtered, and the chief part of the flesh utterly wasted, by 

 the thoughtless Indians of the plain, who have thereby de- 

 prived themselves of their future support. Many tribes 

 depend almost entirely for their subsistence on the buffalo, 

 of which the flesh is prepared in several ways. When cut up 

 into long strips, and dried in the sun till it becomes black and 

 hard, it will keep for a long time. It is also pounded with 

 the fat of the animal, and converted into pevimican — an 

 especially nutritious food, which, if kept dry, will continue in 

 good order for several years. 



The prairie Indians make use of the hide for many pur- 

 poses. They scrape oft* the hair and tan it, when it serves 

 them for coverings for their tents. It is also carefully dressed, 

 when it becomes soft and impervious to water. It is then 

 used for clothing. Some of the tribes also form their shields 

 from it. The hide is pegged down on the ground, when it is 

 covered with a kind of glue. In this state it greatly shrinks 

 and thickens, and becomes sufficiently hard to resist an arrow, 

 and even to turn aside an ordinary bullet ^^•hich does not 

 strike directly. 



The buffalo is especially a gregarious animal, and is found 



