MODES OF HU^^TI^'G BISON. 43 



Old World, we say, ' Hie to the West, go far beyond 

 the outposts of civilization, and you will be amply 

 rewarded for the toil and tediousness of your journey. 

 There will you find thousands of bisons, which you may 

 hunt for sport, or for the purpose of studying their 

 habits as they graze and ramble over the prairies, 

 mio-ratino' from one tract to another, crossing water- 

 courses, or swimming rivers at places where they can 

 reach a sand-bar or shoal midway in the river, where 

 they rest a short time before they direct their course 

 to the opposite shore.' 



The Indians hunt buffalo in various ways. One 

 or two small unimportant tribes hamstring their game, 

 but they are despised by the larger and more sporting 

 tribes. The manner in which they perform the opera- 

 tion is this : They procure a long pole forked at the 

 lightest end, and across this fork an old knife or razor- 

 blade is fixed, the edge of which is brought to as fine 

 an edge as possible ; then mounting their horses they 

 rim up to and hamstring the buffalo at the moment 

 when the tendon is at its greatest tension, taking care 

 to sever the tendon upon the side opposite to the di- 

 rection in which the horse's head is pointed, so that 

 the buffalo may fall aivay from the path of the horse. 

 If a mistake is made, both horse and rider are very 

 likely to have a roll on the prairie. The Indians 

 who kill buffalo in this style belong chiefly to the 

 Ta-wa-ki-nas and Waco tribes, inhabiting the plains 



