TO THE LAND OF THE BUFFALO. 27 



gave me the horrors to be thus alone in this gloomy place, 

 listening to the mutterings of moving herds, and not knowing 

 which way to go to find my transient home. I now thought 

 of my remaining cartridge, and concluding to let my com- 

 rades know ©f my whereabouts, with that I loaded and fired. 

 A moment of suspense, and it w^as answered by two or three 

 shots, and soon a blaze shot up through the darkness, by which 

 I knew my companions were directing my steps. I hurried 

 over the prairie, and soon the circle of the corral arose before 

 me, and I was among my brethren of the plains. 



I admit that I was badly frightened while in that labyrinth 

 of sand hills, not knowing where camp w^as, and invisible 

 monsters bellowing all around me. My companions, who had 

 long since got in camp, knew the import of my rifle-shot 

 and, simularly answering it, built a fire for my guidance. 



One of our men, w^ho was an old hunter, had shot a buf- 

 falo out towards the sand hills, and asked me to go with him 

 to get some fresh beef for supper. As dark as it was, through 

 a sort of instinct, he led the way straight to where the animal 

 lay. He was so heavy, we could hardly roll him over. Carv- 

 ing a choice cut from his flesh, we lugged it to the camp, 

 much to the delight of the thirty men who had lived on salt 

 pork long enough to get the scurvy. Still w^e soon got tired 

 of buffalo meat, as it was tough and had a strong musky odor, 

 and some of the men were made sick by the change. 



The road was lined with bands of buffaloes, and the whole 

 plain between the river and sand hills was fairly black with 

 them. We saw them not by hundreds or thousands, but by 

 hundreds of acres. The main body was about a quarter of a 

 mile from us, the column near a mile in width, and extend- 

 ing parallel with the river as far either way as the eye could 

 reach. Several were grazing near the road and some came 

 close to our wagons, heedless of danger, and were constant 

 targets for our rifles. I shot one within ten yards of the 



