IV. 



oKPong tfie pPaffe fo iJorf "baramie. 



NTIL the 8th our course was through the buffalo 

 country, but we were now beyond it, though a few 

 outlying stragglers from the main herd might be 

 seen. We encamped at night near the river, which was here a 

 mile in width, and filled with sandy islands covered with a tan- 

 gled growth of willow and cotton-wood. At midnight our watch 

 was called out to relieve the other which had left the herd to 

 take care of itself. Before we reached the pasturage we heard a 

 noise which came to our ears ominously. It was the herd stam- 

 peding for the river. Plunge ! Plunge ! one after another we 

 heard the oxen dropping into the water from the bank and 

 making for the opposite shore. Splash ! Splash ! we could 

 hear them, as we pulled off our boots and coats and ran after 

 them. In the water and quicksands, over sand-bars and 

 through tangled islets we labored along, filling the air with 

 yells in our efforts to arrest the progress of the oxen, which, 

 under the guidance of a mischievous Texan, were determinedly 

 moving on. By great efforts we at last so gained on the 

 column as to reach the head oxen, and these we switched on 

 to the back track by severe clubbings. The main herd followed 

 them, and we at last got the runaways back, and in our wet 

 clothes guarded them until morning. One would think that 

 after a hard day's work the cattle would be glad to lie down 



(49) 



