PRAIRIE TRAVELLING. 239 



ons ^lien they liave been parted from the cows. 

 Only oue female was killed on this occasion. 

 On our way homeward we made towards the 

 coupee, an opening in the hills, where we ex- 

 pected to find water for our horses and mules, as 

 our supply of Missouri water was only enough 

 for ourselves. 



The water found on these prairies is generally 

 unfit to drink, (unless as a matter of necessity,) 

 and we most frequently carried eight or ten 

 gallons from the river, on our journey through 

 the plains. We did not find water where we 

 expected, and were obliged to proceed about two 

 miles to the eastward, where we luckily found a 

 puddle sufiicient for the wants of our horses and 

 mules. There was not a bush in sight at this 

 place, and we collected buffalo dung to make a 

 fire to cook with. In the winter this prairie fuel 

 is often too wet to burn, and the hunters and In- 

 dians have to eat their meat raw. It can how- 

 ever hardly be new to our readers to hear that 

 they are often glad to get any thing, either raw 

 or cooked, when in this desolate region. 



Some idea of the immense number of bisons 

 to be still seen on the wild prairies, may be 

 formed from the following account, given to us 

 by Mr. Kipp, one of the principals of the Ameri- 

 ca«L Fur Company. " While he was travelling 

 from Travers' Bay to the Mandan nation in the 



