A DISAPPOINTMENT. 297 



boat. "We saw notliing during a long walk we 

 took, but hearing three or four gun-shots which 

 we thought were fired by some of our party, we 

 hastened in the direction from whence the reports 

 came, running and hallooing, but could find no 

 one. We then made the best of our way back 

 to the boat and dispatched three men, who dis- 

 covered that the firing had been at an elk, which 

 was, however, not obtained. Mr. Bell killed a 

 female elk and brought a portion of its flesh to 

 the boat. After resting ourselves a while and 

 eating dinner, Mr. Culbertson, Mr. Squires, and 

 ourselves walked to the banks of the Little Mis- 

 souri, distant about one mile, where we saw a 

 buffalo bull drinking at the edge of a sand-bar. 

 "We shot him, and fording the stream, which was 

 quite shallow, took away the * nerf ;' the animal 

 was quite dead. We saw many ducks in this 

 river. In the course of the afternoon we started 

 in our boat and rowed about half a mile below 

 the Little Missouri. Mr. Culbertson and our- 

 selves walked to the bull again and knocked off 

 his horns, after which Mr. Culbertson endeav- 

 oured to penetrate a large thicket in hopes of 

 starting a grizzly bear, but found it so entangled 

 with briars and vines that he was obliged to de- 

 sist, and returned very soon. Mr. Harris, who 

 had gone in the same direction and for the same 

 purpose, did not return with him. As we were 



