IN THE FAR WEST. 177 



are also liable to terrify other game and clear the country of it 

 in a short time. 



Their favourite mode of hunting now is to make a surround 

 on horseback and slay right and left until they become weary ; 

 and if this drives the buffaloes away they follow them up as 

 fast as the squaws can prepare the meat and attend to the 

 hides. I have seen some surrounds of the Sioux and Pawnees, 

 and were the scene not made picturesque by the wigwams, the 

 numerous and almost naked warriors, and the bustle and 

 excitement of galloping steeds and herds, I should say that it 

 was not so inspiriting or successful as a drive organized by 

 Western hunters and sportsmen. 



The half-breeds of portions of British America organize regular 

 hunts also, and on such occasions they take all their household 

 effects with them. The women and children are stowed away 

 in rude carts, and the men ride the mustangs which are to 

 play so prominent a part in the chase. As the long cavalcade 

 winds over the grass-clad prairie, made gay with many species 

 of brilliant wild flowers, it presents an inspiriting sight, and 

 recalls, in a small way, the advance of an army. When it 

 reaches the buffalo-grounds a camp is pitched in a convenient 

 locality, close to wood and water if possible, and after that is 

 done the leader takes his men to the leeward of a herd, and 

 distributes them in such a manner that they may be able to 

 drive it towards the encampment, in order to avoid as much 

 trouble as possible in gathering up the meat. They sometimes 

 place buffalo " chips" in such a manner on the prairie as to 

 make them look like men, and when the herd sees these it 

 breaks away from them, and heads, perhaps, for the camp, 

 where another party of hunters is ready to receive it. When 

 everything is arranged, the men close in gradually on the 

 thousands of shaggy creatures that dot the plain, probably as 

 far as the eye can see, and on arriving within charging distance 

 they dash on at the best speed of their horses. Then com- 

 mences a scene to which no pencil can do full justice. The 

 alarmed throngs, on seeing their foes, break away in wild 

 terror, the cows being generally at the head of the column, 

 owing to their greater fleetness and lightness, and the onlves 



x 



