134 MEDICINE-MAKINO. 



But these dogs are also useful iu another respect. Their flesh for- 

 Bishes an article highly esteemed for food, and wiiicli almost invariably 

 graces the soldiers' feast and every otlier scene of conviviality. However 

 much the squamishness of the reader may revolt at the suggestion, justice 

 impels me to say, the flesh of a fat Indian dog, suitably cojked, is not infe- 

 rior to fresh pork ; and, by placing side by side select parts of the two, it 

 would be no easy task even for a good judge to tell the difference, ty either 

 looks or taste, unless he were previously informed. 



Towards the last of January, buffalo having left the vicinity, the Indians, 

 as a necessary consequence, were compelled to move. A great scarcity 

 of provisions prevailed among them, and we ourselves were scarcely better 

 off than they. 



Our stock in hand was nearly exhausU^d, and an abandonment of the 

 post became absolutely necessarj', — a tiling, however, which could not be 

 performed without a fresh supply of horses and cattle from Fort Platte. 

 For this purpose, I volunteered my senices, and, accompanied by two 

 engages, was promptly under way. 



A few hours' ride brought us to the head of V/hite river, where, con- 

 Buming at a meal our scanty eatables, from tliat onward we v.'ere left en 

 tirely destitute. 



This was the first occasion subjecting me to the pains of hunger for so 

 long a time. The second day I experienced the greatest annoyance, and 

 then i; was I felt some of the realities of stai-vation. The tliird day, how- 

 ever, I awoke in the morning scarcely tliinking of breakfast. In fact, 

 my appetite seemed quite passive, and the only sensation I felt was a 

 kind of weakness and lassitude, evincing the lack of proper nourish- 

 ment. 



The morning was cloudy and threatening. Soon after leaving camp, 

 enow began to fall, thick and fast. The day proved so dark, objects were 

 indiscernible at the distance of a hundred yards in advance. Travelung, 

 as we were, over a trackless prairie, with nothing to guide us but the wind 

 and the position of the grass, it was by the merest accident wc reached 

 our destination a few minutes before nightfall. 



Our sudden appearance was the occasion of general surprise to the 

 Fort hands, and, after a brief explanation, we began to make amends for 

 previous abstinence. 



At first, a few mouthfuls sufficed, — but soon I again felt hungry and 

 could be satisfied only with a double quantity, — in an equally short time 

 my stomach demanded a still further supply, and, by the next day, hunger 

 became so keen it seemed almost insatiable. An interval of three or four 

 weeks was requisite bofore it assumed its wonted tone. 



During our stay h'^re, an Indian family, occupying one of the Fort 

 rooms, indulged themselves in a drunken spree. 



Having procured a quantity of the Ame-ican Fur Company's liquor, the 

 effects of their lavish potations soon became manifest to all within 

 hearing distance. But the din of drunken revelry erelong assumed the wail 

 of mourning and sorrow. 



Hesu-ing the strange conunotion, I entered the room to atscertaia th» 



