ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS, ETC. 55 



more than a thousand pounds of delicious and savory flesh, 

 which would delight the eyes, and gladden the heart of any 

 epicure in Christendom, left neglected where it fell, to feed the 

 ravenous maw of the wild prairie wolf, and minister to the ex- 

 cesses of the unclean birds of the wilderness. But I have seen 

 worse waste and havoc than this, and I feel my indignation rise 

 at the recollection. I have seen dozens of buffalo slaughtered 

 mei-ely for the tongues, or for practice with the rifle ; and I have 

 also lived to see the very perpetrators of these deeds, lean and 

 lank with famine, when the meanest and most worthless parts of 

 the poor animals they had so inhumanly slaughtered, would 

 have been received and eaten with humble thankfulness. 



But to return to ourselves. We were all sutFei-ing from ex- 

 cessive thirst, and so intolerable had it at length become, that 

 Mr. Lee and myself proposed a gallop over to the Platte river, in 

 order to appease it ; but Richardson advised us not to go, as he 

 had just thought of a means of relieving us, which he imme- 

 diately proceeded to put in practice. He tumbled our mangled 

 buffalo over upon his side, and with his knife opened the body, 

 so as to expose to view the great stomach, and still crawling and 

 twisting entrails. The good missionary and myself stood gaping 

 with astonishment, and no little loathing, as we saw our hunter 

 plunge his knife into the distended paunch, from which gushed 

 the green and gelatinous juices, and then insinuate his tin pan 

 into the opening, and by depressing its edge, strain off the water 

 which was mingled with its contents. 



Richardson always valued himself upon his politeness, and the 

 cup was therefore first offered to Mr. Lee and myself, but it is 

 almost needless to say that we declined the proffer, and our fea- 

 tures probably expressed the strong disgust which we felt, for our 

 companion laughed heartily before he applied the cup to his own 

 mouth. He then drank it to the dregs, smacking his lips, and 

 drawing a long breath after it, with the satisfaction of a man 



