THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 



21 



,V:| 



and happily missed the poor thing; she afterwards low- 

 ered her neck, sank her body, and with the tip of the bill 

 only above water, kept swimming away from us till out of 

 si"ht. Afterwards one of the trappers shot at two Geese 

 with two young ones. Wc landed at four o'clock, and 

 Harris and Bell shot some bay-winged Buntings and 

 Embcriza pallida, whilst Sprague and I went up to the 

 top of the hills, bounding the beautiful prairie, by which 

 we had stopped to repair something about the engine. 

 VVe gathered some handsome lupines, of two different 

 species, and many other curious plants. From this eleva- 

 ted spot we could see the wilderness to an immense 

 distance; the Missouri looked as if only a brook and our 

 steamer a very small one indeed. At this juncture we 

 saw two men running along the shore upwards, and I 

 supposed they had seen an Elk or something else, of 

 which they were in pursuit. Meantime, gazing around, 

 we saw a large lake, where we are told that Ducks, 

 Geese, and Swans breed in great numbers; this we 

 intend also to visit when we come down. At this moment 

 I heard the report of a gun from the point where the 

 men had been seen, and when we reached the steam- 

 boat, we were told that a Buffalo had been killed. From 

 the deck I saw a man swimming round the animal ; he got 

 on its side, and floated down the stream with it. The 

 captain sent a parcel of men with a rope ; the swimmer 

 fastened this round the neck of the Buffalo, and with his 

 assistance, for he now swam all the way, the poor beast 

 [was brought alongside; and as the tackle had been prcvi- 

 j ously fixed, it was hauled up on the fore deck. Sprague 

 took its measurements with me, which are as follows: 

 length from nose to root of tail, 8 feet; height of fore 

 shoulder to hoof, 4 ft. gj in. ; height at the rump to hoof, 

 4 it. 2 in. The head was cut off, as well as one fore 

 and one hind foot. The head is so full of symmetry, and 

 so beautiful, that I shall have a drawing of it to-morrow, 





' >'s 



