THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 



es for a 

 lorning, 

 y out of 

 ,reakfast 

 of a sea- 

 ven, poo'f 

 ,vo t)eer, 

 quandary, 



ith a fine 

 bent upon 

 dth, to spy 

 and eaten, 

 er it, and it 

 it low range 

 ithin shot of 

 s; but Owen 

 hanonce,he 



help bring 

 ,w a Buffalo. 



he perhaps 



alas! w^^ite 

 nd from that 

 r. Culbertson 



handkerchief, 

 d and off and 



can describe, 

 place w^eie 



,ght the VVo« 

 ^ to the camp, 



^n, and at once 



, a little hea ed 

 „ters went after 

 \teed, but soon. 



with balls; tb>^' 



93 



halted the animal; the hunters had no more balls, and 

 now loaded with pebbles, with which the poor beast was 

 finally killed. The wagon had been sent from the camp. 

 Harris, Bell, and Squires mounted on horseback, and trav- 

 elled to the scene of action. They met Mr. Culbertson 

 returning to camp, and he told Bell the Buffalo was a 

 superb one, and had better be skinned. A man was sent 

 to assist in the skinning who had been preparing the Wolf 

 which was now cooking, as we had expected to dine upon 

 its flesh ; but when Mr. Culbertson returned, covered with 

 blood and looking Hke a wild Indian, it was decided to 

 throw it away; so I cut out the liver, and old Provost and 

 I went fishing and caught eighteen catfish. I hooked 

 two tortoises, but put them back in the river. I took a 

 good swim, which refreshed me much, and I came to 

 dinner with a fine appetite. This meal consisted wholly 

 of fish, and we were a" fairly satisfied. Before long the 

 flesh of the Buflfalo reavthed the camp, as well as the hide. 

 The animal was very fat, and we have meat for some days. 

 It was now decided that Squires, Provost, and Basil (one 

 of the men) should proceed down the river to the Charbon- 

 neau, and there try their luck at Otters and Beavers, and 

 the rest of us, with the cart, would make our way back to 

 the fort. All was arranged, and at half-past three this 

 afternoon v^e were travelling towards Fort Union. But 

 hours previous to this, and before our scanty dinner, Owen 

 had seen another bull, and Harris and Bell joined us in 

 the hunt. The bull was shot at by McKenzie, who stopped 

 its career, but as frirnd Harris pursued it with two of the 

 hunters and finished it I was about to return, and thought 

 sport over for the day. However, at this stage of the pro- 

 ceedings Owen discovered another bull making his way 

 slowly over the prairie towards us. I was the only one 

 who had balls, and would gladly have claimed the privilege 

 of running him, but fearing I might make out badly on my 

 I slower steed, and so lose meat which we really needed, I 



tM 



