144 



AUDUBON 



III 



Mandans. Twenty to fifty men start, as the occasion 

 suits, each provided with two horses, one of which is a 

 pack-horse, the other fit for the chase. They have quiv- 

 ers with from twenty to fifty arrows, according to the 

 wealth of the hunter. They ride the pack horse bare- 

 back, and travel on, till they see the game, when they 

 leave the pack-horse, and leap on the hunter, and start at 

 full speed and soon find themselves amid the Buffaloes, 

 on the flanks of the herd, and on both sides. When 

 within a few yards the arrow is sent, they shoot at a Buf- 

 falo somewhat ahead of them, and send the arrow in an 

 oblique manner, so as to pass through the lights. If the 

 blood rushes out of the nose and mouth the animal is 

 fatally wounded, and they shoot at it no more; if not, a 

 second, and perhaps a third arrow, is sent before this hap- 

 pens. The Buffaloes on starting carry the tail close in 

 between the legs, but when wounded they switch it about, 

 especially if they wish to fight, and then the hunter's 

 horse shies off and lets the mad animal breathe awhile. 

 If shot through the heart, 'hey occasionally fall dead on 

 the instant; sometimes, if not hit in the right place, a 

 dozen arrows will not stop them. When wounded and 

 mad they turn suddenly round upon the hunter, and rush 

 upon him in such a quick and furious m'anner that if 

 horse and rider are not both on the alert, the former is 

 overtaken, hooked and overthrown, the hunter pitched 

 off, trampled and gored to death. Although the Buffalo 

 is such a large animal, and to all appearance a clumsy one, 

 it can turn with the quickness of thought, and when once 

 enraged, will rarely give up the chase until avenged for the 

 wound it has received. If, however, the hunter is expert, 

 and the horse fleet, they outrun the bull, and it returns 

 to the herd. Usually the greater number of the gang is 

 killed, but it very rarely happens that some of them do 

 not escape. This however is not the case when the ani- 

 mal is pounded, especially by the Gros Ventres, Black 



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