6 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BULL 7% 
places the ighted spunk in a handful of dried grass, the smoke aris- 
ing from which the buffaloes soon smell and start away from it at 
the top of their speed. The man now rides up alongside of the herd, 
which, from some unaccountable propensity, invariably endeavour to 
cross in front of his horse. I have had them follow me for miles in 
order to do so. The hunter thus possesses an unfailing means, wher- 
ever the pound may be situated, of conducting them to it by the 
dexterous management of his horse. Indians are stationed at inter- 
vals behind the posts, or dead men, provided with buffalo robes, who, 
when the herd are once in the avenue, rise up and shake the robes, 
yelling and urging them on until they get into the enclosure, the spot 
usually selected for which is one with a tree in the centre. On this 
they hang offerings to propitiate the Great Spirit to direct the herd 
towards it. A man is also placed in the tree with a medicine pipe- 
stem in his hand, which he waves continually, chaunting a sort of 
prayer to the Great Spirit, the burden of which is that the buffaloes 
may be numerous and fat.” (Kane, (1), pp. 117-119.) Quite similar 
to this is the description of a pound constructed by the Cree a few 
years later. This was some 120 feet across, “constructed of the 
trunks of trees, laced with withes together, and braced by outside 
supports,” and within “lay tossed in every conceivable position over 
two hundred dead buffalo.” Another pound erected at this time had 
the “ dead men” extending for a distance of 4 miles from the entrance. 
(Hind, (1), I, pp. 356-359.) Maximilian, Lewis and Clark, and 
other explorers of the upper Missouri Valley refer to enclosures into 
which the Indians drove antelope. And that the custom was followed 
by the tribes far east of the Mississippi is proved by the writings of 
early explorers. Champlain in 1615 gave an account, accompanied 
by an interesting drawing, of such a hunt, and Lahontan nearly a 
century later presented an illustration bearing the legend: “ Stags 
block’d up in a park, after being pursued by y® Savages.” Many 
other references could be quoted, as the ways of hunting followed by 
the Indians have always been of interest to the many writers who 
have described the manners and customs of the people. 
What was probably a characteristic view in a Sioux village of half 
a century ago, after a successful hunt, is shown in the old photograph 
reproduced in plate 5, 6. Here, in front of the group of skin tipis, 
are quantities of meat suspended and being “ jerked” or dried in the 
air. Buffalo skins are stretched on the ground, and in the immediate 
foreground are two women scraping a skin. This is a picture of the 
greatest interest and rarity. 
The sight of the great herds roaming unmolested over the far- 
reaching prairies proved of interest to all who saw them, and many 
accounts are left by the early travelers. Qne brief description of 
