A S0J0TJBN AAIONG THE HALE-BBEEDS. 135 



from the effects of it and the fatigue I had undergone. The man, 

 whom I had brought with me as a guide, was also suffering much 

 from an attack of the measles. Next day our hunters sighted and 

 chased another large band of bulls, with good success. At night we 

 were annoyed by the incessant howling and lighting of innumerable 

 dogs and wolves that had followed us to the hunt, seemingly as well 

 aware of the feast that was preparing for them as we could be our- 

 selves. The plain now resembled one vast shambles ; the women, 

 whose business it is, being all busily employed in cutting the flesh into 

 slices and hanging them in the sun, on racks made of poles tied to- 

 gether. In reference to the immense number of buffaloes killed, I 

 may mention that it is calculated that the Half-breeds alone destroy 

 thirty thousand annually. 



Having satisfied myself with buffalo hunting amongst the Half- 

 breeds, I was anxious to return to the settlement, in order to prose- 

 cute my journey, and as this closed my intercourse with the singular 

 race of Half-breeds, I should perhaps draw my narrative at once to a 

 close. The incidents, however, which marked my course back to the 

 Red Biver settlement, are not without their interest as illustrations 

 of the character of the country and the habits of its wild occupants. 

 On proposing to set out I found my guide so unwell that I feared he 

 would not be able to travel. I tried to procure one of the hunters to 

 take his place and return with me, but none of them would consent 

 to travel alone over so large a tract of country from fear of the Sioux, 

 in whose territory we then were, and whom they dreaded, from the 

 late occurrence, would be watching to cut off any stragglers. Being 

 unable to procure a fresh man I was about to start alone, when my 

 guide, who thought himself better, proposed to accompany me on 

 condition that he would ride in the cart, and not be expected to at- 

 tend to the horses or cooking. This I readily agreed to, as his ser- 

 vices as guide were of the utmost importance. 



We started next morning for the settlement, a distance which I 

 supposed to be somewhat over two hundred miles. A party of 

 twenty of the hunters escorted us for eight or ten miles, tu see that 

 there were no Sioux in the immediate vicinity. We then parted, 

 after taking the customary smoke on separating from friends. I could 

 not avoid a strong feeling of regret at leaving them, having experi- 

 enced many acts of kindness at their hands, hardly to be expected 

 from so wild and uncultivated a people. We found a great scarcirv 

 of water on our return, most of the swamps that had supplied us on 

 our way out being now dried up by the heat of the season. 



We fell in with a great many stray dogs and wolves, which ap- 



