BUFFALO. 297 



said to be the very heart or nucleus of the Buffalo 

 country, about equidistant between the two extremes; 

 'and, of course, the most congenial temperature for them 

 to flourish in. The finest animals which graze on the 

 plains are to be found in this latitude ; and I am sure 

 I never could send from a better source, some further 

 account of the death and destruction that is dealt 

 among these noble animals, and hurrying on their final 

 extinction. 



" The Sioux are a bold and desperate race of horse- 

 men, and great hunters ; and in the heart of their 

 country is one of the most extensive assortments of goods, 

 of whiskey, and other valuable commodities, as well as a 

 party of the most indefatigable men, who are constantly 

 calling for every robe that can be stripped from the 

 animals' backs. 



" These are the causes which lead so directly to their 

 rapid destruction ; and which open to the view of the 

 traveller so freshly, so vividly, and so familiarly, the 

 scenes of archery — of lancing, and of death-dealing, that 

 belong peculiarly to this wild and shorn country. 



" The almost countless herds of these animals that are 

 sometimes met with on the prairies have of ten been spoken 

 of by other writers, and may yet be seen by any traveller 

 who will take the pains to visit these regions. The 

 ' running season,' which is in August and September, 

 is the time when they congregate into such masses in 

 some places as literally to blacken the prairies for miles 

 round. It is no uncommon thing at this season, at these 

 gatherings, to see several thousands in a mass, eddying 

 and wheeling about under a cloud of dust, which is 

 raised by the bulls as they are pawing in the dirt, or 

 engaged in desperate combats, as they constantly are, 

 plunging and butting at each other in the most furious 



