THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 131 



we busied ourselves making preparations for our departure. 

 We reached the fort at noon; Squires, Provost, and La 

 Fleur had returned ; they had wounded a Bighorn, but had 

 lost it. Owen and Bell returned this afternoon ; they had 

 seen no Cocks of the plains, but brought the skin of a 

 female Elk, a Porcupine, and a young White-headed Eagle. 

 Provost tells me that Buffaloes become so very poor during 

 hard winters, when the snows cover the ground to the depth 

 of two or three feet, that they lose their hair, become 

 covered with scabs, on which the Magpies feed, and the 

 poor beasts die by hundreds. One can hardly conceive 

 how it happens, notwithstanding these many deaths and 

 the immense numbers that are murdered almost daily on 

 these boundless wastes called prairies, besides the hosts 

 that are drowned in the freshets, and the hundreds of young 

 calves who die in early spring, so many are yet to be 

 found. Daily we see so many that we hardly notice them 

 more than the cattle in our pastures about our homes. But 

 this cannot last; even now there is a perceptible difference 

 in the size of the herds, and before many years the Buffalo, 

 like the Great Auk, will have disappeared; surely this 

 should not be permitted. Bell has been relating his ad- 

 ventures, our boat is going on, and I wish I had a couple 

 of Bighorns. God bless you all. 



August 6, Sunday. I very nearly lost the skin of the 

 Swift Fox, for Harris supposed the animal rotten with the 

 great heat, which caused it to have an odor almost insup- 

 portable, and threw it on the roof of the gallery. Bell was 

 so tired he did not look at it, so I took it down, skinned 

 it, and with the assistance of Squires put the coat into 

 pickle, where I daresay it will keep well enough. The 

 weather is thick, and looks like a thunderstorm. Bell, hav- 

 ing awaked refreshed by his night's rest, has given me the 

 measurements of the Elk and the Porcupine. Provost has 

 put the skin of the former in pickle, and has gone to Fort 

 Mortimer to see Boucherville and others, to try if they 



