PRAIRIE TRAVELLING, 23 
ous when they have been parted from the cows. 
Only one female was killed on this occasion. 
On our way homeward we made towards the 
coupee, an opening in the hills, where we ex- 
pected to find water for our horses and mules, as 
our supply of Missouri water was only enough 
for ourselves. 
The water found on these prairies is generally 
unfit to drink, (unless as a matter of necessity,) 
and we most frequently carried eight or ten 
gallons from the river, on our journey through 
the plains. We did not find water where we 
expected, and were obliged to proceed about two 
miles to the eastward, where we luckily found a 
puddle sufficient for the wants of our horses and 
mules. There was not a bush in sight at this 
place, and we collected buffalo dung to make a 
fire to cook with. In the winter this prairie fuel 
is often too wet to burn, and the hunters and In- 
dians have to eat their meat raw. It can how- 
ever hardly be new to our readers to hear that 
they are often glad to get any thing, either raw 
or cooked, when in this desolate region. 
Some idea of the immense number of bisons 
to be still seen on the wild prairies, may be 
formed from the following account, given to us 
by Mr. Kipp, one of the principals of the Ameri- 
can Fur Compary. ‘“ While he was travelling 
from Travers’ Bay to the Mandan nation in the 
