940 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 
month of August, in a cart heavily laden, he 
passed through ‘herds of buffalo for six days in 
succession. At another time he saw the great 
prairie near Fort Clark on the Missouri river, 
almost blackened by these animals, which oov- 
ered the plain to the hills that bounded the 
view in all directions, and probably extended 
farther. 
When the bisons first see a person, whether 
white or red, they trot or canter aT forty or fifty 
yards, and then stop suddenly, turn their heads 
and gaze on their foe for a few moments, then 
take a course and go off at full speed until out 
of sight, and beyond the scent of man. 
Although large, heavy, and comparatively 
clumsy, the bison is at times brisk and frolick- 
some, and these huge animals often play and 
gambol about, kicking their heels in the air with 
surprising agility, and throwing their hinder 
parts to the right and left alternately, or from 
one side to the other, their heels the while flying 
about and their tails whisking in the air. They 
are very impatient in the fly and mosquito sea- 
zon, and are often seen kicking and running 
against the wind to rid themselves of these tur. 
mentors. : 
The different Indian tribes hunt the buffalo in 
various ways: some pursue them on horseback 
and shoot them with arrows, which they point 
