A DISAPPOINTMENT. 297 
boat. We saw nothing during a long walk we 
took, but hearing three or four gun-shots which 
we thought were fired by some of our party, we: 
hastened in the direction from whence the reports 
came, running and hallooing, but could find no 
one. We then made the best ot our way back 
to the boat and dispatched three men, who dis- 
covered that the firing had been at an elk, which 
was, however, not obtained. Mr. Bell killed a 
female elk and brought a portion of its flesh to 
the boat. After resting ourselves a while and. 
eating dinner, Mr. Culbertson, Mr. Squires, and 
ourselves walked to the banks of the Little Mis- 
souri, distant about one mile, where we saw a - 
buffalo bull drinking at the edge of a sand-har. 
We shot him, and fording the stream, which was 
quite shallow, took away the ‘nerf;’ the animal 
was quite dead. We saw many ducks in this 
river. In the course of:the afternoon we started 
in our boat and rowed about half a mile below 
the Little Missouri. Mr. Culbertson and our- 
selves walked to the bull again and knocked off 
his horns, after which Mr. Culbertson endeavy- 
oured to penetrate a large thicket in hopes of 
starting a grizzly bear, but found it so entangled 
with briars and vines that he was ébliged to de 
sist, and returned very soon. Mr. Harris, who 
had gone in the same direction and for the same 
purpose, did not return with him. As we were 
