THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 1 43 



the steep defiles of the Mauvaises Terres in hundreds of 

 places where men cannot follow them, and it is a fine 

 sight to see a large gang of them proceeding along these 

 defiles four or five hundred feet above the level of the 

 bottoms, and from which pathway if one of the number 

 makes a mis-step or accidentally slips, he goes down roll- 

 ing over and over, and breaks his neck ere the level 

 ground is reached. Bell and Owen saw a bull about 

 three years old that leaped a ravine filled with mud and 

 water, at least twenty feet wide; it reached the middle at 

 the first bound, and at the second -was mounted on the 

 opposite bank, from which it kept on bounding, till it 

 gained the top of quite a high hill. Mr. Culbertson tells 

 me that these animals can endure hunger in a most ex- 

 traordinary manner. He says that a large bull was seen 

 on a spot half way down a precipice, where it had slid, 

 and from which it could not climb upwards, and either 

 could not or would not descend ; at any rate, it did not 

 leave the position in which it found itself. The party 

 who saw it returned to the fort, and, on their way back on 

 the twenty-fifth day after, they passed the hill, and saw 

 the bull standing there. The thing that troubles them 

 most is crossing rivers on the ice ; their hoofs slip from 

 side to side, they become frightened, and stretch their 

 four legs apart to support the body, and in such situations 

 the Indians and white hunters easily approach, and stab 

 them to the heart, or cut the hamstrings, when they be- 

 come an easy prey. When in large gangs those in the 

 centre are supported by those on the outposts, and if the 

 stream is not large, reach the shore and readily escape. 

 Indians of different tribes hunt the Buffalo in different 

 ways; some hunt on horseback, and use arrows altogether; 

 they are rarely expert in reloading the gun in the close 

 race. Others hunt on foot, using guns, arrows, or both. 

 Others follow with patient perseverance, and kill them 

 also. But I will give you the manner pursued by the 



