THE SECOND BUFFALO HUNT 



81 



This was a bad shake. We held a council of war, 

 and the things that were said of that Indian should 

 have riled him if he understood. He preserved his 

 calm demeanour; probably this was one of the con- 

 venient times when all his English forsook him. We 

 were simply raging: to be half-way to our goal, with 

 abundance of provisions, fine weather, good health 

 and everything promis- 

 ing well, and then to be 

 balked because our 

 guide wanted to go back. 



I felt as savage as the 

 others, but on calmer re- 

 flection pointed out that 

 Pierre told us before 

 starting that he must 

 be back for Treaty Day, 

 and even now he was 

 ready to do his best. 



Then in a calm of the storm (which he continued to 

 ignore) Pierre turned to me and said: "Why don't you 

 go back and try the canoe route? You can go down the 

 Great River to Grand Detour, then portage 8 miles 

 over to the Buffalo, go down this to the Nyarling, then 

 up the Nyarling into the heart of the Buffalo country; 

 2^ days will do it, and it will be easy, for there is plenty 

 of water and no rapids," and he drew a fairly exact 

 map which showed that he knew the country thor- 

 oughly. 



There was nothing to be gained by going half a day 

 farther. 



Juniperus nana 



