86 THE FORMER RANGE OF THE BUFFALO. 
they thought it would break the canoe in pieces ; at another, th 
saw a monstrous animal swimming across the river.* And th 
they floated on until they arrived at the home of the buffalo. 
“Having descended as far south as 41° 28’,” Marquette says, 
‘twe find that turkeys have taken the place of game, and Pisi- 
ous, t or wild cattle, that of other beasts. We call them wild 
tle because they are like our domestic cattle; they are not lo 
but almost as big again, and more corpulent; our men having 
killed one, three of us had considerable trouble in moving it. a 
head is very large, the forehead flat and a foot and a half be 
the horns, which are exactly like those of our cattle, except š 
they are black and much larger. Under the neck there is a kma ” 
of large crop hanging down, and on the back a pretty high hur E 
The whole head, the neck and part of the shoulders are covered ; 
with a great mane like a horse’s; it is a crest a foot long, which 
renders them hideous, and falling over their eyes, prevents their 
seeing before them. The rest of the body is covered with a coarse; 
curly hair like the wool of our sheep, but much stronger s 
thicker. It falls in summer and the skin is then as soft as vel 
At this time the Indians employ the skins to make beautiful 
which they paint of various colors; the flesh and fat of the 
kious are excellent and constitute the best dish in banquets. 
are very fierce and not a year passes without their killing some 
dian. When attacked, they take a man with their horns, if they 
lift him up, and then dashing him on the ground, trample on 
and kill him. When you fire at them from a distance with gun 
bow, you must throw yourself upon the ground as soon as you 
and hide in the grass; for if they perceive the one who fired 
rush on him and attack him. As their feet are large and 
short, they do not generally go very fast, except when they 
irritated. They are scattered over the prairies like herds of 
tle. I have seen a band of four hundred of them.” $ a 
Thus far the exploring party had not seen a single human 
ing; on the 25th of June, however, they saw a human track g 
* The “great fish,” it is supposed, was the Mississippi cat-fish, and the “m0 
animal” either the tiger-cat or the panther., i 
t Algonquin name for buffalo, called also, in Indian, Beezhike. 
$“ When these animals are shot at a distance of fifty or sixty yards, they © 
ever, charge on the hunters.” Axdubon and Bachman, Quadrupeds of North 4 
Vol. 2, p. 44. 
§ Marquette’s Journal, p. 19 of J. G. Shea’s Dis. and Ex. of The Miss. 
