THE OLD BUFFALO POUND. 



357 



old and strong bulls. Others again, which had been tossed, 

 were lying with broken backs two and three deep. One 

 little calf hung suspended on the horns of a bull which 

 had impaled it in the wild race round and round the 

 pound. 



The Indians looked upon the dreadful and sickening 

 scene with evident delight, and told how such and such a 

 bull or cow had exhibited feats of wonderful strength in 

 the death-struggle. The flesh of many of the cows 

 had been taken from them, and was drying in the sun 

 on stages near the tents. It is needless to say that the 

 odour was overpowering, and millions of large blue flesh 

 flies, humming and buzzing over the putrefying bodies 

 was not the least disgusting part of the spectacle. At 

 my request the chiefs son jumped into the pound, and 

 with a small axe knocked off half a dozen pair of horns, 

 which I wished to preserve in memory of this terrible 

 slaughter. "To-morrow," said my companion, "you. shall 

 see us bring in the buffalo to the new pound." 



After the first " run," ten days before our arrival, the 

 Indians had driven about 200 buffalo into the enclosure, 

 and were still urging on the remainder of the herd, when 

 one wary old bull, espying a narrow crevice which had 

 not been closed by the robes of those on the outside, 

 whose duty it was to conceal every orifice, made a dash 

 and broke the fence, the whole body then ran helter 

 skelter through the gap, and dispersing among the sand 

 dunes escaped, with the exception of eight who were 

 speared or shot with arrows as they passed in their mad 

 career. In all, 240 animals had been killed in the 

 pound, and it was its offensive condition which led the 

 reckless and wasteful savages to construct a new one. 

 This was formed in a pretty dell between sand hills, about 

 half a mile from the first, and leading from it in two 



