NORTH AMERICA. 



75 



'aken in pounds. Wlien the bison runs, it leans very much to first one side for a short space of 

 time and then to tlie other, and so on alternately. 



" The flesh of a bison, in good condition, i.s very juicy and well-flavored, much resembling tiiat 

 of well-fed beef. The tongue is considered a delicacy, and may be cured so as to surpass in flavor 

 the tongue of an English cow. The hump of flesh covering the long spinous processes of the first 

 dorsal vertebra; is much esteemed. It is named Oos by tiie Canadian voyagers, and ivig by tlie Ork- 

 ney men in the service ol' the Hudson's Bay Company. The wig has a fine grain, and when salted 

 and cut transversely, it is almost as rich and tender as the tongue. The fine wool which clotiies the 

 bison renders its skin, when properly dressed, an excellent blanket ; and they are valued so highly 

 that a good one sells for three or four pounds in Canada, where they are used as wrappers by those 

 who travel over the snow in carioles. The wool has been manufactured in England into a remarka- 

 bly fine and beautiful cloth, and, in the colony of Osnaboyna, on the Red River, a warm and dura- 

 ble coarse cloth is made of it. Much of the pemmican used by tlie voyagers attached to the fur 

 companies, is made of bison meat, jirocured at their posts on the Red River and Saskatchawan. 

 One bison cow, in good order, furnishes good meat and fat enough to make a bag of pemmican weigh- 

 ing 9v)l lbs. The bisons which frequent the woody parts of the country form smaller herds than 

 those which roam over the plains, but are said to be individually of a greater size." 



The following extracts are from Dr. Godman : 



" The herds of bisons wander over the country in search of food, usually led by a bull most 

 remarkable for strength and fierceness. While feeding they are often scattered over a great extent 



of country, but when they move in mass, they 

 form a dense and almost impenetrable column, 

 which, once in motion, is scarcely to be im- 

 peded. Their line of march is seldom in- 

 terrupted even by considerable rivers, across 

 which they swim without fear or hesitation, 

 nearly in the order that they traverse the plains. 

 When flying before their pursuers, it would be 

 in vain for the foremost to halt, or attempt to 

 obstruct the progress of the main body, as the 

 throng in the rear still rushing onward, the 

 leaders must advance, although destruction 

 awaits the movement. The Indians take ad- 

 vantage of this circumstance to destroy great 

 quantities of this favorite game, and, certainly, 

 no mode could be resorted to more effectually 

 destructive, nor could a more terrible devasta- 

 tion be produced, than that of forcing- a nu- 

 merous herd of these large animals to leap to- 

 gether from the brink of a dreadful precipice, upon a rocky and broken surface, a hundred feet below. 



" When the Indians determine to destroy bisons in this way, one of their swiftest-footed and most 

 active young men is selected, who is disguised in a bison skin, having the head, ears, and horns ad- 

 justed on his own head, so as to make the decep- 

 tion very complete, and, thus accoutred, he sta- 

 tions himself between the bison herd and some 

 of the precipices, that often extend for several 

 miles along the rivers. The Indians surround 

 the herd as nearly as possible, when, at a given 

 signal, they show tliemselves and rush forward 

 with loud yells. The animals being alarmed, and 

 seeing no way open but in the direction of the 

 disguised Indian, run towards him, and he, tak- 

 ing tf) fliglit, dashes on to the precipice, wliere he 

 suddenly secures himself in some previously as- 

 certained crevice. The foremost of the herd ar- 

 rives at the brink, — there is no possibility of re- 

 treat, no chance of escape ; the foremost may, 

 for an instant shrink with terror, but the crowd 

 behind, who are terrified by the approaching hunters, rush forward with increasing impetuosity, and 

 the aggregated force hurls them successively into the gulf, where certain death awaits them. 



" We have already adverted to the great numbers of these animals which live together. They 

 nave been seen in herds of 3000 or 5000, blackening the plain as far as the eye could view. Some, 



Herd of Bisons. 



Bisons (Inccii ovrr a yrcapici:. 



