FOREST AND STREAM, 
!; April 22, 1905. 
headed over the prairie, Kit was one of the finest pic- 
tures of a liorseman I have ever seen. A short time 
enabled him to discover that the Indian war party of 
twenty-seven, consisted of six elk, whO' had been gazing 
curiously at our caravan as it passed, and wei'e now 
scampering off at full speed. This was our first alarm, 
and its excitement Iroke agreeably on the monotony of 
the day." 
' The party now crossed over to the Platte River — which 
Fremont calls • the Nebraska — and encamped on its 
banks. Two days later, while they were halted for noon, 
there came the startling cry, "Du monde!" — people. In a 
moment, all were prepared for defense. Horses were 
driven in, hobbled and picketed, and the horsemen were 
galloping at full speed in the direction of the new 
comers, screaming and yelling with the wildest excite- 
ment. The travelers proved to be a small party, under 
the charge of a man named John Lee, which had left 
Fort Laramie two months before, endeavoring to trans- 
port the furs of the American Fur Company down the 
Platte by boat; they had started with the annual flood, 
but before they had traveled 150 miles, found that their 
waterway had become too shoal for their boats ; they had 
therefore cached their possessions, and had started east 
on foot, carrying on their backs their provisions, cloth- 
ing, and a few light furs. It was from among this party 
that Fremont engaged Latulippe, who, though on his 
way to St. Louis, really had no special desire to go there, 
and was quite willing to turn about and face the west 
again 
The same day three Cheyennes were met, returning 
from an unsuccessful horse-stealing expedition against 
the Pawnee village. They joined the party, and for 
some days afterward traveled in its company. On the 
29th, the first buffalo were seen, and on the following 
day, these animals swarmed "in immense numbers over 
the plain, where they had left scarcely a blade of grass 
standing." "We had heard from a distance a dull and 
confused murmuring, and when v e came in view of their 
dark masses there was not one among us who did not 
feel his heart beat, quicker. It was the early part of 
the day, when the herds are feeding, and everywhere 
they were in motion. Here and there a huge old bull 
was rolling in the grass, and clouds of dust rose in the 
air from various parts of the bands, each the scene of 
some obstinate fight. Indians and buffalo make- the 
poetry and life of the prairie, and our camp was full of 
their exhilaration." Here first they feasted on buffalo 
meat. Fremont says: "At any. lime of the night might 
be seen pieces of the most delicate and choicest meat, 
roasting en appolas, on sticks around the fire, and the 
guard were never without company. With pleasant 
weather and no enemy to fear, an abundance of the most 
excellent meat, and no scarcity of bread or tobacco, they 
were enjoying the oasis of a voyageur's life. Three cows 
were killed to-day. Kit Carson had shot one, and was 
continuing the chase in the midst of another herd, when 
his horse fell headlong, but sprang up and joined the 
flying band. Though considerably hurt, he had the good 
fortune to break no bones; and Maxwell, who was 
mounted on a fleet hunter, captured the runaway after a 
hard chase. He was on the point of shooting him, to 
avoid the loss of his bridle (a handsomely mounted 
Spanish one), when he found that his horse was able to 
come up with him." 
The next day Fremont himself made a chase for buf- 
falo. He says, under date of July i: "As we were riding 
quietly along the bank, a grand herd of buffalo, some 
seven or eight hundred in number, came crowding up 
from the river, where they had been to drink, and com- 
menced crossing the plain slowlj^ eating as they went. 
The wind was favorable ; the coolness of the - morning 
invited to exercise ; the ground was apparently good, and 
the distance across the prairie (two or three miles) gave 
us a fine opportunity to charge them before they could 
get among the river hills. It was too fine a prospect for 
the chase to be lost; and, halting for a few moments, 
the hunters were brought up and saddled, and Kit Car- 
son, Maxwell, and I, started together. They were now 
somewhat less than half a mile distant, and we rode 
easily along until within about three hundred yards, 
when a sudden agitation, a wavering in the band, and a 
galloping to and fro of some which were scattered along 
the skirts, gave us the intimation that we were discov- 
ered. We started together at a grand gallop, riding 
steadily abreast of each other, and here the interest of 
the chase became so engrossingly intense, that we were 
sensible to nothing else. We were now closing upon 
them rapidly, and the front of the mass was already in 
rapid motion for the hills, and in a few seconds the 
movement had communicated itself to the whole herd. 
"A crowd of bulls, as usual, brought up the rear, and 
every now and then some of them faced about, and then 
dashed on after the band a short distance, and turned 
and looked again, as if more than half inclined to stand 
and fight. In a few moments, however, during which 
we had been quickening cur pace, the rout was universal, 
and we were going over the ground like a hurricane. 
When at about thirty yards, we gave the usual shout 
(the hunter's pas de charge), and broke into the herd. 
We entered on the side, the" mass giving way in every 
direction in their heedless course. Many of the bulls, 
less active and less fleet tlian the cows, paying no atten- 
tion to the ground, and occupied solely with the hunter, 
were precipitated to the earth with great force, rolling 
over and over with the violence of the shock, and hardly 
distinguishable in the dust. We separated on entering, 
each singHng out his game. 
"My horse, was a trained hunter, famous in the West 
under the name of Proveau, and, with his eyes flashing, 
and the foam flying from his mouth, sprang on after the 
cow like a tiger. In a few moments he brought me 
alongside of her, and, rising in the stirrups, I fired at the 
distance of a yard, the ball entering at the termination 
of the long hair, and passing near the heart. She fell 
headling at the report of the gun, and, checking my 
horse, I looked around for my companions. At a little 
distance, Kit was on the ground, engaged in tying his 
horse to the horns of a cow which he was preparing to 
cut up. Among the scattered bands, at some distance 
below, I caught a glimpse of Maxwell; and while I was 
looking, a light wreath of white smoke curled away from 
his gun, from which I was too far to hear the report. 
I^^arer, and between me and the hills, towards which 
they were directing their course, was the body of the 
herd, and, giving my horse the rein, we dashed after 
them. A thick cloud of dust hung upon their rear, which 
filled my mouth and eyes, and nearly smothered me. In 
the midst of this I could see nothing, and the buffalo 
were not distinguishable until within thirty feet. They 
crowded together more densely still as I came upon 
them, and rushed along in such a compact body, that I 
could not obtain an entrance — the horse almost leaping 
upon them. In a few moments the mass divided to the 
right and left, the horns clattering with a noise heard 
above everything else, and my horse darted into the 
opening. Five or six bulls charged on us as we dashed 
along the line, but were left far behind; and, singling 
out a cow, I gave her .my fire, but struck too high. She 
gave a tremendous leap, and scoured on swifter than 
before. I reined up my horse, and the band swept on 
like a torrent, and left the place quiet and clear. Our 
chase had led us into dangerous ground. A prairie-dog 
village, so thickly settled that there were three or four 
holes in every twenty yards square, occupied the whole 
bottom for nearly two miles in length. Looking around, 
I saw only one of the hunters, nearly out of sight, and 
the long dark line of our caravan crawling along, three 
or four miles distant." 
Continuing up the Platte River, describing the coun- 
try, the stream, the plants and animals seen, and the 
daily incidents of the journey, Fremont reached the junc- 
tion of the North and South Platte, and camped there 
on the 2d of July. On the 4th, there was a little cele- 
bration; liquor was served to the men; and at night, the 
day was celebrated by a feast ; which led the Cheyenne 
Indians, who were with the camp, to ask if such "medi- 
cine days come often." Incidentally, the Indian boy got 
drunk. This day was marked also by another excitement 
in camp : "While we were at breakfast, a buffalo calf 
broke through the camp, followed by a couple of wolves. 
In its fright, it had probably mistaken us for a band of 
buffalo. The wolves were obliged to make a circuit 
around the camp, so that the calf got a little the start, 
and strained every nerve to reach a large herd at the foot 
of the hills, about two miles distant; but, first one, and 
then another, and another wolf joined in the chase, until 
his pursuers amounted to twenty or thirty, and they ran 
him down before he could reach his friends. 
The buffalo here were enormously abundant, and dur- 
ing the afternoon, clouds of dust, rising from different 
points, announced the approach of the different herds to 
the water. They came down, column after column, gal- 
loping directly to the river. "By the time the leading 
herds had reached the water, the prairie was darkened 
with the dense masses. Immediately before us, when the 
bands first came down into the valley, stretched an un- 
broken line, the head of which was lost among the river 
hills on the opposite side; and still they poured down 
from the ridge on our right. From hill to hill, the prairie 
bottom was certainly not less than two miles wide; and, 
allowing the animals to be ten feet apart, and only ten 
in a line, there were already eleven thousand in view. 
Some idea may thus be formed of their number when 
they had occupied the whole plain. In a short time they 
surrounded us on every side ; extending for several miles 
in the rear, and forward as far as the eye could reach; 
leaving around us, as we advanced, an open space of only 
two or thr,ee hundred yards." , 
Fremont now decided to divide his forces, sending one 
party up the North Platte, to Fort Laramie, and another 
up the South Platte, to St. Vrain's fort, and thence 
across country to a meeting point at Fort Laramie. This 
last party he determined to take charge of himself, taking 
Mr. Preuss, and four of his best men. The Cheyennes, 
whose village was supposed to be on the South Platte, 
also decided to accompany him. The party for the North 
P'ork was to be in charge of Clement Lambert. The 
separation took place July 5. The party following up 
the South Platte took one lead horse, and a pack mule, 
and traveled very light. The cook had been ordered to 
prepare provisions for this outfit, and they started. When 
they stopped for noon, however, they discovered that the 
provisions they supposed they were carrying, had been 
left behind, and they had nothing to eat except the meat 
of a poor bull that they had killed during the day. As 
the trip promised to be a hard one, Fremont sent two 
of his men, Preuss and Bernier, across the country to 
rejoin those who were traveling up the north branch of 
the river. Buffalo were still extraordinarily abundant, 
and one of the incidents of the march was a bull fight on 
a large scale, which the travelers intercepted : "In the 
course of the afternoon, dust rising among the hills at 
a particular place, attracted our attention; and riding up, 
we found a band of eighteen or twenty buffalo bulls en- 
gaged in a desperate fight. Though butting and goring 
were bestowed liberally, and without distinction, yet their 
efforts were evidently directed against one — a huge gaunt 
old bull, very lean, while his adversaries were all fat and 
in good order. He appeared very weak and had already 
received some wounds, and, while we were looking on, 
was several times knocked down and badly hurt, and a 
very few moments would have put an end to him. Of 
course we took the side of the weaker party, and attacked 
the herd; but they were so blind with rage, that they 
fought on, utterly regardless of our presence, although 
on foot and on horseback we were firing in open view 
within twenty yards of them. But this did not last long. 
In a very few seconds, we created a commotion among 
Ihem. One or two, which were knocked over by the 
balls, jumped up and ran off into the hills; and they 
began to retreat slowly along a broad ravine to the river, 
fighting furiously as they went. By the time they had 
reached the bottom, we had pretty well dispersed them, 
and the old bull hobbled off, to lie down somewhere. One 
of his enemies remained on the ground where we had 
first fired upon them, and we stopped there for a short 
time to cut from him some meat for our supper." The 
next day, quite unexpectedly, they were charged by about 
three hundred Indians, Arapahoes, who were well known 
to Maxwell, who had been a trader with them a year or 
two before. The mistake was recognized before hostili- 
ties actually commenced, and friendly relations were es- 
tablished. These Arapahoes were about to make a sur- 
round on the nprth side of the river; and though, from 
a distance Fr«mont watched the whole operation, he did 
not see a single buffalo emcr^ from the cloud of dust 
which hung oyer thevherd, an4 their relentless pursuers. 
A day or two later, while still at some distance from | 
St. Vram's fort, two white men and the, even then, no- ' 
torious Jim Beckworth, were met; and a little beyond* 
that a camp of four or five white men, who had accom- 1 
panied Captain Wyeth to the Columbia River. Next,i: 
Fremont came to Chabonard's camp, on an island in the ii 
Platte. Chabonard had started down the river with furs, '• 
belongmg to Bent and St. Vrain, and had been finally - 
stranded, and forced to give up his trip, at this island. ^ 
The next day they came to the post, and were cordially « 
received by Mr. St. Vrain. 
At the post no provisions could be had, except a little | 
coffee; but the way from here to Fort Laramie was 5 
through a country supposed to abound in buffalo ; so that ) 
there was no danger of starvation. Here Fremont ob-? 
tamed a couple of horses and three mules; and he also- 
hired a Spaniard for his trip; and took with him two; 
others who were going to obtain service on the Laramie 
River. Crossing various streams they passed through a< 
pleasant buffalo country, and crossed Lodgepole Creek, | 
and Horse Creek, coming to Goshen's Hole. The curious ' 
bad-lands there, reminded the traveler of other points' 
on the North Platte— Court-house Rock and Chimney.,' 
Rock; and he compares the pass into Goshen's Hole to al 
massive fortified place. "Along the whole line of the.' 
parapets appear domes and slender minarets, forty or 1 
fifty feet high, giving it every appearance of an old for- ' 
titled town._ On the waters of the White River, where; 
this formation exists in great extent, it presents appear-." 
ances which excite the admiration of the solitary voy-j, 
ageur, and forms a frequent theme of their conversation! 
when speaking of the wonders of the country. Some- 
times It offers the perfectly illusive appearance of a large! 
city, with numerous streets and magnificent buildings,! 
among which the Canadians never fail to see their 
cabaret; and sometimes it takes the form of a solitary' 
house, with many large chambers, into which they drive' 
their horses at night, and sleep in these natural de-: 
fences perfectly secure from any attack of prowling! 
savages." ; 
The party struck the North Platte thirteen miles below.' 
Fort Laramie, and continuing up the stream, they first- 
came in view of Fort Platte, a post belonging to Messrs., 
Sybille, Adams & Co. ; and from there kept on up to Fori 
John, or Fort Laramie. Mr. Preuss and his party had 
already reached there, but had been much alarmed by the 
accounts of Indian hostilities, -received from James 
Bndger and a large party of traders and trappers that| 
he was guidmg eastward. George Bird Grinnell. 
[to be continued.] 
Woodcock in Norway, 
It is in the middle of April. A warm south wind has 
been blowing for the last few days, and out in the fields 
the moist black earth is commencing to show through 
Its covering of snow. The sparrows and magpies have 
been chattering and fighting all day, and everything! 
seems to have waked up to a new life after the long and 
hard winter. To-day the maaltrost's* warblings have been 
heard m the woods, and we know the woodcock has 
arrived. 
About sundown the gun is taken from its peg, a hand- 
ful of shells together with pipe and tobacco is shoved in 
the pocket and, as the snow is still deep in the woodsj 
a pair of skis is taken along. A ten minutes' walk brings! 
as to a clearing, where we are pretty certain of seeing! 
birds, and after we find a convenient stump to sit on, the) 
pipe is filled and got agoing and we are ready for them.i 
This way of hunting the woodcock is very comfortable.! 
You don't have to run around looking for them, as they' 
come right to you. Every evening in spring, when mating, 
and till the latter part of June, the birds fly around in; 
the woods, mostly along and over clearings and marshes, 
making a sound resembling a sharp "pisst," followed by a- 
sort of a "croak." 
_ The flight starts a little after sundown and continuesj 
till dark, when they keep quite close to the ground, and" 
fly a good deal like an owl. 
_ It is a way of hunting the game-butcher does not appre-; 
ciate, as the bag is light— one or two birds for an even-i 
mg, and very often none at all ; but to the genuine lover'i 
of nature it has a charm of its own with which no other 
sport can compare. ^ 
_ How quiet and peaceful in the pine woods at the ebb- 
ing of day. The wind whispers gently in the fir trees, 
and from a nearby tree-top the clear liquid warblings of 
a maaltrost is heard. 
The glorious coloring of the western sky is com-i 
mencmg to disappear when a faint "pisst" is heard in thei 
distance, and with the gun "at ready," we wait for the! 
bird to appear. The call comes nearer and nearer, and 
at last the bird is seen silhouetted against the western 
sky, flying slowly along with his bill turned toward the 
ground, singing his love-song. At the report of the gun' 
he tumbles to the ground, where we find him in all his' 
fluffy beauty; his big reproachful eyes making us feel, 
like a murderer. 
The pipe is filled again and we take our seat on the; 
old stump. Dusk is now fast settling over the woods. 
The maaltrost has ended his song, and all is quiet save^ 
the distant hoot of an owl, and the rippling and tinkling! 
of a Httle brook. The color has now disappeared fromj 
the western sky, and the tall pines stand dark and silent. 
Night is dropping its curtain. 
A "pisst" close at hand wakes us from our meditations. 
A shadowy form is seen flitting among the pines. The 
last of the birds for to-night. Chr S. • 
*A thrush. 
Mosqttitoes and Malaria of Old, | 
Under date of February ^, 1905, United States Con- 
sul Marshal -Halstead, Birmingham, England, reports] 
that in the London Times of the same date there was' 
a cablegram from Colombo, Ceylon, dated February 7,1 
in which the statement is made that Sir A. J. Blake had' 
announced, at a meeting of the Asiatic Society, that; 
Singhalese medical books of the sixth century recorded) 
67 varieties, of mosquitoes and 424 kinds of malarial fevcri 
caused by mosquitoes. \ 
