At Noon, The Whole
Plain Before Us Was Alive With Thousands Of Buffalo - Bulls, Cows, And
Calves - All Moving Rapidly As We Drew Near; And Far-Off Beyond The
River The Swelling Prairie Was Darkened With Them To The Very
Horizon.
The party was in gayer spirits than ever.
We stopped for a
nooning near a grove of trees by the river side.
"Tongues and hump ribs to-morrow," said Shaw, looking with contempt
at the venison steaks which Delorier placed before us. Our meal
finished, we lay down under a temporary awning to sleep. A shout
from Henry Chatillon aroused us, and we saw him standing on the
cartwheel stretching his tall figure to its full height while he
looked toward the prairie beyond the river. Following the direction
of his eyes we could clearly distinguish a large dark object, like
the black shadow of a cloud, passing rapidly over swell after swell
of the distant plain; behind it followed another of similar
appearance though smaller. Its motion was more rapid, and it drew
closer and closer to the first. It was the hunters of the Arapahoe
camp pursuing a band of buffalo. Shaw and I hastily sought and
saddled our best horses, and went plunging through sand and water to
the farther bank. We were too late. The hunters had already mingled
with the herd, and the work of slaughter was nearly over. When we
reached the ground we found it strewn far and near with numberless
black carcasses, while the remnants of the herd, scattered in all
directions, were flying away in terror, and the Indians still rushing
in pursuit. Many of the hunters, however, remained upon the spot,
and among the rest was our yesterday's acquaintance, the chief of the
village. He had alighted by the side of a cow, into which he had
shot five or six arrows, and his squaw, who had followed him on
horseback to the hunt, was giving him a draught of water out of a
canteen, purchased or plundered from some volunteer soldier.
Recrossing the river we overtook the party, who were already on their
way.
We had scarcely gone a mile when an imposing spectacle presented
itself. From the river bank on the right, away over the swelling
prairie on the left, and in front as far as we could see, extended
one vast host of buffalo. The outskirts of the herd were within a
quarter of a mile. In many parts they were crowded so densely
together that in the distance their rounded backs presented a surface
of uniform blackness; but elsewhere they were more scattered, and
from amid the multitude rose little columns of dust where the buffalo
were rolling on the ground. Here and there a great confusion was
perceptible, where a battle was going forward among the bulls. We
could distinctly see them rushing against each other, and hear the
clattering of their horns and their hoarse bellowing. Shaw was
riding at some distance in advance, with Henry Chatillon; I saw him
stop and draw the leather covering from his gun. Indeed, with such a
sight before us, but one thing could be thought of. That morning I
had used pistols in the chase. I had now a mind to try the virtue of
a gun. Delorier had one, and I rode up to the side of the cart;
there he sat under the white covering, biting his pipe between his
teeth and grinning with excitement.
"Lend me your gun, Delorier," said I.
"Oui, monsieur, oui," said Delorier, tugging with might and main to
stop the mule, which seemed obstinately bent on going forward. Then
everything but his moccasins disappeared as he crawled into the cart
and pulled at the gun to extricate it.
"Is it loaded?" I asked.
"Oui, bien charge; you'll kill, mon bourgeois; yes, you'll kill -
c'est un bon fusil."
I handed him my rifle and rode forward to Shaw.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
"Come on," said I.
"Keep down that hollow," said Henry, "and then they won't see you
till you get close to them."
The hollow was a kind of ravine very wide and shallow; it ran
obliquely toward the buffalo, and we rode at a canter along the
bottom until it became too shallow, when we bent close to our horses'
necks, and then finding that it could no longer conceal us, came out
of it and rode directly toward the herd. It was within gunshot;
before its outskirts, numerous grizzly old bulls were scattered,
holding guard over their females. They glared at us in anger and
astonishment, walked toward us a few yards, and then turning slowly
round retreated at a trot which afterward broke into a clumsy gallop.
In an instant the main body caught the alarm. The buffalo began to
crowd away from the point toward which we were approaching, and a gap
was opened in the side of the herd. We entered it, still restraining
our excited horses. Every instant the tumult was thickening. The
buffalo, pressing together in large bodies, crowded away from us on
every hand. In front and on either side we could see dark columns
and masses, half hidden by clouds of dust, rushing along in terror
and confusion, and hear the tramp and clattering of ten thousand
hoofs. That countless multitude of powerful brutes, ignorant of
their own strength, were flying in a panic from the approach of two
feeble horsemen. To remain quiet longer was impossible.
"Take that band on the left," said Shaw; "I'll take these in front."
He sprang off, and I saw no more of him. A heavy Indian whip was
fastened by a band to my wrist; I swung it into the air and lashed my
horse's flank with all the strength of my arm. Away she darted,
stretching close to the ground. I could see nothing but a cloud of
dust before me, but I knew that it concealed a band of many hundreds
of buffalo.
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