The Surrounding
Group Of Savages Offered No Very Attractive Spectacle To A Civilized
Eye.
Some were cracking the huge thigh-bones and devouring the
marrow within; others were cutting away pieces of the liver and other
approved morsels, and swallowing them on the spot with the appetite
of wolves.
The faces of most of them, besmeared with blood from ear
to ear, looked grim and horrible enough. My friend the White Shield
proffered me a marrowbone, so skillfully laid open that all the rich
substance within was exposed to view at once. Another Indian held
out a large piece of the delicate lining of the paunch; but these
courteous offerings I begged leave to decline. I noticed one little
boy who was very busy with his knife about the jaws and throat of the
buffalo, from which he extracted some morsel of peculiar delicacy.
It is but fair to say that only certain parts of the animal are
considered eligible in these extempore banquets. The Indians would
look with abhorrence on anyone who should partake indiscriminately of
the newly killed carcass.
We encamped that night, and marched westward through the greater part
of the following day. On the next morning we again resumed our
journey. It was the 17th of July, unless my notebook misleads me.
At noon we stopped by some pools of rain-water, and in the afternoon
again set forward. This double movement was contrary to the usual
practice of the Indians, but all were very anxious to reach the
hunting ground, kill the necessary number of buffalo, and retreat as
soon as possible from the dangerous neighborhood. I pass by for the
present some curious incidents that occurred during these marches and
encampments. Late in the afternoon of the last-mentioned day we came
upon the banks of a little sandy stream, of which the Indians could
not tell the name; for they were very ill acquainted with that part
of the country. So parched and arid were the prairies around that
they could not supply grass enough for the horses to feed upon, and
we were compelled to move farther and farther up the stream in search
of ground for encampment. The country was much wilder than before.
The plains were gashed with ravines and broken into hollows and steep
declivities, which flanked our course, as, in long-scattered array,
the Indians advanced up the side of the stream. Mene-Seela consulted
an extraordinary oracle to instruct him where the buffalo were to be
found. When he with the other chiefs sat down on the grass to smoke
and converse, as they often did during the march, the old man picked
up one of those enormous black-and-green crickets, which the Dakota
call by a name that signifies "They who point out the buffalo." The
Root-Diggers, a wretched tribe beyond the mountains, turn them to
good account by making them into a sort of soup, pronounced by
certain unscrupulous trappers to be extremely rich. Holding the
bloated insect respectfully between his fingers and thumb, the old
Indian looked attentively at him and inquired, "Tell me, my father,
where must we go to-morrow to find the buffalo?" The cricket twisted
about his long horns in evident embarrassment. At last he pointed,
or seemed to point, them westward. Mene-Seela, dropping him gently
on the grass, laughed with great glee, and said that if we went that
way in the morning we should be sure to kill plenty of game.
Toward evening we came upon a fresh green meadow, traversed by the
stream, and deep-set among tall sterile bluffs. The Indians
descended its steep bank; and as I was at the rear, I was one of the
last to reach this point. Lances were glittering, feathers
fluttering, and the water below me was crowded with men and horses
passing through, while the meadow beyond was swarming with the
restless crowd of Indians. The sun was just setting, and poured its
softened light upon them through an opening in the hills.
I remarked to Reynal that at last we had found a good camping-ground.
"Oh, it is very good," replied he ironically; "especially if there is
a Snake war party about, and they take it into their heads to shoot
down at us from the top of these hills. It is no plan of mine,
camping in such a hole as this!"
The Indians also seemed apprehensive. High up on the top of the
tallest bluff, conspicuous in the bright evening sunlight, sat a
naked warrior on horseback, looking around, as it seemed, over the
neighboring country; and Raymond told me that many of the young men
had gone out in different directions as scouts.
The shadows had reached to the very summit of the bluffs before the
lodges were erected and the village reduced again to quiet and order.
A cry was suddenly raised, and men, women, and children came running
out with animated faces, and looked eagerly through the opening on
the hills by which the stream entered from the westward. I could
discern afar off some dark, heavy masses, passing over the sides of a
low hill. They disappeared, and then others followed. These were
bands of buffalo cows. The hunting-ground was reached at last, and
everything promised well for the morrow's sport. Being fatigued and
exhausted, I went and lay down in Kongra-Tonga's lodge, when Raymond
thrust in his head, and called upon me to come and see some sport. A
number of Indians were gathered, laughing, along the line of lodges
on the western side of the village, and at some distance, I could
plainly see in the twilight two huge black monsters stalking, heavily
and solemnly, directly toward us. They were buffalo bulls. The wind
blew from them to the village, and such was their blindness and
stupidity that they were advancing upon the enemy without the least
consciousness of his presence. Raymond told me that two men had
hidden themselves with guns in a ravine about twenty yards in front
of us.
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