The huge bison, or buffalo, of the North American prairie is gregarious;
in other words, it loves society and travels in herds. These herds are
sometimes so vast as absolutely to blacken the plains for miles around.
The half-breed buffalo-hunters of Red River were also gregarious. From
the moment of their quitting the settlements they kept together for
mutual help and protection. Although a free, wild, and lawless set,
they found it absolutely necessary for hunting purposes to organise
themselves, and thus by voluntary submission to restraint, unwittingly
did homage to Law! On a level plain at a place called Pembina, three
days out from Red River, the whole camp squatted down; the roll was
called, and rules and regulations for the journey were agreed upon and
settled. Then ten captains were named, the senior being Baptiste
Warder, an English half-breed, a fine bold-looking and discreet man of
resolute character, who was thus elected the great war chief of the
little army. As commander-in-chief Baptiste had various duties to
perform, among others to see that lost property picked up about the camp
should be restored to its owner through the medium of a public crier,
who went his rounds every evening. Each captain had ten stout fellows
under him to act as soldiers or policemen. Ten guides were also
appointed, each of whom led the camp day about and carried its flag or
standard. The hoisting of the flag each morning was the signal for
raising the camp. Half an hour was the time allowed to get ready,
unless, any one being sick or animals having strayed, delay became
necessary. All day the flag remained up; its being lowered each evening
was the signal for encamping. Then the captains and their men arranged
the order of the camp. The carts as they arrived moved to their
appointed places, side by side, with the trains outwards, and formed a
circle, inside of which, at one end, the tents were pitched in double
and triple rows, the horses, etcetera, being tethered at the other end.
Thus they were at all times ready to resist attack from Indians.
Among other rules laid down on this occasion at starting were the
following:--
No hunting to be allowed on the Sabbath day. No party to fork off, lag
behind, or go before, without permission. No hunter or party to run
buffalo before the general order, and every captain in turn to mount
guard with his men and patrol the camp. The punishments for offenders
were, like themselves, rather wild and wasteful. For a first offence
against the laws, a culprit was to have his saddle and bridle cut up!
For the second, his coat to be taken and cut up; and for the third he
was to be flogged. A person convicted of theft was to be brought to the
middle of the camp, and have his or her name loudly proclaimed three
times, with the word "thief" added each time.
It was the third week out from the settlement when the hunters met with
Victor Ravenshaw and his friends, yet up to that day they had failed to
find the buffalo, and were well-nigh starving. The intelligence,
therefore, that scouts had at length discovered game, had filled the
camp with joy.
After having taken a little of the mettle out of his steed, as related
in the last chapter, Victor caused him to make a wide circuit on the
plain, and came up behind the line of hunters just as they topped a
prairie undulation, or wave, and sighted the buffalo. It was a grand
array, the sight of which thrilled the young sportsman to the heart.
Full four hundred huntsmen, mounted on fresh and restive steeds, were
slowly advancing, waiting eagerly for the word to start. Baptiste
Warder, their chief, was in front with his telescope, surveying the game
and the ground. Victor pushed in between Ian and Rollin, who rode near
the centre of the impatient line. The wild cattle blackened the plain
at the distance of about a mile and a half from them.
"Surely they must have seen us by this time," said Victor, in a voice of
suppressed agitation.
"Have you got your powder-horn and bullets handy?" asked Ian.
"Yes; all right."
"Put 'im in de mout, de mout," said Rollin quickly.
The half-breed here referred to a habit of the hunters, who carry
several bullets in their mouths to facilitate loading while running at
full speed. The method is simple. The hunter merely pours powder into
his left palm, transfers it to his gun, drops a bullet from his mouth
into the muzzle, hits the butt smartly on his pommel, which at once
sends the charge home and forces priming into the pan, and thus is ready
for another shot.
Victor, having forgotten all about this, immediately put three bullets
into his mouth, his gun being already loaded.
"Don't swallow them!" said Ian.
"Swallow your own advice," growled Victor.
"Start!" shouted Captain Warder.
The welcome signal sent an electric thrill along the line. It was
promptly obeyed, first at a slow trot, then at a hard gallop. The low
rumbling thunder of their tramp was in keeping with the wild eager looks
of the half-savage hunters. They had approached to within four or five
hundred yards before the buffalo-bulls curved their tails into marks of
interrogation and began to paw the ground. Another moment, and the
mighty herd took to flight. Then the huntsmen let loose their eager
steeds. As squadrons of dragoons charge into the thick of battle, these
wild fellows bore down with grand momentum on the buffalo bands. The
very earth seemed to tremble when they charged, but when the herd sprang
away in the frenzy of terror it was as though a shock of earthquake had
riven the plains. Right into the careering mass the horsemen rushed.
Shots began--here, there, and everywhere, until a rattle of musketry
filled the air, while smoke, dust, shouts, and bellowing added to the
wild confusion. The fattest animals were selected, and in an incredibly
short space of time a thousand of their carcasses strewed the plain.
The men who were best mounted of course darted forward in advance and
secured the fattest cows. They seldom dropped a mark to identify their
property. These hunters possess a power of distinguishing the animals
they have slain during a hot and long ride, which amounts almost to an
instinct--even though they may have killed from ten to twelve animals.
An experienced hunter on a good horse will perform such a feat during
one race. He seldom fires till within three or four yards of his prey,
and never misses. A well-trained horse, the moment it hears the shot,
springs on one side to avoid stumbling over the buffalo. An awkward or
shy horse will not approach nearer than ten or fifteen yards. Badly
mounted men think themselves well off if they secure two or three
animals during one run.
As the battle continued, the very air was darkened with dust and smoke.
Of course such a fight could not rage without casualties. There were,
in truth, many hairbreadth and some almost miraculous escapes, for the
ground was rocky and full of badger-holes. Twenty-three horses and
riders were seen at one moment all sprawling on the ground. One horse
was gored by a bull and killed on the spot: two other horses fell over
it and were disabled. One rider broke his shoulder-blade, another burst
his gun by careless loading, and lost three fingers, while another was
struck on the knee by a spent ball. The wonder was, not that so many,
but that so few, were hurt, when it is considered that the riders were
dashing about in clouds of dust and smoke, crossing and recrossing each
other in all directions, with shots firing right and left, before,
behind--everywhere--in quick succession. The explanation must be that,
every man being a trained marksman, nearly every bullet found its billet
in a buffalo's body.
With his heart in his mouth, as well as his bullets, Victor Ravenshaw
entered into the wild _melee_, scarce knowing what he was about.
Although inexperienced, he knew well what to do, for many a time had he
listened to the stories of buffalo-hunters in times past, and had put
all their operations in practice with a wooden gun in mimic chase. But
it was not easy to keep cool. He saw a fat animal just ahead of him,
pushed close alongside; pointed his gun without raising it to his
shoulder, and fired. He almost burnt the animal's hair, so near was he.
The buffalo fell and his horse leaped to one side. Victor had
forgotten this part of the programme. He was nearly unseated, but held
on by the mane and recovered his seat.
Immediately he poured powder into his palm--spilling a good deal and
nearly dropping his gun from under his left arm in the operation--and
commenced to reload while at full speed. He spat a ball into the
muzzle, just missed knocking out some of his front teeth, forgot to
strike the butt on the pommel of the saddle, (which omission would have
infallibly resulted in the bursting of the gun had it exploded), pointed
at another animal and drew the trigger. It missed fire, of course, for
want of priming. He remembered his error; corrected it, pointed again,
fired, and dropped another cow.
Elated with success, he was about to reload when a panting bull came up
behind him. He seized his bridle, and swerved a little. The bull
thundered on, mad with rage; its tail aloft, and pursued by Michel
Rollin, who seemed as angry as the bull.
"Hah! I vill stop you!" growled the excited half-breed as he dashed
along.
Animals were so numerous and close around them that they seemed in
danger, at the moment, of being crushed. Suddenly the bull turned sharp
round on its pursuer. To avoid it the horse leaped on one side; the
girths gave way and the rider, saddle and all, were thrown on the bull's
horns. With a wild toss of its head, the surprised creature sent the
man high into the air. In his fall he alighted on the back of another
buffalo--it was scarcely possible to avoid this in the crowd--and
slipped to the ground. Strange to say, Rollin was not hurt, but he was
effectually thrown out of the running for that time, and Victor saw him
no more till evening. We relate no fanciful or exaggerated tale, good
reader. Our description is in strict accordance with the account of a
credible eye-witness.
For upwards of an hour and a half the wild chase was kept up; the plain
was strewn with the dead and dying, and horsemen as well as buffaloes
were scattered far and wide.
Victor suddenly came upon Ian while in pursuit of an animal.
"What luck!" he shouted.
"I've killed two--by accident, I think," said Ian, swerving towards his
comrade, but not slackening his pace.
"Capital! I've killed three. Who's that big fellow ahead after the old
bull?"
"It's Winklemann. He seems to prefer tough meat."
As Ian spoke the bull in question turned suddenly round, just as
Rollin's bull had done, and received Winklemann's horse on its hairy
forehead. The poor man shot from the saddle as if he had been thrown
from a catapult, turned a complete somersault over the buffalo, and fell
on his back beyond. Thrusting the horse to one side, the buffalo turned
and seemed to gore the prostrate German as it dashed onward.
Puffing up at once, both Victor and Ian leaped from their horses and
hastened to assist their friend. He rose slowly to a sitting posture as
they approached, and began to feel his legs with a troubled look.
"Not much hurt, I hope?" said Ian, kneeling beside him. "No bones
broken?"
"No, I think not; mine leks are fery vell, but I fear mine lunks are
gone," answered the German, untying his belt.
It was found, however, on examination, that the lungs were all right,
the bull's horn having merely grazed the poor man's ribs. In a few
minutes his horse was caught, and he was able to remount, but the trio
were now far behind the tide of war, which had swept away by that time
to the horizon. They therefore determined to rest content with what
they had accomplished and return to camp.
"What a glorious chase!" exclaimed Victor as they rode slowly back; "I
almost wish that white men might have the redskin's heaven and hunt the
buffalo for ever."
"You'd soon grow tired of your heaven," said Ian, laughing. "I suspect
that the soul requires occupation of a higher kind than the pursuing and
slaying of wild animals."
"No doubt you are right, you learned philosopher; but you can't deny
that this has been a most enjoyable burst."
"I don't deny anything. I merely controvert your idea that it would be
pleasant to go on with this sort of thing for ever."
"Hah! de more so, ven your back is almost broke and your lunks are
gored."
"But your `lunks' are not `gored,'" said Victor. "Come, Winklemann, be
thankful that you are alive.--By the way, Ian, where are the animals you
killed?"
"We are just coming to one. Here it is. I threw my cap down to mark
it, and there is another one, a quarter of a mile behind it. We have
plenty of meat, you see, and shall be able to quit the camp to-morrow."
While the friends were thus jogging onwards, the hunt came to an end,
and the hunters, throwing off their coats and turning up their sleeves,
drew their scalping-knives, and began the work of skinning and cutting
up the animals. While thus engaged their guns and bridles lay handy
beside them, for at such times their Indian enemies are apt to pounce on
and scalp some of them, should they chance to be in the neighbourhood.
At the same time the carts advanced and began to load with meat and
marrow-bones. The utmost expedition was used, for all the meat that
they should be obliged to leave on the field when night closed in would
be lost to them and become the property of the wolves. We know not what
the loss amounted to on this occasion. But the gain was eminently
satisfactory, no fewer than 1375 tongues, (as tit-bits and trophies),
being brought into camp.
Is it to be wondered at that there were sounds of rejoicing that night
round the blazing camp-fires? Need we remark that the hissing of juicy
steaks sounded like a sweet lullaby far on into the night; that the
contents of marrow-bones oiled the fingers, to say nothing of the
mouths, cheeks, and noses, of man, woman, and child? Is it surprising
that people who had been on short allowance for a considerable time past
took advantage of the occasion and ate till they could hardly stand?
Truly they made a night of it. Their Indian visitors, who constituted
themselves camp-followers, gorged themselves to perfect satisfaction,
and even the dogs, who had a full allowance, licked their lips that
night with inexpressible felicity.