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Show 248 THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON TRAIL. gled mane, and the blood flew from his mouth and n 1 'I OS fl s. Thus, still battling with each other the two enemies d · over the hill. ' Isappeared Many of the Indians rode at full gallop toward th e spot. We followed at a more moderate pace, and s9on saw the bull lying de~d on the side of the hill. The Indians were gathered around him, and several knives were already at work. Th I. 1 · ese Itt e mstruments were plied with such wonderful address, that the twisted sinews were cut apart, the ponderous bones fell asunder as if by magic, and in a moment the t vas carcass was reduced to· a heap of bloody ruins. The surrounding o-rou of savage ffi · d . 0 P s o el e no very attractive spectacle to a civilized eye. Some w~r~ cracking the huge thigh-bones and devouring t~e marrow Withm; others were cutting away pieces of the hver, ~nd 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 horribl~ enough. My friend the White Shield proffered me a marrow-bone, so skilfully laid · h II . · open, t at a the nch substance within was exposed to view at A h . once. not er Indian held out a large piece of the delicate li · f' h . nmg o t e paunch; but these courteous offermgs I begged 1 d . eave to echne. I noticed one little boy who was very busy w'th h ' 1 . I Is <mfe about the jaws and throat of the buffalo, from which h . e extracted some morsel of peculiar dehcacy. It is but :fl · . au to say, that only certain parts of the ammal are considered I' 'bl . Th I . e Igi e In these extempore banquets. e nd1ans would Io k · h b . • . 0 Wit a hqrrence on any one who should pal_take Indiscriminately of the newly k'll d - I e carcass. We encamped that night, and marched westward through the greater part of the following day. On the next morning· • THE OGILJ,ALLAH VILLAGE. 249 we again resumed our journey. It was the seventeenth 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 a'nd 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 wen~ 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 Dahcotah 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 11* |