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Show [ 243] 16 .. rnn clt hacked anu scarred as an old 1noustaclte of I\ apolcon 's "old guard.'' l[ ~ ilourisll cd in the soubriquet of La Tulipc, and his real JH\n lC I nevl'r k new. Finding I hat he was goin<r to the State ' only because hi company wa bound in that direction, alid that he was rather more williu~ to re turn with n1e, I took him again into my service. \Vc travell ed this day but seventeen mi !cs. At onr evening camp, ahout sunset, three figures were discovered ap· proachiug, which our g la~~C!') made out to be lndians. They pro_vcJ to be Clteyenue , two nH'n nnd a boy of thirteen. About a month Sine they hnd left their people on t(,e !:iouth fork of the river, ·ome three h undred mil es to the westward , a11d a party of only fo ttr in nnmber, had been to the Pawnee villagrs 0 11 a hor!3e stealing c x c ur ~ i o n , from which they were retu rnin rr u nsttcccs ful. They were misc rabl v n10llll ted on wild horses from the Arkansa..: plaiu., and ·had no other w ee.~ pons th an Lows and long spears ; and had th y Lcen di covered by the Pawnt.:e , cou ld not, by any possibility, h ave escap d. They were mortifted by th eir ill snccess, and said the Pawnees were owards who shut up th eir horses in th eir lodges at ni ght. I invited them to supper with me, and Randolph anu the young CheyP-nn e, who had been eyein g- each other suspi ciou s! y and cu rionsl y, sc.on became intim~tt c fri end ·. Arter supper we sat down on the grass, awl I placeu a sheet of pap r between 11s, on which they t rnccd rudely, bu t with a certain degree of relative truth, the water ro ur.::c~ of the country which lay between n" and their villages, and of ·which I des ired to have some information. Their compn.uions, they told u , had taken a n e<~ rcr route o\·er the hills, but they had mounted one of the summits to spy out the conn try, whence they had caught a g limpse of our party, and confident of good treatment at the hand of the whites, hastened to join company. Latitude of the can1p 4.0° 39' 5l''. 'VVe made the next morning sixteen mi Irs. I remarked that the ground was covered in many place~ with an d l1orcscence of salt, aud the plants were not u u merous. In the bottoms was fre4cn tl y seen, tradcsr:antia, and on the dry lenches, were cw·duus, cactus, and anW7jJ!w. A high wind during the morn ing had in creased to a violcut gale frum the northwest, which made our aftcmoon ride cold and unple<U:ant. 'V e had the welcome sight of two bufralo on one of the large i. lands; and encamped at a clump of timber about seven miles from our noon halt, after a da.rs mach of twenty-two miles. · The air was keen the next morninrr at sunrise, the thermometer standing at 4.4.0 , and it was snflicicntly cold to make overcoats very comfortable. A few miles broug-ht us into the midst of the Buffnb, swarmiug in immense num~ers over the plains, where th ey had lt:ft scarcely a hlade of grass stanumg-. Mr. Preuss, who was sketching at a little distance in the rear, had at first noted them :::s large groves of timber. In the sight of such ~ mass of life, the traveller feels a stranrre emotion of rrrandcur. vVe had 0 0 heard from a distance a dull and confused murmuring, and when we came in view of their dark masses, there was not one among us who diu not feel hi hca~t beat quicker. It was the early part of the d~ y~ when the herds are fcedmg; and every where they were in motion. llere and there a huge old. bull was rolling in the grass, and clouds of dust rose in the air frorn vanous parts of the bands, each the scene of some obstinate fiO'ht. Indians and bt~ffalo ~~ke. the poetry nnd life of the prairie, and onr ~amp was fu II of thea exhiltratLOn. In place of the quiet monotony of the n1arch, rc· • \ 17 [ 243] ·Iicvcd onl y by the cracking of the wlt ip, and nn "avance done ! e 1~[ant de t:;nrcc _, ,, shou ts and songs resounded from every part of the I inc, and our ... evening camo was always the co mm c n c~ tu e nt of a feast, which tcrmiu atec..l only wi th our departure on the following mc rning. At any time of the n ight might be seen pteces of tile most delicare and c h o i cc~t meat, ro~1s tin g en appolas, on sticks aronncl the ftre, and the gnard were never w1 tltont company. With pleasant wea ther and no enemy to fear, an abu ndance of the most excellent tneat, and no scarcity of bread or tolm.cco, they were enjoying- the oasis of a voyageur's life. rrhrec CO\VS were ki lled to-day. J(it Carson had shot one, nud wa::3 continuing the chase in the midst of another hcru , when his horse fell hcadloncr, but sprang np anJ joined the flying hand. 'rh onrrh considerab ly hurt, he had the good fort une to break no bones, and Maxwell, who was mounted on a fleet hunter, captured the runaway after a hard chase. lie was on the point of shooting him to avoid the loss of his bridle, u handsomely mounted Spani ·h one, when he found that ·his h o r~c was able to come up wid1 him. Animals arc! frequently lost in this '\vn.y, and it is nc ce~sary to keep close watch over them, in the vicinity of t he bn!falo, in the midst of which they sconr off to the pl ains, and arc rarely retaken. One of our mules took a sudden freak into hi ' ltead and joined a neighboring band to -d:1y. As we were not in a cond ition to lose horses, I sent several rnen in pursnit and rcmai11ed in camp, In the hope of recove ring him, bnt lost the afternoon to n) purpo e, as we d id not sec him a<rai n. A ·tronomical observations placed us in longitude 100° 38' 10'', latitude 40° 49' 55''. July l.- Along our road to -day the prairie bollom wns more elevated nnd dry, and the hills which border the right sid e of the ri ver higher and more !Jrokcn and picturesque in the OU!lilt e. 'l'he COuntry 100 Wi.l~ better timUered. A s we were riding- qui et ly along the bank, a grand herd of buffalo, some seven or eight hundred in mnllbcr, came crow<.lirw up from the ri ver, where they had been to drink, and commenced crossing the plain slowly, eating as th ey went. Tlte wind was fa vorable, the coo ln c~s of the moruing jnvited to exercise, the ground was apparently good, and the disrnnce across ~h e prai rie, two or three mil e~, gave u ~ a fi11e opportuniry to clturge th em before tltey could get among the river hill '. It was too line a pro:pect for a. chase to be l o~t, and, haltin cr for a few nt nmr nt s, the hun te rs were brought. up and saddled, al-lJ Kit Carson, M.axwell , and I , slartc!d t o~et b c r. They were now somewhat less than half a mile diswnt, and we rode easily al ong until within about three hundred yards, when a suduen agitation, a waveri ng in the lland, anu a galloping l() anu fro of some whieh were scutl cred nlung the skins, gave us the intimation tltat we were discovered. \Ve st arted togeth er at a ha.nJ gallop, riding steatlily abreast of f'ach otlter, and here tbe int l! rest of the chase became so engrosslllgly inten:se, that we were sensi ble to nothing clfc. \Ve were llOW closing upon them rapidly, anu the front of the rn at:;s \\a'> already in rapid motion for the hill~ , and in a few second::~ the movernent !tad communicated it~ el f to the whole herd. A crowd of bulls, as usual, bro 11ght up the rear, and every nov.- nrHl then some of tltem faced about, and then dashed on after the band a short cl i~;tnnce, aud turned and looked again , U!:! if more than half inclined to stand and fight. In a few moments, however, during whieh we had been quickening our part~, the rout was univcrsi.\l, and we were going over the ground l ikt! a hurrirttnt~. VYhen nt aboul thirty yards we guve the Udual shout, tho )HuH ere pa.-1 de charge, ur1tl broke into the herd. \V c entered on the aid~, ~ .. |