CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
WE GET UP A BUFFALO HUNT--WE ENGAGE STALKER AND GAROUPE, TWO HALF-CASTEHUNTERS--PEMMICAN--THE HUNT--I GET FLOORED BY A HUGE BISON, BUT AMCARRIED TO CAMP IN HIS SKIN--HOSTILE SIOUX, AND A BRUSH WITH THEM--WECROSS THE ASSINIBOINE--LA PRAIRIE PORTAGE.
Trevor and I now formed our first hunting expedition. Buffalo, orrather bison-hunting, had long been our day-dream, and had formed thechief subject of our conversation as we paddled along in our canoes, orwhen seated round our camp-fires at night, so now we determined to makea beginning. We engaged a couple of half-breeds as guides and hunters,one was of English, the other of French parentage. One was called JohnStalker, the other Pierre Garoupe. They were both bold, active fellows,and each amusingly tenacious of the honour of the country from which hisfather came. There was no want of good horses in the settlement,courageous, hardy animals, trained to hunt the buffalo, and taught tostand still should their rider be thrown, or any accident happen to him.The carts of the country are built entirely of wood, without a nail,and consequently float across rivers, and if broken, are easilyrepaired. We bought four of these carts to carry our tent, provisions,ammunition, and clothing. A large body of half-breed hunters, withtheir wives and children, had gone on before, towards the south-west,where the buffalo were said to have appeared in great numbers, on theirway to the northward, and we hoped, by pushing on, to overtake the bandin time to see some of the sport.
John Stalker gave us much information about these hunting expeditions.Great regularity is observed. Each man has his own cart or carts andhorses. The band is divided into companies, with a chief to each, andconstables, and a leader over the whole, whose word is supreme both incamp and on the hunting field. We found ourselves in a new kind ofscenery. Here, and there were separate woods, but our course chieflylay over the open prairie, a boundless expanse of waving grass. Thegreatest risk in dry weather in such a country is from fire; should itonce become ignited no human power can arrest its progress, and Heavenhave mercy on the hapless hunter whom it overtakes. The fleetest steedwill scarcely escape if flying before it. We found from the freshtracks that we were near the hunters, and at length we came upon themencamped, the women making pemmican, and the men cleaning their arms, ordoing nothing. Pemmican is the staple food of all the hunters andtravellers throughout the country. In the Cree tongue _Pemmi_ meansmeat, and _Kon_ fat. The flesh of the buffalo is cut up in strips andhung on poles to dry. Then it is pounded between two stones till thefibres separate. About fifty pounds of this meat are put into a bag ofbuffalo skin with forty pounds of hot melted fat, thoroughly mixed withit. A nicer sort contains berries and sugar, and is highly prized. Itkeeps for years, subject to wet, cold, or damp. One pound is consideredequal to three of ordinary meat.
Having introduced ourselves to the leader of the party, and invited himto come and sup with us, we encamped in a position he assigned to us,and made preparations for the next day's hunt. By early dawn, Trevorand I, followed by Peter, were in the saddle--the latter from hischildhood had been accustomed to horses, and was now perfectly at homeon horseback. I spoke of the Crees. They inhabit the country to thesouth and east of Lake Winnipeg, and the half-breeds are chiefly relatedto them on the mothers' side.
It was a fine sight to see the band of hunters marshalled in order,advance towards the spot where the buffaloes, as the bisons are herecalled, were said to be feeding. I could not help thinking, as Iwatched them, what splendid light cavalry they would make, for thedefence of the country against their encroaching neighbours, or mountedpolice, or irregular cavalry for any purpose. Trevor, too, was muchstruck with the scene. "We try to civilise the Red-men," he remarked;"very good, and I don't see any impossibility; but I do see the bunglingmanner in which we set about it. We try to make men who have been alltheir lives on horseback, or, with rifle in hand, have hunted buffaloes,deer, or grizzlies, or been accustomed to the trapping of small game,sit quietly down as farmers, gardeners, or carpenters, and attend schooland church, Sundays and week days, without any approach to amusement, orwhat is still more absurd, without finding them any market for theproduce of their industry when they are industrious. Teach themChristianity, and civilise them by all means, but introduce canoe races,horse races, foot races, shooting matches, foot-ball, cricket, all sortsof games,--anything, in fact, suitable to their bodily and mentalpowers, and open up the country; send people to buy their produce, andemploy them as postillions, mail carriers, ostlers, cattle drovers,ferrymen; and at the same time keep them as much as possible separatefrom white men, under good guidance and instruction, and I have somehope that they will not decrease in numbers, and that they will becomecivilised in reality as well as nominally."
Trevor had got thus far when the advanced guard made a signal forsilence to be kept. We each of us stood up in our stirrups, and lookingout ahead caught sight of numberless dark objects covering the prairie,far as the eye could reach, from north to south.
The wind blew from them, so that we might hope to get near without beingperceived. The hunters now examined their saddle-girths, loaded theirguns, and looked to their primings or percussion caps, and filled theirmouths with bullets that they might drop them into their guns, withoutwadding, while at full gallop. The elder we heard cautioning the lessexperienced, and with good reason, not to shoot each other--acontingency I thought very likely to occur. Cautiously at first weapproached the herd, clutching our weapons and bending forward eagerly,ready to dash on at a moment's notice. Before us was a very large herdof buffaloes. On we went still unperceived--even the sagacious horsesseemed to tread cautiously. At length some of the nearest animalslifted up their shaggy bearded heads. Our leader gave the signal--wewere discovered. No further need now for silence. Our steeds sprangforward--off we dashed, and, scampering along at full speed, were soonin the midst of the more tardy-moving animals, each hunter firing rightand left into the animal nearest him on either hand. It was like anaval engagement in days of yore, when a British fleet got among theenemy. In this instance, each hunter was widely separated from hiscompanions, and only now and then the unfortunate chase turned to showfight. Even that was hopeless, for the well-trained horse, wheeling orleaping aside, knew as well as his rider how to avoid the charge of thefurious buffalo, which was certain in the course of a few seconds to bebrought low.
As each hunter killed an animal he dropped some article of his propertyto denote his prey, a handkerchief, tobacco box, knife, steel, and thengalloped on, slaughtering right and left. I had told Peter to keep nearme, lest any accident should happen to the lad; but carried away by theexcitement of the chase, he separated from me, and Trevor very quicklydisappeared. I was in high glee, for I had rolled over two buffaloes insuccession. On I galloped, and brought down a third. I fired at afourth, a huge bull, but though I hit him he did not fall, and before Icould check the speed of my horse to load, the animal put his foot in abadger's hole, and down he came, throwing me over his head. As I was onmy way to the ground it seemed I looked up and beheld the huge buffalo,with his hairy head bent down, dashing towards me. I had no power ofdefending myself. I saw his red, fiery eyes close to me, felt his hotbreath on my cheek, and gave myself up for lost. I remembered nothingmore but a most horrible sensation of suffocation. I had remained sometime in that condition, when I heard voices near me, and recognisedPeter's tones. "Yes, yes, that is my dear master," he exclaimed. "Yes,Master Stalker, and he be coming to life again, I do believe. Hurra!hurra!"
On this I felt myself lifted up and carried to a little distance, when Iwas again put down. In a few minutes I was placed in a litter formed, Iafterwards found, of the skin of the very buffalo which had so nearlyfinished me.
The shots I had put into him, though not instantaneously fatal, hadproduced his death at the moment he was about to gore me, and his hugebody had fallen over, completely above me. Poor Peter, when the huntwas over, and the hunters were returning to camp, had searched about forme in every direction, till he wa
s in perfect despair. At length abuffalo I had killed was discovered, and my course tracked till I wasfound under the body of my fourth victim. The lad had killed a buffalo,and Trevor boasted of knocking over six, so that he was well contentwith this result of his first hunt in British North America.
A considerable number of animals had been killed, and now the carts cameup to carry off the flesh to be converted forthwith into pemmican, inthe manner already described. There was a terrible waste of food evenin this instance.
I was for several days unable to mount my horse, but had recoveredcompletely by the time the pemmican was prepared and the camp broken up.It had been arranged that we were to begin the homeward march the nextday, when the scouts, always kept actively employed on such occasions,brought in word that they had discovered the trail of a band of Sioux,their hereditary foes, and had followed it up till they found themencamped not more than a day's journey from where we were--in Americanterritory. A council of war was held immediately. It was agreed by thehunters that if they did not attack the Sioux, the Sioux would followand attack them and take them unawares.
Trevor and I at once came to the opinion that it was our duty to benon-combatants; and, indeed, we counselled our friends to retreatwithout attacking the Sioux, and to trust to their own vigilance not tobe taken by surprise. This advice was very unpalatable to the tastes ofthe hunters, and was totally disregarded. As far as the principles ofthe half-breeds are concerned we found them very little in advance ofthe Indians, though they pique themselves, as a mark of theircivilisation, on not taking scalps. Trevor even offered to visit thecamp of the Sioux, and to try and negotiate terms of peace. To thisproposal, however, they would not a moment listen, declaring that hewould lose his life in the attempt. The council broke up, and awar-party having been arranged, forthwith set out. They advanced withcaution, with scouts thrown out to examine any ground which couldpossibly afford a spot for an ambush.
We rode on with them for some distance, and in vain again urged them toabandon so utterly profitless an expedition--certain as it was also,even should they be victorious in the present instance, to make theirenemies retaliate on some future occasion. I believe that the women ofthe party regarded us with a considerable amount of contempt when wereturned to the camp in consequence of our interference. Peter,however, explained to the fair dames that although we refused to attackmen who had never injured us, we would fight for them like heroes ifthey were attacked. This assurance seemed to restore us to their goodopinion. Two days passed, and the war-party returned, looking haggardand travel-stained. They boasted of having killed sixteen of the enemy,but as they had certainly lost five of their own men and had no trophiesto show, we questioned this statement. There were also, we pointed outto them, as the result of their exploit, three widows in the camp and adozen fatherless children whom they were bound to support.
We immediately began our return homewards. The camp remained quiet allnight, but the next morning several horses were missing, and two scouts,at no great distance, were found killed and scalped. The following daya Cree hunter lost his life, but our friends showed no inclination toturn back on the enemy. They were, I found, so completely down-heartedat the loss they had sustained in consequence of their own folly, thatthey exhibited none of that courage and daring which they undoubtedlypossess. Still I am convinced that, well led, they are men capable ofperforming the most daring exploits. As we did not wish to return toFort Garry, while they kept to the right, we crossed the AssiniboineRiver and went on to La Prairie Portage, a settlement of ChristianIndians, presided over by Archdeacon Cochrane, who has devoted the wholeof his life to the service of these children of the wilderness. Thesettlement appeared in a flourishing condition. There are two churches,a number of neat cottages, and many well-cultivated and well-stockedfarms.