第79章 Irving’s Bonneville - Chapter 28(2)

Both parties accordingly encamped together on a convenient spot, and prepared for thehunt. The Indians first posted a boy on a small hill near the camp, to keep a look-out forenemies. The "runners," then, as they are called, mounted on fleet horses, and armedwith bows and arrows, moved slowly and cautiously toward the buffalo, keeping asmuch as possible out of sight, in hollows and ravines. When within a proper distance, asignal was given, and they all opened at once like a pack of hounds, with a full chorusof yells, dashing into the midst of the herds, and launching their arrows to the right andleft. The plain seemed absolutely to shake under the tramp of the buffalo, as theyscoured off. The cows in headlong panic, the bulls furious with rage, uttering deeproars, and occasionally turning with a desperate rush upon their pursuers. Nothingcould surpass the spirit, grace, and dexterity, with which the Indians managed theirhorses; wheeling and coursing among the affrighted herd, and launching their arrowswith unerring aim. In the midst of the apparent confusion, they selected their victimswith perfect judgment, generally aiming at the fattest of the cows, the flesh of the bullbeing nearly worthless, at this season of the year. In a few minutes, each of the huntershad crippled three or four cows. A single shot was sufficient for the purpose, and theanimal, once maimed, was left to be completely dispatched at the end of the chase.

Frequently, a cow was killed on the spot by a single arrow. In one instance, CaptainBonneville saw an Indian shoot his arrow completely through the body of a cow, so thatit struck in the ground beyond. The bulls, however, are not so easily killed as the cows,and always cost the hunter several arrows; sometimes making battle upon the horses,and chasing them furiously, though severely wounded, with the darts still sticking intheir flesh.

The grand scamper of the hunt being over, the Indians proceeded to dispatch theanimals that had been disabled; then cutting up the carcasses, they returned with loadsof meat to the camp, where the choicest pieces were soon roasting before large fires,and a hunters' feast succeeded; at which Captain Bonneville and his men werequalified, by previous fasting, to perform their parts with great vigor.

Some men are said to wax valorous upon a full stomach, and such seemed to be thecase with the Bannack braves, who, in proportion as they crammed themselves withbuffalo meat, grew stout of heart, until, the supper at an end, they began to chant warsongs, setting forth their mighty deeds, and the victories they had gained over theBlackfeet. Warming with the theme, and inflating themselves with their own eulogies,these magnanimous heroes of the trencher would start up, advance a short distancebeyond the light of the fire, and apostrophize most vehemently their Blackfeet enemies,as though they had been within hearing. Ruffling, and swelling, and snorting, andslapping their breasts, and brandishing their arms, they would vociferate all theirexploits; reminding the Blackfeet how they had drenched their towns in tears and blood;enumerate the blows they had inflicted, the warriors they had slain, the scalps they hadbrought off in triumph. Then, having said everything that could stir a man's spleen orpique his valor, they would dare their imaginary hearers, now that the Bannacks werefew in number, to come and take their revenge--receiving no reply to this valorousbravado, they would conclude by all kinds of sneers and insults, deriding the Blackfeetfor dastards and poltroons, that dared not accept their challenge. Such is the kind ofswaggering and rhodomontade in which the "red men" are prone to indulge in theirvainglorious moments; for, with all their vaunted taciturnity, they are vehemently proneat times to become eloquent about their exploits, and to sound their own trumpet.

Having vented their valor in this fierce effervescence, the Bannack braves graduallycalmed down, lowered their crests, smoothed their ruffled feathers, and betookthemselves to sleep, without placing a single guard over their camp; so that, had theBlackfeet taken them at their word, but few of these braggart heroes might havesurvived for any further boasting.

On the following morning, Captain Bonneville purchased a supply of buffalo meat fromhis braggadocio friends; who, with all their vaporing, were in fact a very forlorn horde,destitute of firearms, and of almost everything that constitutes riches in savage life. Thebargain concluded, the Bannacks set off for their village, which was situated, they said,at the mouth of the Portneuf, and Captain Bonneville and his companions shaped theircourse toward Snake River.