A BUFFALO HUNT[1]
A STUDY OF THE AMERICAN WILD BULL.
Certain reasons, unnecessary to state here, had somewhat accidentallyled me to a Sonorian hacienda, called the Hacienda del Milagro, situateda few leagues from Hermosillo, close to the Indian border, and belongingto Don Rafael Garillas de Saavedra, one of the richest landowners in theprovince.
Don Rafael had spent what is called in Europe a wild life, and for manyyears had traversed the deserts of Apacheria in company of a Canadianadventurer of the name of Belhumeur. Although enormously rich, marriedto a woman he adored, and surrounded by a delightful family, Don Rafaelhad now and then moments of gloom, in which he regretted the time when,unhappy and disinherited, he wandered, under the name of Loyal-heart,from Arkansas to Apacheria, leading the precarious existence of woodrangers, living from hand to mouth, forgetful of a past which onlysummoned up bitter griefs, and careless about a future which he believedwould never realize the dreams of his poetical imagination.
Like all men who have suffered and passed through a hard apprenticeshipof life, Don Rafael was kind and indulgent to others, and ever ready toexcuse a fault when it only emanated from a forgetfulness of proprietyor an error of judgment.
Two days after my arrival at the Hacienda del Milagro, thanks to thecordial reception given me, I was regarded as forming part of thefamily, and was as much at my ease as if I had lived for years withthese new friends, who soon grew so old in my heart, and whose memorywill be ever dear to me.
One evening a new guest arrived at the hacienda, where he was literallyreceived with open arms, which greatly surprised me; for I knew theprejudices of Spaniards against Indians, and the newcomer was simply aredskin. It is true that this redskin was the first sachem of a powerfulComanche tribe, which was explained to me in two words by Belhumeur, theCanadian hunter, with whom I had struck up a great friendship from myfirst arrival at the hacienda.
This sachem was called Eagle-head. He came, in the name of his tribe, toinvite Don Rafael, whom he obstinately called Loyal-heart, to a greatbuffalo hunt which was to come off in Apacheria toward the middle of the"Moon of the wild oats," that is to say, about September 15th.
Don Rafael was greatly inclined to accept this invitation, but asorrowful look, which his wife gave him aside, made him understand howanxious his absence would make her. He therefore expressed his inabilityto be present at this hunt, which he would have so much liked to be,but very important business compelled him to remain at the hacienda.He added, however, that his friend Belhumeur would be happy to takehis place, in order to prove to Eagle-head the value he set on hisinvitation and his lively desire to show him all the deference which sogreat a chief as he merited.
After a few words whispered in his ear, Belhumeur introduced me to theIndian chief, to whom he mentioned that, as I had never witnessed abuffalo hunt, I should be delighted with his permission to attend thepresent one. The chief politely replied that Belhumeur was an adoptedson of the tribe, and that any persons he thought proper to bringwith him would be received not only with great pleasure, but with thegreatest kindness, according to the consecrated customs of Indianhospitality.
I warmly thanked, as I was bound to do, the chief, who was flattered tohear me express myself with some degree of elegance in his own language;and we agreed to meet at the winter village of the Comanches of theLakes, on the fifth sun of the Moon of the wild oats.
Eagle-head took leave of us the same evening, in spite of all ourefforts to keep him at least till the next morning. He started in thedirection of the desert with the light and gymnastic step peculiar tothe redskins, which a trotting horse could not keep up with, and whichenables them to cover an enormous distance in a relatively very shortperiod.
Two days later, Belhumeur, myself, and another Canadian hunter attachedto the hacienda, by the name of Black Elk, mounted on excellentmustangs, and armed to the teeth, took leave of Don Rafael, who saw usdepart with a sigh of regret, and we proceeded in the direction of thegreat western prairies.
Belhumeur was a first-rate companion, of tried bravery; a thoroughadventurer, gay, daring, and reckless, whose life had been almostentirely spent in the desert, and whom his attachment for Don Rafael hadalone determined to give up the free and independent life of a hunter toconfine himself, as he said with a smile, within stone walls, where heofttimes felt that fresh air was wanting for his lungs.
Belhumeur was a book of which I turned over the leaves of at mypleasure, and each page was full of attractions for me, and offered meagreeable surprises.
Although I had myself long lived in the desert, I had as yet onlytraversed countries where buffalo is never met; hence I was extremelyanxious to obtain some positive information about this interestinganimal, so useful to the Indians, who profess for it a respect almostapproaching to veneration. In this way I hoped not to be quite a novicewhen I joined the redskins, and would know not only in what way toattack the new enemy I was about to confront, but also how to behave, soas not to appear an utter ignoramus in the sight of the Indians.
One evening, while seated at our watch fire after supper, smoking myIndian pipe charged with _morrichee_, or prairie tobacco, I askedBelhumeur, whose good nature was inexhaustible, to give me the mostcircumstantial information about the buffalo, which he at once did withhis usual goodwill.
This is what I learned in substance. I will ask my reader's pardon forsubstituting my recollections for the Canadian's prolix narration,for what they may lose in simplicity of expression they will gainin brevity, which is not a thing to be so much despised as might besupposed at the first blush.
I am bound to state that all Belhumeur then told me about the mannersand habits of these singular animals was most rigorously exact, as Iwas in a position to convince myself at a later date. This, then, wasBelhumeur's account.
The Indians say proverbially that bees are the advanced guard of thepalefaces, and the buffaloes the vedettes of the redskins. In fact,although it is impossible to explain the reason, bees constantly seekto advance into the desert, and when they appear at the border ofclearings, it is certain that two or three days later emigrants willturn up, with rifles on their shoulders, and followed by a long file ofwaggons, carts, horses, and cattle. These bold pioneers of civilisationcome, impelled by their adventurous instincts, to set up their tents inthe heart of the desert, on the shady banks of some unknown river, andtheir unceasing activity soon changes the character of the landscape.
In the same way when the traveller advances into the savannahs, so soonas he sights the buffalo he may be certain that he has reached theterritory of the redskins.
Now, it appears to us that everything relating to so interesting ananimal as the buffalo, which is fatally destined so soon to disappear,unless care be taken, and which is so eminently useful, is worthrecording.
Purchas in his "Pilgrimage" (London edition, 1614), says that in certainrespects the buffalo resembles the lion, and in others the camel, ox,horse, sheep, and goat. Civilization in its continuous onward marchdestroys the great animals, and drives back the redskin and even thehunter, unless he consent to modify his fashion of living.
The buffalo, which, on its discovery in 1582 by Lusman, in the provinceof Sinaloa, extended its wanderings over nearly the whole of NorthAmerica, now restricts its excursions more and more, and is only metwith at present in the wildest deserts situated to the west of the RockyMountains, which proves a considerable diminution in their numbers, andthis is probably augmented by the Indian custom of only killing cows andleaving the bulls.
The Americans, however, ought to interfere, for the buffalo is capableof being tamed, and crossing it with the European ox would produce astrong, patient, and courageous breed, whose services would be ofimmense utility in the immense settlement of the new states. We saw ata Texan hacienda completely tamed buffaloes, which, according to theirowners, were an excellent substitute for the common ox.
The buffalo lives longer than the domestic ox: its proportions aregreater, and though
its front is ungraceful, the hinder parts arehandsome. The buffalo is generally brown, though spotted ones are metwith, and even some completely white; its face is very like that of thebull; its head covered with thick wool, the long beard hanging from itslower jaw, and its melancholy, gentle, and almost stupid eye give it asingular and almost strange appearance. Its horns are short, rounded,and capable of taking a fine polish; it has between its shoulders a veryprominent hump, whilst its hinder parts are covered with short, straighthair, like that of European ruminants; its short tail terminates in atuft of curly hair. The age of a buffalo is discovered by the rings onits horns, the first four counting for the first year.
The meat of the cows is considered more delicate than that of the bulls,especially in the rutting season. The parts most appreciated are theheart, the tongue, the liver, the short rib, and the part called thehunter's joint, that is to say, the chine near the shoulder blade. Eightbones are considered marrowbones, they are those of the legs and thighs.A cow supplies about three hundred pounds of excellent meat, exclusiveof the head, and several other parts of the animal; the marrow of asingle bone is sufficient for a meal. The Indians, in order to obtainit, throw the bone into the fire after removing the meat, let it grillfor a few minutes, take it out, break it, and remove the marrow, whichis eaten, without seasoning, by means of a sharp stick. This marrow isvery delicate and succulent, and when baked, it assumes the colour andconsistency of meat; some hunters prefer to eat it raw, but we did notfind it so good in that state.
When a manada of buffaloes is hunted, especially if it be composed ofbulls, a strong smell of musk is exhaled; when full galloping, theirhoofs crack the grass, as if it was dried. They have an extraordinaryfine scent, and smell a man two or even three miles off.
This animal is extremely difficult to kill. On a certain occasion welodged sixteen bullets in the body of a buffalo, ere we could succeedin killing. Wishing to assure oneself of the truth of a fact, whichphysicians and hunters had affirmed, namely, that the frontal boneof a buffalo is bullet-proof, we discharged our rifle, at ten paces'distance, at the head of a dead bull. The bullet did not penetrate, butwas caught in the hair, where we found it again; still it had struckexactly in the centre of the forehead, for it had left its mark therebefore rebounding.
We have not very exactly followed Belhumeur's account, for, carriedaway by our sympathy for the noble animal he described to us, we haveplaced our ideas in the stead of his. We openly confess here that we areamong those who sincerely regret that the proposal made in 1849, byMr. Lamarre Picquot, to introduce into France the buffalo, as at oncesuitable for draught and for consumption, was not seriously discussedand taken into consideration, for this animal is one of the most useful,and would, we feel convinced, render valuable services.
Our journey lasted more than a month; for the winter village of theComanches of the Lakes is hidden in a canyon, in the middle of the firstspurs of the Rocky Mountains. Mounted on a vigorous mustang, I generallyrode at the head of our small party, which I liked to do, in order to bemore by myself, and observe more at my ease.
One morning I saw, at a spot where the trail I followed was wide andopen, and some distance ahead of me, a large hawk, which appeared tobe suffering, and making efforts to fly away. When I drew near enoughI found that it was enfolded by a long whip snake, which had writhedseveral times round its body, and the bird had only one wing at liberty.
In all probability the hawk had been the aggressor, and had dashed downat the snake, but the latter, by cleverly enfolding its enemy, hadsucceeded in escaping the danger.
The whip snake is a very handsome reptile, seven to eight feet inlength, when it has attained its full growth. Along the greater part ofits body it is no larger than an ordinary ramrod. Its very thin neckgradually tapers away down to the stomach, whence it has obtained itsname. For about three or four inches the upper side of the head andneck is black and lustrous as the plumage of a crow; while the upperside of the body is chocolate coloured, excepting the tail, which,nearly all the way from the stomach, is black.
There, however, is no general rule, except for the head, neck, and tail,which are always black. I have come across snakes of the same family inwhich the other parts of the body varied. This reptile is very quick,and seems to fly over the surface of the ground. The most remarkablething about it is, that it possesses the faculty of running, whilesupporting itself solely on the lower part of the tail, and holding itsbody and head erect.
I cite this fact from personal knowledge, for I was one day followed bya very handsome whip snake, which kept erect and looked me in the facefrom time to time, although I had made my horse trot rather sharply, inorder to see at what speed this snake could advance in such an attitude.It, however, only seemed to follow me through curiosity, for it is notat all venomous, is of a gentle character, and it appears familiar withman. I was surprised to find it in these parts, for I believed it to bean inhabitant of Eastern Florida.
Thirty-three days after our departure from the Hacienda del Milagro, wecame in sight of the Comanche village, and during the whole long journeyhad not been exposed to the slightest danger, or stopped by any annoyingaccident.
We were expected, and were received by the chiefs, at the head of whomwas Eagle-head, not merely as friends, but as children of the tribe. Aspacious cabin was placed at our disposal, and provisions were broughtus from all sides.
We had arrived just at the right moment; the grand festival of thebuffaloes was to be held that very night--a very curious ceremony, whoseobject is to implore the blessing of the Wacondah before beginning thehunt.
In the centre of the village a large open space had been prepared, aboutsixty yards long by forty-five wide, surrounded by an inclosure of reedsand willow branches twelve feet high, and slightly bent inwards. Anentrance had been left, facing the east. The four fires which are alwayskept up in the medicine lodge, were burning in each corner, and the mostdistinguished chiefs, among whom we were counted, sat in a semicircle tothe right of the inclosure.
Eagle-head, in his quality of first sachem of the tribe, held the headof the file; he had, expressly for this occasion, painted his face blue,yellow, and white, and wore on his head a fillet of some red skin.
The spectators, more especially the squaws, were sitting against thepalings silent and contemplative. The men, some in full paint, otherssimply dressed or naked to the waist, went about the interior of theinclosure irregularly. Children ranged round the fires threw in fromtime to time willow branches, to keep them burning.
At the signal given by _Chichikoues_ for the feast to begin, six old menemerged from a calli, and stood in a row in front of the medicine lodge.
These men are chosen by the chiefs to represent buffaloes, and after theceremony large presents are made to them. Each of them held in his handa long staff, at the end of which four black feathers were fixed, andalong the staves, at equal distances, were fastened small tufts of youngbuffalo skin and bells.
These men-buffaloes carried their clubs in the left hand, and two ofthem bore what the Comanches call a "badger," that is to say, a blown-upskin, which is beaten like a drum. They stood at the entrance of themedicine lodge, shaking their staves incessantly, and in turn singingand imitating, with rare perfection, the lowing of buffaloes, whichlasted some considerable time.
Behind them marched a tall man with a ferocious face, whose head wascovered with a fur cap, because once on a time he had been scalped ina fight with the Apaches. This man was the director of the feast, andrepresented the leader of the old buffaloes; his name was "Raised-scalp."
After a rather long station before the door, the men-buffaloes at lengthentered the medicine lodge, and sate down against the palings, behindone of the fires.
So soon as they were all seated, each of them planted his staff onthe ground in front of him. Several young warriors then came in withdishes of boiled beans and maize powdered with pemmican, which theyplaced before the guests. These dishes went the round, each passingthem to his ne
ighbour after eating a little. At times empty dishes wereplaced before us, a ceremony of which I did not at first understandthe purport, and one of the bearers, a man of colossal stature, verymuscular, and almost naked, whose hair fell in long tresses on hisloins, came to fetch one of these empty dishes. Then Eagle-head hid hisface in his hands and began singing, after which he muttered a longspeech or prayer, winding up by returning the dish.
This speech contained wishes for the success of the buffalo hunt, andthe Wacondah was also invoked to render him favourable to the huntersand warriors. The longest speeches were the best; the bearer seemedparticularly satisfied; he bowed with an attentive look, nodded his headas a sign of his pleasure, passed his hand along the orator's right armfrom the shoulder to the wrist, and, before removing the dish, answeredwith a few words of thanks.
This repast was prolonged for more than an hour; on all sides people ateand held speeches for the success of the chase; during this the youngmen standing in the middle of the inclosure prepared the calumets, andbrought them ready lighted to the chief, the old men, and the strangers.
They stopped before each of us, walking from right to left, andpresented the calumet, the bowl of which they held in their hand. Eachman took two or three whiffs, while murmuring a prayer, and then thecalumet passed on to the next.
After this, our calumet bearers frequently turned to the four cardinalpoints, muttering mysterious words, and indulging in strange gesturesand imitations.
During this time the six old men-buffaloes did not once leave offsinging, shaking their medicine staves behind the fire, and beating the"badger." At a certain, moment they rose, thrust forward the upper partof their body, and began dancing, though still singing, and shakingtheir wands, while the badger beat time. When this dance had lasted longenough, they resumed their places in the same order as before.
It is impossible for anyone, unless he has been present, to form an ideaof the original sight offered by this quaint scene. These men paintedof different hues, their varying dresses, their songs, their drums,their cries, and the noises of every description which blended withthem, borne from the desert on the wing of the night breeze, beneaththe dark and lugubriously starlit vault of heaven, while the immensecanopy of verdure formed as it were a majestic temple for this singularceremony--all this did not fail to possess a certain wild grandeur.
After the dances had continued for more than two hours, the strangestpart of the festival began with the entrance of the squaws into theinclosure. One of them, who was very young and remarkably pretty, cameup to her husband, and gave him her waist belt and petticoat to hold, sothat she was perfectly naked under her gown. She advanced dancing toone of the most renowned warriors, passed her hand all down his rightarm, and then retired slowly, with her smiling face turned towards him.The warrior thus invited, at once rose, and disappeared with her inthe wood. There, a man may ransom himself by making a present; but wemust avow, to the honour of the Indian fair sex, that few men do so. Mycompanions, Black Elk and Belhumeur, who were invited, took very goodcare not to buy themselves off, and, on the contrary, readily followedtheir dancer; but, for my part, I peremptorily refused, and remaineddeaf to all the looks, and nods, and wanton smiles which the dearcharmers thought themselves obliged to lavish on me as a stranger.
I must confess, to my sorrow, however, that it was not from virtuousmotives that I acted thus; I was in love, and courting at the time anexquisite girl called "Boar's Head," whom I married eventually, andwith whom I lived happily for the five years we had arranged that ourmarriage was to last. At the end of that period I sold her for threefemale buffalo skins to another chief of my tribe.
This feast lasted for four consecutive nights, from one sun to the next;the same ceremony was repeated on each occasion with the most scrupulousexactness, though we noticed that the squaws never invited the samewarrior twice, with the exception of the two Canadian hunters.
When the ceremonies were quite ended, and all the symbolical ritesof the great medicine rigorously performed, one morning at sunrise,twenty-five youthful warriors, chosen by Eagle-head, left the village,mounted on excellent hunters, and each leading a second horse by thebridle.
These warriors form a vanguard intended to discover buffalo sign, andwatch their movements, and for that reason are called "buffalo scouts."The main body of hunters, consisting of about eighty warriors, amongwhom were my comrades and myself, did not start till two days later.
The Indians when on the hunting trail, and especially when they aredesirous to surprise buffalo, travel with extreme care. The scent of thebuffaloes is very subtle, especially when they are to windward; though,curiously enough, they frequent the same pasture as the elks, they haveno communion with them; still they do not seem at all disturbed by eachother; or the buffaloes, whose sight is not very good form a sort ofpartnership with the elks, whom they convert into their sentinels. Theyare watchful sentinels too, and, at the first suspicious sign, give thealarm; whereupon buffaloes and elks disappear in company, escorted bythe red prairie wolves, troublesome followers that prowl round them, andwhom they can never succeed in getting entirely rid of.
Each night we encamped on a hill at no great distance from a stream.The trees were felled round the bivouac to guard us from a surprise;the campfires were lighted, and the greater part of the night wasspent in relating hunting narratives and merry stories recounted inturn, and which excited the heartiest gaiety among the Redskins. Forwe will remark, in parenthesis, that the Indians, who are generallyrepresented as serious, cold, and stoical, on the contrary, have a veryjovial character; a mere nothing makes them laugh, and they indulge totheir heart's content, like all simple and primitive minds. Still, forall that, they must be together, or in the company of people they arewell acquainted with. In the presence of whites the difficulty theyexperience in making themselves understood, and the respect--I mightalmost say the instinctive terror--the formidable strangers inspire themwith, completely paralyzes their faculties, and makes them appear almostidiotic.
We marched thus with easy journeys, in order not to tire our horses, inthe direction of the Rocky Mountains, for some fifty or sixty leagues,killing a few prairie dogs, elks, and two or three striped sousliks(_Spermophilus Hoodii_). At times a covey of larks rose at our approach,or crows and rooks appeared in large numbers and settled down close tous.
Eagle-head would not consent to a halt for the sake of killing a fewisolated buffaloes we perceived in the distance. We had still thirtymiles to go before getting up with our scouts, and finding ourselves inthe real hunting ground.
On the eighth day after leaving the village we reached a creek whichmeandered through a plain, on which the grass was extremely high,called, as far as I can remember, by the Indians, Green River. A rathertall hill, situated on its hank, concealed our presence, and shelteredus from the wind.
Eagle-head gave orders to camp. The horses were allowed to graze, and afire of _bois de vache_ was lighted to roast a few ducks and two elksthat composed our breakfast.
This stream, owing to the advanced season, was nearly dry, and filledwith tall, closely-growing weeds. After a two hours' halt we continuedour march, passing over gently sloping hills, and we found a few of someheight, behind which herds of buffalo are usually found. Before reachingthe top, our party traversed a small valley filled with a narrow stripof beech trees, elms, and nyundos, between clumps of roses, _prunuspadres_, and a few other shrubs, while the wild tine (_clematis_) hungin festoons about the trees.
On reaching the top of the last mound we halted, and a singular scene,which was not without some wild grandeur, was suddenly offered to oursight.
All the crests of the hills, as far as sight could extend, were crownedby the scouts sent ahead, and who, motionless as statues of Florentinebronze, stood out boldly in the blue sky.
These scouts were not seated in the saddle, but standing on it, holdingin the left hand their buffalo robes, which they at times waved, and intheir right their clubs, which they employed to indicat
e certain pointsof the horizon. At our feet, in an immense valley intersected by a largeriver, whose numerous capacious windings resembled a silver thread, amultitude of black spots spotted the tall grass.
These points, which were almost imperceptible owing to the greatdistance, were buffaloes: we had at last reached the hunting ground. Butthe day was too far advanced for us to dream of following the animals,and hence the chief gave the signal for camping.
The night was calm, and was spent like the previous ones, in outburstsof the frankest and heartiest gaiety, and at sunrise we were all up andready to begin the hunt. The scouts were still at their posts, and itmight fairly be supposed that during the whole night they had not ceasedto watch the game.
Eagle-head got on the back of his horse, and fired a musket loaded onlywith powder, in order to attract the attention of the scouts. Then asingular scene took place, which offered me much to think about, andproved to me once again that the Redskins are neither so savage norunintelligent as some writers are pleased to represent them.
By the aid of the buffalo robe he held in his hand and waved in everydirection, the sachem began a series of complicated signals, which wouldhave turned the most expert of our telegraphers pale if called upon tointerpret, for they were transmitted with headlong speed, and instantlycomprehended by the sachem and the scouts.
Eagle-head, according to the information he received, sent off everymoment parties of hunters, for the purpose, as I afterwards learned, ofcompletely surrounding the buffaloes, and driving them to the middleof the valley. The hunters picked out started at once at full speed,galloping in a beeline, according to the Indian fashion, leaping overall obstacles, and never deviating from the direct course.
Ere long only ten hunters, among whom my companions and myself were,remained with the chief. He gave a final signal, which was immediatelyrepeated by all the sentries, got into his saddle, and uttered hiswar yell. He then dashed at full speed down into the plain, with therapidity of an avalanche, and this manoeuvre was imitated by theother hunters scattered over the adjacent heights. The hunt, or morecorrectly, the butchery, had begun.
The Comanches possess such skill in this horse-hunting, that, in spiteof the difficulty in killing a buffalo, they rarely fire more thanone round at it. Singularly enough, they do not raise the gun to theshoulder, but stretch out both arms, and fire, in this far from usualposture, when they are some fifteen or twenty yards from the animal.
They load the gun with incredible speed, for they do not use the ramrod,but let the bullets, of which they always keep a certain number in theirmouths, fall immediately on the powder, to which it adheres, and whichexpels it again at the same moment. Owing to this great speed, theprairie hunters, in a little while, make a frightful massacre in a herdof buffaloes, and this time two-thirds of the manada were killed, andthe animals covered the battlefield in heaps.
The buffaloes, enclosed in a circle whence they could not escape,terrified by the yells of the hunters, who dashed at them from allsides, brandishing their weapons, and waving their robes, fled in alldirections, at a pace greater than I could have imagined, judging fromtheir enormous bulk.
Belhumeur and I had settled onto an old buffalo, who gave us plentyof work. Several point-blank shots had not proved sufficient to checkhis pace. He frequently stopped, threw the earth over his head with aconvulsive movement, after digging it up with his fore-feet, assumed amenacing attitude, and even pursued us for some ten or fifteen yards.But we easily got away, and the restless animal discontinued its madand purposeless chase so soon as we stopped resolutely before it. Itsstrength was at length exhausted, but it did not succumb until we hadgiven it at least twenty bullets.
This first success gave me a liking for the sport and the whole timethe hunt lasted I was one of the most eager in pursuit. At last, at theexpiration of three days, Eagle-head ordered the end of the massacre.Obeying the chief's signal, the hunters forced open a large gap, throughwhich the decimated relics of the unhappy herd dashed, lowing withterror.
Two hundred and seventy buffaloes had been killed in three days, analmost miraculous hunt, which secured the Comanches of the Lakesabundance of provisions during the rainy season. The victims wereloaded on horses, and we gaily returned to the village, where thehunters were received on their arrival with marks of the liveliest joyand the extraordinary rejoicings usual on such occasions.
One last remark may be allowed me. Everything is valuable in thebuffalo: the meat, the hide, the bones, the horns, and even the hair,which is made into hats comparable in beauty and substance to the bestbeaver. Why is not the buffalo, then, acclimatised in Europe? TheSociety of Acclimatisation so recently created, and which has alreadyproduced such excellent results, is keeping, we doubt not, a place forthe buffalo, which we hope soon to see occupied.
[1] Although this animal is really the bison, it is so commonly calledbuffalo that I have adhered to that term.
A MUSTANG.
A STUDY OF THE PRAIRIE HORSE.
The aborigines of America were not acquainted with the horse prior tothe arrival of the Spaniards in their country. The Inca Garcillasso dela Vega, in his "History of the Civil War in India," tells us that thePeruvians, terrified at the sight of the first horseman, supposed thatthe man and the horse only formed one and the same individual. At alater date they imagined that the horses were formidable and malignantdeities, whom they tried to conciliate by placing gold and silver intheir mangers, and offering up prayers to them.
The Spanish Conquistadors, most of whom came from Andalusia, weremounted on steeds in whose veins flowed the blood of the Arabs, whichthe Moors had succeeded in naturalizing in Spain during an occupation ofeight centuries.
When the conquerors obtained quiet possession of the New World, andbegan those internecine contests which cost so much blood, after everybattle the wounded horses were usually left behind, while those whosemasters were killed, escaped in obedience to that innate instinct in allliving creatures, which urges them to try and regain their liberty.
These animals thus left to themselves, wandering haphazard over thegreat savannahs, gradually entered the desert, interbred, and at lengthmultiplied so greatly that they formed bands or _manadas_, whose numberhas so increased that it has now become incalculable.
From these horses, which were originally abandoned and returned tosavage life, has issued the remarkable breed known in the New World bythe name of mustangs, or prairie horses. Now that racing is fashionablein France, and horse breeding has made immense progress, we do not thinkwe are going out of our way in describing this valuable breed, which isunknown in the Old World, and to which sufficient justice is not doneeven in America.
At the time when I was at Guaymas, during the expedition of the unhappyCount de Raousset Boulbon I wanted a horse. Copers are as numerous inMexico as in Europe, and probably cleverer and more cunning than oursin disguising the vices and defects of the animals they wish to get ridof; but unluckily for these clever dealers, and luckily for me, my longstay among the Indians of the Western Prairies had given me an almostinfallible perception, and rendered it extremely difficult to deceiveme as to the qualities of a horse.
When my wish to purchase a horse was known, there was an extraordinaryrush of dealers to the house where I put up. I peremptorily declinedall the animals offered me. My friends began to joke me and say that Ishould not find a horse to suit me, and be compelled to follow on footthe cavalry corps I commanded, when, on the very eve of departure, I waswalking accidentally on the beach, and saw a Hiaquis Indian a few yardsahead of me, mounted on a horse whose appearance, in my friends' sight,had nothing very inviting about it, and so they laughingly invited me todeal. I feigned to humour them, although I had at once recognized theanimal as a mustang of the Far West, and I took them at their word bymaking the Indian a sign to come and speak to me.
The horse was not handsome, I must allow; he was rather tall, had a bighead, and a round forehead; his mane, which was thick and ill-kempt,hung down to his chest; his t
ail, which was not thick enough to wave,almost swept the ground; but his chest was wide and his legs were firm,while his eyes and nostrils announced fire, vigour, and bottom. Althoughthe animal had never been shod, and its master, like all the Indians,had ill-treated it during the long journey it had made to reach Guaymas,still its thick hoofs were not at all worn or even damaged. It was blackas night, with a white star about the size of a piastre, perfectlydesigned, and situated in the exact centre of the forehead.
At my summons the Indian started the horse at a gallop, and came up tome. I asked him bluntly if he wanted to sell his horse.
"Why not, excellency?" he answered with the wink peculiar to theHiaquis. "Negro is a good beast; I lassoed him myself in the heart ofthe prairies of the Sierra de San Saba, hardly a month agone, and he hasconstantly gone fifteen to sixteen leagues a day."
"Yes, yes," I answered in Indian, "I know all that; but I know too thatyou Hiaquis are clever horse dealers, and are perfectly up to the trickof dressing a horse for sale."
On hearing me speak his language, the Redskin, who was, moreover,deceived by my hunting garb, took me for a wood ranger, and immediatelytreated me with great respect.
"Your excellency will try Negro, if it be really your pleasure to buy,"he said, at once reassuming the language of his tribe, instead of theSpanish he had hitherto employed.
"But," I continued, "supposing that Negro, as that is his name, suitsme, I must know the price you want for him."
"Wah!" he said, with a cunning smile; "I will not let your excellencyhave Negro under two ounces, and anyone else would pay much more."
Two ounces are about six guineas of our money, so if I had judged thehorse aright, it was plain that I should make a good bargain. I made anappointment with the Hiaquis for the next morning, and withdrew underthe ironical congratulations of my friends upon my excellent acquisition.
The Indian was punctual. At daybreak I saw him at my door, mounted onanother horse and holding Negro by the bridle. I immediately got intothe saddle, and left Guaymas, accompanied by my Redskin, and started ata smart trot for the forest.
I soon perceived that Negro was a very easy goer, and that he did nottire, though he was very eager--excellent qualities in a charger.Moreover, I saw that, like all prairie horses, whose mouth is generallyhard, he was very sensitive to the spur.
The expedition of which I had the honour to be a member was about toproceed into half savage countries, where roads have never existed,and we should have to go across sandy deserts, and through almostimpassable virgin forests; hence I wished to know at once what help Ihad to expect from my horse, and what confidence I could place in him.I therefore resolved to make him leap a stream several feet in width.For this purpose I gave him his head, and pressed his flanks with myknees without spurring; the intelligent animal seemed to understand thatit was on trial, and leapt over the obstacle with the agility of anantelope. I turned round, and tried the leap over and over again, alwayswith the same result. Certain of his agility, I wished to try hisstrength, consequently I took him to a muddy and very difficult morass.Negro, however, entered it, smelling the water as if to judge its depth,a proof of sagacity and prudence with which I was greatly pleased, and Ifound him prompt and decided in the wheels and counter wheels I made himtake.
I had still an experiment to make with Negro--could he swim?
During the course of my travels, I have seen excellent horses, whichcould not swim at all; they lay down on their side as if to float withthe current, so that their rider was obliged to swim himself and takethem to bank, unless he preferred to leave them to their fate, whichis a very serious difficulty when travelling. As a rather wide andvery rapid stream ran not far from us, I rode my horse right into it;he at once took the current obliquely, with head well raised above thesurface, and dilated nostrils, though without making that painful snortpeculiar to horses under such circumstances; for, on the contrary, hebreathed regularly and without fatigue. He went up and down the stream,and when I at last guided him to land, he stopped of his own accord andshook the water off.
Convinced, after all these experiments, that I could without riskundertake the campaign with such a steed, I started back for Guaymas ata gallop. On the road I brought down a duck, which Negro went up to asif trained for shooting, and which I picked up without dismounting.
I immediately gave the two ounces to the Hiaquis, and leaving my friendsto continue their jokes about my acquisition, I rubbed Negro down withthe greatest care.
On the same day the expedition left Guaymas for Hermosillo, and in spiteof his savage ways and rather seedy appearance, the qualities of mymustang were soon appreciated, as they deserved to be, by my companions,whose domestic horses were far from coming up to him.
I went through the whole campaign mounted on Negro, allowing him noother food beyond the prairie grass, green alfalfa, and climbing peas,or a few hen's eggs, when I could procure them, or a gourd; still, everymorning, two hours before mounting, I was careful to rub him down andpress his back with my hand, to assure myself that he was not grazedby the saddle, after which I threw over him a zarape folded double. Atnight, before going to sleep, I washed him, threw a bucket of cold waterover his back, looked at his feet and cleaned them out with the utmostcaution.
At the end of the first week, Negro had grown so attached to me that herecognized my voice and obeyed me with extreme docility; to make himgallop I only required to bend slightly forward.
When the campaign was ended, instead of embarking at Guaymas forCalifornia, after the fashion of my comrades, I started for Apacheria,where I spent several months. After that I proceeded to Veracruz,crossing Mexico in its widest part. I thus rode my horse, withoutallowing him a single day's rest, about nine hundred and fifty leaguescalculated at nearly forty-five miles a day, and my mustang was as freshand healthy on his arrival as when he started.
No European horse would be capable of accomplishing such a feat, whichI assert, without fear of contradiction, is only child's play for amustang of the prairies. Negro is in no way put forward here as a typeof his breed, and had no striking quality to recommend him; he wascertainly a good horse, but all his companions in the prairies resemblehim, and are quite as good as he.
At my last halt, before reaching Veracruz, where I intended to embarkfor France, I found a Mexican officer, either colonel or general, Iforget which, but his name was Don Pedro Aguirre, stopping at the same_meson_, and we left it together in the morning _en route_ for Veracruz.
Senor Don Pedro Aguirre was mounted on a magnificent steed, which,he told me, and it was very probable, had cost him four hundredpiastres--according to the Mexican fashion his _asistente_ led a secondhorse by the bridle.
I complimented the colonel on his splendid horse, to which compliment hereplied, rather cavalierly, while taking a contemptuous glance at Negro,that he wished I had a similar one, so that he might have enjoyed mysociety during the ride to Veracruz.
I made no retort, although somewhat vexed at this answer, and confinedmyself to asking him at what hour he expected to reach the port?
"Sufficiently long before you, senor," he said with a smile, "to haveleisure to order supper at the hotel, on condition that you will consentto join me at it."
I bowed my thanks, while laughing in my sleeve at the bombasticconfidence of the Mexican officer, and the trick I was going to playhim. After a parting bow, Don Pedro made his horse curvet, dug in hisspurs, and started. But, alas! it was lost trouble; I arrived fivequarters of an hour before him at Veracruz; I ordered dinner; I put mysteed in the corral, and stationed myself in the doorway of the hotel,where, when the colonel arrived, quite downcast by his defeat, I toldhim, with a cunning look, that I was only waiting for him to dine.
Still, I am bound to say, in praise of the colonel, that he took thejoke very kindly, and when his first impulse of ill-humour had passedoff, frankly complimented me on the excellence of my horse.
A few days later, overcome by the entreaties of Don Pedro, I consented,not
without regret, to part with poor Negro, and let the colonel havehim, for the comparatively enormous sum of seven hundred and fiftypiastres; but, alas! I was going to embark for France the next week, andmy horse had become useless for me.
I am convinced that the introduction of this breed of the WesternPrairies into our stud stables would serve greatly to improve ourhorses, and that the majority of them would become first-rate racers.
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