It was not until the
next day that they discovered a pair of fine bulls on the edge of the
plain, among rocks and ravines. Having now been two days and a half
without a mouthful of food, they took especial care that these animals
should not escape them. While some of the surest marksmen advanced
cautiously with their rifles into the rough ground, four of the best
mounted horsemen took their stations in the plain, to run the bulls down
should they only be maimed.
The buffalo were wounded and set off in headlong flight. The
half-famished horses were too weak to overtake them on the frozen
ground, but succeeded in driving them on the ice, where they slipped
and fell, and were easily dispatched. The hunters loaded themselves with
beef for present and future supply, and then returned and encamped
at the last nights's fire. Here they passed the remainder of the day,
cooking and eating with a voracity proportioned to previous starvation,
forgetting in the hearty revel of the moment the certain dangers with
which they were environed.
The cravings of hunger being satisfied, they now began to debate about
their further progress. The men were much disheartened by the hardships
they had already endured. Indeed, two who had been in the rear guard,
taking advantage of their position, had deserted and returned to the
lodges of the Nez Perces. The prospect ahead was enough to stagger the
stoutest heart. They were in the dead of winter.
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