tent for the night, he went out in the dusk to look for game. It had become nearly dark, when he fired at a bison bull, which was galloping over a small eminence, and as he was hastening forward to see if his shot had taken effect, the wounded beast made a rush at him. He had the presence of mind to seize the animal by the long hair on its forehead, as it struck him on the side with its horn, and being a remarkably tall and powerful man, a struggle ensued, which continued until his wrist was severely sprained, and his arm was rendered powerless; he then fell, and after receiving two or three blows became senseless. Shortly afterwards, he was found by his companions lying bathed in blood, being gored in several places; and the bison was couched beside him, apparently waiting to renew the attack had he shown any signs of life. Mr M'Donald recovered from the immediate effects of the injuries he received, but died a few months afterwards. When it contends with a dog, it strikes violently with its fore feet, and in that way, proves more than a match for any English bull-dog.

The favorite Indian method of killing the bison is, by riding up to the fattest of the herd on horseback, and shooting it. When a large party

of hunters are engaged in this way, on an extensive plain, the spectacle is very imposing, and the young men have many opportunities of displaying their skill and agility. The horses appear to enjoy the sport as much as their riders, and are very active in eluding the shock of the animal, should it turn on its pursuer. The most generally practised plan, however, of shooting the bison, is by crawling towards them from to leeward; and in favorable places, great numbers are taken in pounds. When the bison runs, it leans very much first to one side for a short space of time and then to the other, and so on alternately.

The flesh of a bison, in good condition, is very juicy and well flavored; much resembling that of well fed beef. The tongue is considered a deli cacy, and may be cured so as to surpass in flavor the tongue of an English

cow. The hump of flesh covering the long spinous processes of the dorsal vertebræ, is much esteemed. It is named bos by the Canadian voyagers, and wig by the Orkney men, in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. The wig has a fine grain, and when salted and cut transversely, it is almost as rich and tender as the tongue. The fine wool which clothes the bison, renders its skin, when properly dressed, an excellent blanket. The wool has been manufactured in England into a remarkably fine and beautiful cloth; and in the colony of Osnaboyna, on the Red river, a warm and durable coarse cloth is made of it. Much of the pemmican used by the voyagers attached to the fur companies, is made of bison meat, procured at their posts on the Red river and Saskatchewan. One bison cow in good condition, furnishes dried meat and fat enough to make a bag of pemmican weighing ninety pounds.

The herds of bisons wander over the country in search of food, usually led by a bull, most remarkable for strength and fierceness. While feeding, they are often scattered over a great extent of country, but when they move in mass, they form a dense and almost impenetrable column, which, once in motion, is scarcely to be impeded. Their line of march is seldom interrupted, even by considerable rivers; across which they swim without fear or

hesitation, nearly in the order that they traverse the plains. When flying before their pursuers, it would be in vain for the foremost to halt, or attempt to obstruct the progress of the main body; as the throng in the rear still rushing onward, the leaders must advance, although destruction awaits the movement. The Indians take advantage of this circumstance, to destroy great quantities of this favorite game; and, certainly, no mode could be resorted to, more effectively destructive, nor could a more terrible devastation be produced, than that of forcing a numerous herd of these large

animals, to leap together from the brink of a dreadful precipice, upon a rocky and broken surface, a hundred feet below.

When the Indians determine to destroy bisons in this way, one of their swiftest footed and most active young men is selected, who is disguised in a bison skin, having the head, ears, and horns adjusted on his own head, so as to make the deception very complete; and thus accoutred, he stations himself between the bison herd and some of the precipices, that often extend for several miles along the rivers. The Indians surround the herd as nearly as possible, when, at a given signal, they show themselves and rush forward with loud yells. The animals being alarmed, and seeing no way open but in the direction of the disguised Indian, run towards him, and he, taking to flight, dashes on to the precipice, where he suddenly secures himself in some previously ascertained crevice. The foremost of the herd arrives at the brink-there is no possibility of retreat, no chance of escape; the foremost may for an instant shrink with terror, but the crowd behind,

who are terrified by the approaching hunters, rush forward with increasing impetuosity, and the aggregated force hurls them successively into the gulf, where certain death awaits them.

The Indians make a bison pound, by fencing a circular space of about a hundred yards in diameter. The entrance is banked up with snow, sufficiently high to prevent the animals from retreating after they have once entered. For about a mile on each side of the road leading to the pound, stakes are driven into the ground at nearly equal distances, of about twenty yards, which are intended to look like men, and to deter the animals from endeavoring to break through the fence. Within fifty or sixty yards of the pound, branches of trees are placed between the stakes, to screen the Indians, who lie down behind them, to wait for the approach of the bison. The mounted hunters display the greatest dexterity in this sort of chase, as they are obliged to manœuvre around the herd in the plains so as to urge them into the road-way, which is about a quarter of a mile broad. When

this is effected, the Indians raise loud shouts, and pressing closely on the animals, terrify them so much, that they rush heedlessly forwards towards the snare. When they have advanced as far as the men who are lying in ambush, they also show themselves, increasing the consternation of the bisons by shouting violently and firing their guns. The affrighted animals have no alternative but to rush directly into the pound, where they are quickly dispatched by guns or arrows. In the centre of one of these pounds, there was a tree on which the Indians had hung stripes of bison flesh, and pieces of cloth, as tributary or grateful offerings to the Great Master of life. They occasionally place a man in the tree to sing to the presiding spirit, as the bisons advance. He is obliged to remain there until all the animals that have entered the pound are killed.

The bison is about eight feet in length. The head, shoulders, and upper part of the anterior extremities, are covered with a long, brownish, woolly hair. The tail is tufted with black. The horns are black, and turned laterally and upwards.

THE YAK.1

THIS animal has some resemblance to a buffalo in the shape of his head. His size is various; and the tail of one in the British Museum, is six feet long. The color is generally black, but many have white tails. They are fond of mountainous countries, and keep on the southern declivities in winter, and the northern in summer. The species is both wild and domesticated. The wild yaks abound in the mountains of Bootan and Thibet.

THE GAUR2

Is a species of bison, which appears to be one of the largest now living. It is six feet high at the shoulders, and twelve feet long. Its head resembles that of the common ox. Its most remarkable characteristic is a spinous elevated process, on the neck and shoulders. They live in families of ten or twenty. They are found in India.

THE GAY AL3

Is nearly the shape and size of a common bull. It has a sharp ridge over the shoulders. The general color is brown, and the tail is tufted. It inhabits the forests east of the Burrampooter.

1 Bos grunniens, Lis. 2 Bos gauras, SMITH, 3 Bos gavaus, Smith.

THE DOMESTIC OX.1

THROUGHOUT the different regions of the world, the breed of oxen differs in all external appearances, according to the nature of the climate, or other circumstances. But the most remarkable difference is that which divides them into two classes; viz. the aurochs, or ox without a hunch on its back, and the bison, or hunched ox. All the tame oxen without hunches, have proceeded from the aurochs, and all with hunches are issues of the bison. In order to give a just idea of the varieties, we shall make a short enumeration of these animals, such as they are actually found to be, in different parts of the earth.

oxen.

To begin with the north of Europe, the few oxen and cows which subsist in Iceland, are without horns, although they are of the same kind as our The size of these animals is rather relative to the plenty and quality of pasture, than to the nature of the climate. The Dutch have often brought lean cows from Denmark, which fatten prodigiously in their meadows, and which give plenty of milk. These Danish cows are longer than ours. The oxen and cows of Ukraine, where there is excellent pasture, are said to be the largest in Europe; they are also of the same kind as our oxen.

The breed of the bison, or hunched ox, fills all the southern provinces, at this present time. In the whole continent of India; the islands of the South Seas; in all Africa, from Mount Atlas to the Cape of Good Hope, we find, nothing but hunched oxen. And it even appears, that this breed, which has prevailed in all the hot countries, has many advantages over the others. These hunched oxen, like the bison, of which they are the issue, have the hair much softer and more glossy than our oxen; who, like the aurochs, are furnished with but little hair, which is of a harsh nature. These hunched oxen are also swifter, and more proper to supply the place of a horse; at the same time that they have a less brutal nature, and are not so clumsy and stupid as our oxen, they are more tractable, and sensible which way you would lead them. The regard the Indians have for these animals is so great, as to have almost degenerated into superstition. The ox, as the most useful animal, has appeared to them the most worthy of being revered; for this purpose, they have made an idol of the object of their veneration, a kind of beneficent and powerful divinity; for we are desirous of rendering all we respect, great, and capable of doing much good, or much harm.

These hunched oxen, perhaps, vary again more than ours, in the colors of the hair, and the figure of the horns. The handsomest are all white, like the oxen of Lombardy. There are also some that are without horns; there are others, who have them very much elevated, and others so bent

1 Bos taurus, LIN.