which the animals are. Immediately all the horsemen mount their coursers; the foot soldiers, armed with bows. guns and lances, take their positions, forming two long oblique diverging rows, from the extremity of the two barriers which spring from the entrance of the pen and extend into the plain, and thus prolong the lines of the inclosure. When the footmen are placed at distances of ten or fifteen feet, the horsemen continue the same lines, which separate in proportion as they extend, so that the last hunter on horseback is found at about two or three miles distance from the pen, and at very nearly the same distance from the last hunter of the other line, in an opposite direction. When men are wanting, women and even children occupy stations.
After the formation of these two immense lines, one single Indian, unarmed, is sent upon the best courser in the camp in the direction of the buffalo, to meet them. He approaches against the wind and with the greatest precaution. At the distance of about Ioo paces he envelops himself in a buffalo hide, the fur turned outside, and also envelops his horse as much as possible in the same manner, and then makes a plaintive cry in imitation of that of a bison calf. As if by enchantment, this cry attracts the attention of the whole herd; after some seconds, several thousands of these quadrupeds, hearing this pitiful plaint, turn toward the pre tended calf. At first they move slowly, then advance into a trot, and at last they push forward in full gallop. The horseman continually repeats the cry of the calf, and takes his course toward the pen, ever attentive to keep at the same distance from the animals that are following him. By this stratagem he leads the vast herd of bisons through the whole distance that separates him from his companions, who are on the qui vive, full of ardor and impatience to share with him in his sport.
When the buffalo arrive in the space between the extremities of the two lines, the scene changes; all assumes an appearance of eagerness. The hunters on horseback, giving rein to their steeds, rejoin each other behind the animals.