Adventures in the Far West

by William Henry Giles Kingston

  CHAPTER SIX.

  Being fully satisfied that the Shianees would prove friendly andstaunch, we agreed to move our camp close to theirs, that we might thebetter be able to withstand any attack which the Coomanches mightventure to make upon us. I managed, with the assistance of my friends,to mount my horse so as to perform the short journey, though I suffereda considerable amount of pain. We found Yellow Wolf and his bravesseated in council, to decide on a plan of operations against the enemy.He expressed his gratitude for the warning I had given him, andcomplimented me on the victory I had obtained over the Coomanche brave."Scouts have been sent out," he said, "to ascertain the position of theenemy, but as yet no information has been received of theirwhereabouts." He suspected that they were very numerous, or they wouldnot have ventured into that part of the country; but with our assistancehe had no doubt about his being able to repel an attack. Had his tribebeen alone he would have moved westward to escape from them, as hisobject at present was to kill buffalo, and lay in a winter store ofpemmican.

  There was little sleep for any of the party that night. The Indianswere preparing to set out on the war-path, while my companions sat upnot knowing at what moment the Coomanches might burst upon us, and I waskept awake by the pain my legs continued to cause me. Yellow Wolf, onseeing how much I suffered, sent his wife over with a supply of salvesto doctor me.

  The night, however, passed away in quietness: and when the scoutsreturned in the morning they reported that they had been unable todiscover any traces of an enemy. We therefore remained in camp, bothfor my sake, and Charley's; while all hands were employed inmanufacturing pemmican. The rest, and the care bestowed upon me by theFlower of the Prairies, had so beneficial an effect that in the courseof a couple of days I was myself again.

  I should have said that the Indians had brought in the meat from the cowand two bulls I had killed, having discovered them in the direction Ihad described. The flesh of the buffaloes having by this time been cutup and turned into pemmican, no small portion having been eaten by theIndians, both they and we were ready to recommence our march.

  Just as we were about to start, a scout brought word that he haddiscovered a Coomanche trail, but being alone he was afraid to follow itup. The chief rated him soundly for his cowardice, and declared hisintention of setting out himself with one of his braves, to learn whathe could from an inspection of the enemy's position, so as to be able asfar as possible to judge of their intended movements. I volunteered toaccompany him.

  "There are few pale-faces from whom I would accept such an offer," heanswered; "but you have shown so much courage and discretion, that Ishall be glad of your company."

  I do not mean to say that he used these words, but it was somethingequivalent. I thanked him for the compliment, which I modestly remarkedwas scarcely deserved. Dick and Armitage strongly advised me not to go;but, having made the offer, I felt I should lose credit with theRedskins should I draw back. We were to proceed with three mountedattendants, who were to take charge of our steeds as we drew near theenemy's camp, and we were then to go forward on foot.

  "We may have to run for our lives should we be discovered," said YellowWolf, as we rode along; "and unless you can depend upon your legs, itwill be wise to remain with the horses."

  I replied that my object was to see the way of approaching an enemy'scamp, and to get a sight of it, and that I felt sure I could run as fastas he could. We accordingly continued on until we came upon the trailwhich the scout had discovered. Yellow Wolf now proceeded morecautiously, it being of the greatest importance that the enemy shouldnot discover us. At length he announced his belief that we had got nearthe Coomanche camp. We therefore left our horses in charge of the threeIndians, and then continued in the direction we were before going onfoot. I observed that Yellow Wolf's eye ranged over the ground oneither side, as well as ahead. As I thought of the distance we had comesince we left our horses, I began to repent somewhat of the task I hadundertaken; however, I trusted to the sagacity of my companion, that weshould not be detected, and that we should be able to retreat as we hadadvanced. Yellow Wolf led, and his brave followed, I bringing up therear. My companions frequently stopped, and, bending their ears to theground, listened for any sounds which might warn them they were reachingthe Coomanche camp. At first they walked upright, but now they bentdown, taking advantage of any cover which offered.

  At length they stopped and whispered together, and Yellow Wolf told meto be more careful than ever. Then again he and his companion moved on,until he made a sign to me to keep under cover, while they crept forwardalong the top of a bank, covered by bushes of wild roses. I saw themeagerly stretching out their necks, so as to obtain a view beyond. Icrept after them, looking through the bushes, and could distinguish inthe plain below a considerable band of warriors, some engaged inlighting fires, others in collecting wood, or preparing provisions,while their horses ranged round near at hand.

  It would have been a fine opportunity to take them by surprise, for amounted party could have swept down upon them before they had time tocatch their horses. I have no doubt the Yellow Wolf thought the samething, but neither he nor his companion uttered a word.

  After satisfying my curiosity, I crept back as cautiously as I hadadvanced; and the two Indians, who had surveyed the camp to theirsatisfaction, came after me. We at once commenced a retreat in the samefashion as we had advanced, being quite as careful to conceal ourselves.Their great object was to escape detection, so that their enemies mightnot be aware that the position of their camp was known, and mightcontinue as unprepared for the reception of a foe as they appeared to beat present.

  Not until we regained our horses, did the Yellow Wolf speak. As wegalloped along on our return, he told me that the Coomanches wouldremain at their present camp for a couple of days, and would thenproceed to the north-west in the hopes of coming up with the herds ofbuffalo which were feeding in that direction. How he knew this is morethan I can say. I asked him whether he intended to attack theCoomanches.

  He replied that he must hold a council with his braves, and that if theyagreed to follow him, he proposed doing so the next morning in the hopesof catching his foes off their guard. He inquired whether I and myfriends would assist. I replied that I could not give an answer withoutconsulting them; that we had come to the country, not to make war on theRedskins, and that it was our practice to fight only when we wereattacked. This answer did not appear particularly to please him. Isaid, however, that should he and his people be attacked, we would nodoubt fulfil our promise in assisting them.

  "The pale-faces are wise," he remarked, "they fight only when they areobliged; that is the reason why red man go down and they live."

  Great excitement was produced in the camp by the news we brought, andwithout loss of time a council was held. I told my friends what YellowWolf had said, but they decided at once not to assist him in attackingthe Coomanche camp. "We shall have quite enough to do in making our waythrough the country, without joining in quarrels not our own," observedArmitage.

  We waited with come anxiety, therefore, the result of our friends'deliberations. At last Yellow Wolf came to our camp and announced thathis braves were unanimous in their resolution of attacking theCoomanches; that they intended to set out that night so as to surprisethem just before daybreak. He invited us to accompany them; when Dick,getting up, made him a speech in true Indian fashion, expressing ourgratitude for the treatment Charley and I had received from the "Flowerof the Prairies," and our affection for him and his; but at the sametime observing that we must decline to cut the throats of a number ofpeople with whom we had no quarrel.

  The chief, who took our refusal very good-humouredly, asked if we wouldassist in guarding the camp and the women and children during hisabsence. This request we could not well refuse, and we had therefore toagree to await his return, Dick telling him that we hoped he would comeback victorious.

  This matter settled, he and his braves immediately set out;
while wekept a strict watch on the camp, which we thought it more than probablemight be attacked during the absence of the warriors whose departuretheir cunning enemies might have discovered.

  Although there were two or three alarms caused by a pack of coyoteswhich approached the camp, the morning broke without an enemy havingbeen seen. We had still many hours to wait the result of the battle.It was not until near the evening that a band of horsemen were seenapproaching from the northeast. They might be friends or they might beenemies. We all hastened to our posts, old men and boys seizing theirarms ready to fight if necessary. As the horsemen drew nearer, theIndians uttered loud cries of satisfaction, for they were discovered tobe their friends. Still they came on slowly. It appeared to me thattheir numbers were diminished. Presently Yellow Wolf dashed forwardbearing a couple of scalps at the end of his spear. Other bravesfollowed, several of them having the same gory trophies. On getting upclose to the camp, they halted to receive the congratulations of theirfriends.

  The old men and women then began to inquire for the relatives who wereno longer among them. The same answer was given to all, "He fellfighting bravely." On hearing this, loud wails arose from those who hadlost husbands, brothers, and sons.

  It was some time before we could learn from Yellow Wolf what hadhappened. He had been entirely successful in surprising the Coomanchecamp, but they had fought desperately and many of his braves fell beforehe had succeeded in putting his enemies to flight. The scalps he hadbrought showed the number of slain on the other side. Another day waslost, while our savage friends blackened their faces and mourned for thedead, after which they danced their hideous scalp-dance. I was thankfulthat they had returned without prisoners; for I am certain they wouldhave put them to death with all sorts of horrible tortures, even thoughwe might have protested against so barbarous a custom. They, however,managed to bring back one of their people desperately wounded, with twoarrows and a bullet through his body. It seemed surprising that hecould have lived so long. It was, however, evident to us that he wasdying; but his friends thought that he might be recovered by the effortsof one of their medicine-men, whose vocation we had not beforediscovered. The patient was laid on the ground half-stripped, while thetribe sat round in a circle. Presently, from out of one of the tents,the most grotesque figure I ever beheld made his appearance. A hugewolf-skin cloak covered his back; on his head he wore a mask,representing the head of a wolf double the ordinary size. Dried frogsand fish and snakes hung down from his neck, his whole body beingconcealed by skins. In one hand he carried a spear, ornamented with avariety of coloured feathers and snakes twisting up it, and in the othera sort of tambourine, from which also were hung snakes and frog-skins.He advanced, making a series of jumps and uttering wild yellsaccompanied by the rattling of his magic drum until, entering thecircle, he approached his patient. He then began to dance round him,striking and rattling his drum, shrieking and shouting; sometimesleaping over the wounded man, then shaking him from side to side.

  I watched the poor sufferer, who endured the fearful pain to which hewas put without a groan, gazing at the hideous figure, the last sight hewas destined to behold on earth; for in a short time his jaw fell, hiseyes became fixed, and he was dead. Still the conjurer, utterlyunconscious of this, went on with his performance; until at length hiseye falling on the body and perceiving what had occurred, he turnedround and darted into his tent. The Indians did not appear to be verymuch surprised, but I suppose fancied that they had done their best fortheir friend, and that their medicine-man had done all that he could doto save the life of the brave.

  As Charley was now sufficiently recovered to move, Armitage proposedthat we should recommence our march, and we prepared accordingly. Ournew friends, however, were not so easily to be shaken off, and when theydiscovered our intentions, they made preparations to accompany us.

  I have not described their lodges. They were of a conical form, theframe-work of straight long poles about twenty-five feet long. This wasfirst erected, when round it were stretched a number of well-dressedbuffalo robes, sewn tightly together and perfectly water-proof. Thepoint where the ends of the poles protruded was left open to allow thesmoke to escape. On one side was the entrance closed by a door, also ofbuffalo hide. The fire was made in the centre, immediately under theaperture. In cold weather the Indians slept on buffalo rugs, with theirfeet towards the fire, and these rugs were rolled up during the day andplaced at the back of the lodge.

  The women had all the work of putting up the lodges. We watched thepoor creatures taking them down again, rolling up the skins, and placingthem on bars near the lower ends of the poles, which trailed on theground, the upper ends being secured half on each side of the horses.The young squaws and children were mounted on the horses, while theolder had to toil along on foot often with loads on their backs.Besides horses, our friends had a number of dogs which were employed indrawing loads on small sledges, and very hard work they must have foundit in summer. They had also other dogs of a smaller species which werereserved for food when buffalo meat was not to be obtained.

  For three days we travelled on in their company, when the scouts broughtword that a large herd of buffaloes were feeding a few leagues off tothe southwest. Our friends immediately encamped and prepared to set offin chase, trusting that the Coomanches, after the signal defeat they hadreceived, would not attack them. We should have been glad of an excusefor separating from our friends; but as we wished to see more of theirmode of hunting the buffalo, we agreed to accompany them. Charley, Iwas glad to see, was as well able to sit his horse as before, and hedeclared that he was ready to undergo any amount of fatigue. Accordingto our custom, we kept as much together as possible; but we endeavourednot to show that we doubted the honest intentions of the Indians.

  Occasionally the Yellow Wolf, getting off his horse, put his ear to theground to listen, as he said "for the feet of the buffalo."

  At length, quickly mounting, he exclaimed that he heard them and that weshould soon come in sight of the herd. We therefore pushed rapidlyforward; and, reaching the top of a slight rising, we saw a large numberof black dots scattered over the plain. To the right, on one side ofwhere the buffalo were feeding, was a smaller elevation to that on whichwe were posted. Guided by the chief we made towards it. On reachingthe further or western side, the chief advised that we should dismount,saying that he wished to attack the buffalo in a way often adopted byhis people before charging in among them on horseback. We of courseagreed, anxious to see the method he spoke of.

  The Indians had brought with them several wolfskins with the heads andtails. Creeping up the hill, over the brow of which we looked to watchwhat was going forward, we saw them put the skins on their backs, andtake their bows and a quantity of arrows in their hands, so that at adistance they much resembled wolves. On they went, whenever sheltercould be obtained, running rapidly forward, but as they got on the openplain again bending down and creeping on all fours. Whenever they sawthe shaggy beasts looking at them, they stopped and seemed to be engagedwith something on the ground, as if they had no intention of approachingthe herd. When the buffaloes went on feeding they again advanced.

  Were the buffaloes sharp-sighted animals they might have discoveredtheir foes; but their hair covering their eyes prevents them from seeingclearly. The hunters got closer and closer.

  Having selected the fattest animal in sight, presently one, rising for amoment, let fly his arrow, which entered the breast of a buffalo nearhim. The animal, after running for a few paces, dropped withoutdisturbing the rest, who seemed to fancy that their companion had merelylain down on the ground. Each of the other Indians did the same, and,without taking any notice of the beasts they had killed, continued theircourse, shooting arrow after arrow, until upwards of a dozen buffaloeshad bit the ground.

  It is only, however, when the bison are quietly feeding that they can beapproached in this way. When they are on the move, they keep their eyesabout them, and a man on
foot can with difficulty get near. Thedisguised hunters would probably have killed many more, but that forsome reason or other the herd began to move on. The moment the chiefobserved this he called to us and the others to come forward; and awaywe dashed after the herd, which, alarmed at the sound of the horses'hoofs, rushed on, every instant increasing their speed. As before allwas silence and quiet, now the air was rent with a confusion of sounds--the tramp of the bisons and the pursuing horses, the shouts and cries ofthe hunters as they dashed forward in chase.

  We let them take the lead for some time, to see their mode ofproceeding. We remarked especially the force and precision with which,while going at full gallop, they let fly their arrows, always aimingbehind the shoulders of the shaggy beasts. They took good care never tohead them, while they kept at a sufficient distance to have room toavoid the fierce charges the terror-stricken bisons occasionally made.

  After they had shot a considerable number, we who had hitherto kept inthe rear gave our horses the rein and were soon up with the herd.

  Armitage and Story were in their glory, and upheld the honour of thewhite man by each shooting three buffaloes, while Dick and I killed two.I saw Charley shoot down one in very good style, and then pursueanother which he had made up his mind to overtake. I was on the pointof following him, when my horse stumbled in a hole and threw me over itshead. I quickly recovered my feet and was about to remount, my steedappearing none the worse for its fall, when I saw a huge buffalo dashingup with the intention of tossing me into the air. I had barely time tospring into my saddle and to get a few paces off, when the buffalo'shorns pierced the ground at the very spot where I had been standing.Disappointed at not finding me, he looked about and again lowered hishead to charge. Flight was my only resource; so off I galloped, hopingto get to such a distance from the brute as would allow me time toreload and again to face him. I succeeded better than I expected; andat length, wheeling round my horse who stood stock-still, I fired andbrought the buffalo to the ground. In the meantime the rest of the herdgalloped off followed by the hunters, who were now a long distance away,so far indeed as to make it impossible for me to overtake them. Wellsatisfied with my performance, I cut out the tongue of the last animal Ihad killed and directed my course back to the camp, stopping on my wayto extract the tongues of the two other bisons I had killed. I was soonovertaken by Dick, who had also turned back. He said that the rest ofour party had gone on with the Indians, in pursuit of the herd.

  He regretted that Charley had not returned with us, as he would beovercome with fatigue by so long a ride. We employed ourselves inlighting a fire and getting supper ready for our friends. At lastArmitage and Story came in, but Charley did not make his appearance.

  "He'll return soon," said Dick. "Let me consider, when did I see himlast? I cannot quite recollect, but I remember that he was following abuffalo; and I had no doubt that he shot the brute, and fully expectedto see him here."

  We waited, but we waited in vain. At last we applied to our Indianfriends, but they were revelling in buffalo meat, and were not disposedto set out in search of Charley; promising, however, to go in themorning should the young pale-face not have returned by that time.

  I am afraid to say how much buffalo meat the savages consumed beforedaybreak, for they sat up nearly all night eating, and had their enemiespounced down upon them they would have made but a poor defence, Isuspect.

  When morning came they excused themselves from going in search ofCharley, saying that they must bring in the buffalo meat they hadkilled.

  We therefore had to set off alone, not a little disgusted at theirbehaviour. We bade them, however, a friendly farewell, saying that thelife of one of our party was more precious to us than all the buffalomeat in the world. We however took with us the tongues and otherportions of the animals we had killed, so that we had abundance ofprovisions which would last us until we could obtain venison or fall inwith another herd of buffalo.

  Though we made diligent search, with the assistance of old Folkard andthe Indians engaged by Armitage, we failed to discover Charley's trail;and we felt more out of spirits when we encamped that evening than wehad done during the whole of our expedition.