me to resume their journey, and
advanced joyfully to meet the returning hunter. As they passed one of
the numerous clumps of wood with which the plains were studded, another
herd of buffalo started suddenly into view. Among other objects of
interest in the band of hunters, there happened to be a small child,
which was strapped with some luggage on a little sled and drawn by two
dogs. These dogs were lively. They went after the buffalo full swing,
to the consternation of the parents of the child. It was their only
child. If it had only been a fragment of their only child, the two dogs
could not have whisked it off more swiftly. Pursuit was useless, yet
the whole band ran yelling after it. Soon the dogs reached the heels of
the herd, and all were mixed pell-mell together,--the dogs barking, the
sled swinging to and fro, and the buffalo kicking. At length a bull
gored one of the dogs; his head got entangled in the harness, and he
went off at a gallop, carrying the dog on his horns, the other suspended
by the traces, and the sled and child whirling behind him. The enraged
creature ran thus for full half a mile before ridding himself of the
encumbrance, and many shots were fired at him without effect. Both dogs
were killed, but, strange to say, the child was unhurt.

The supply of meat procured at this time, although very acceptable, did
not last long, and the group with which Winklemann was connected was
soon again reduced to sore straits. It was much the same with the
scattered parties elsewhere, though they succeeded by hard work in
securing enough of meat to keep themselves alive.

In these winter wanderings after the buffalo, the half-breeds and their
families had travelled from 150 to 200 miles from the colony, but in the
midst of their privations they kept up heart, always hoping that the
sudden discovery of larger herds would ere long convert the present
scarcity into the more usual superabundance. But it was otherwise
ordained. On the 20th of December there was a fearful snowstorm, such
as had not been witnessed for years. It lasted several days, drove the
buffalo hopelessly beyond the reach of the hunters, and killed most of
their horses. What greatly aggravated the evil was the suddenness of
the disaster. According to the account of one who was in Red River at
the time, and an eye-witness, the animals disappeared almost
instantaneously, and no one was prepared for the inevitable famine that
follo