While in this plight, a troop of Buffalo came trotting by in great alarm.  In an instant, Tom sprang from his horse and gave chase on foot.  Finding they were leaving him behind, he levelled his rifle and pulled [the] trigger.  His shot produced no other effect than to increase the speed of the buffalo, and to frighten his own horse, who took to his heels, and scampered off with all the ammunition.  Tom scampered after him, hallooing with might and main, and the wild horse and wild Irishman soon disappeared among the ravines of the prairie.  Captain Bonneville, who was at the head of the line, and had seen the transaction at a distance, detached a party in pursuit of Tom.  After a long interval they returned, leading the frightened horse; but though they had scoured the country, and looked out and shouted from every height, they had seen nothing of his rider.

As Captain Bonneville knew Tom’s utter awkwardness and inexperience, and the dangers of a bewildered Irishman in the midst of a prairie, he halted and encamped at an early hour, that there might be a regular hunt for him in the morning.

At early dawn on the following day scouts were sent off in every direction, while the main body, after breakfast, proceeded slowly on its course.  It was not until the middle of the afternoon that the hunters returned, with honest Tom mounted behind one of them.  They had found him in a complete state of perplexity and amazement.  His appearance caused shouts of merriment in the camp,—­but Tom for once could not join in the mirth raised at his expense:  he was completely chapfallen, and apparently cured of the hunting mania for the rest of his life.

5.

Magnificent scenery—­Wind River—­Mountains—­Treasury of waters—­A stray horse—­An Indian trail—­Trout streams—­The Great Green River Valley—­An alarm—­A band of trappers—­ Fontenelle, his information—­Sufferings of thirst—­ Encampment on the Seedskedee—­Strategy of rival traders—­ Fortification of the camp—­The—­Blackfeet—­Banditti of the mountains—­Their character and habits

It was on the 20th of July that Captain Bonneville first came in sight of the grand region of his hopes and anticipations, the Rocky Mountains.  He had been making a bend to the south, to avoid some obstacles along the river, and had attained a high, rocky ridge, when a magnificent prospect burst upon his sight.  To the west rose the Wind River Mountains, with their bleached and snowy summits towering into the clouds.  These stretched far to the north-northwest, until they melted away into what appeared to be faint clouds, but which the experienced eyes of the veteran hunters of the party recognized for the rugged mountains of the Yellowstone; at the feet of which extended the wild Crow country:  a perilous, though profitable region for the trapper.