done to the civilized man. Nevertheless, the bison, or the buffalo,
as the animal is erroneously, but very generally, termed throughout
the country, was not often found in the vast herds of which we read,
until one reached the great prairies west of the Mississippi. There
it was that the red men most loved to congregate; though always
bearing, in numbers, but a trifling proportion to the surface they
occupied. In that day, however, near as to the date, but distant as
to the events, the Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawattamies, kindred
tribes, we believe, had still a footing in Michigan proper, and were
to be found in considerable numbers in what was called the St.
Joseph's country, or along the banks of the stream of that name; a
region that almost merits the lofty appellation of the garden of
America. Le Bourdon knew many of their warriors, and was much
esteemed among them; though he had never met with either of those
whom chance now had thrown in his way. In general, he suffered
little wrong from the red men, who wondered at his occupation, while
they liked his character; but he had sustained losses, and even ill-
treatment, from certain outcasts of the tribes, as well as from
vagrant whites, who occasionally found their way to his temporary
dwellings. On the present occasion, le Bourdon felt far more
uneasiness from the circumstance of having his abode known to
Gershom Waring, a countryman and fellow-Christian, in one sense at
least, than from its being known to the Chippewa and the
Pottawattamie.

The bears were constant and dangerous sources of annoyance to the
bee-hunter. It was not often that an armed man--and le Bourdon
seldom moved without his rifle--has much to apprehend from the
common brown bear of America. Though a formidable-looking animal,
especially when full grown, it is seldom bold enough to attack a