his own head, so as to make the
deception very complete; and, thus accoutred, he stations himself
between the bison herd and some of the precipices that often extend for
several miles along the rivers. The Indians surround the herd as nearly
as possible, when, at a given signal, they show themselves, and rush
forward with loud yells. The animals being alarmed, and seeing no way
open but in the direction of the disguised Indian, run towards him, and
he, taking to flight, dashes on to the precipice, where he suddenly
secures himself in some previously ascertained crevice. The foremost of
the herd arrives at the brink--there is no possibility of retreat, no
chance of escape; the foremost may for an instant shrink with terror,
but the crowd behind, who are terrified by the approaching hunters,
rush forward with increasing impetuosity, and the aggregated force
hurls them successively into the gulf, where certain death awaits them.

ORDER X.

CETACEA,

THE WHALE KIND.

This order contains a class of animals which live in the water, propel
themselves by fins, and have the general form of fishes; yet they are
viviparous, and suckle their young; in these respects forming a
striking contrast to all the other finny inhabitants of the wave. The
principal species are the dolphin, grampus, porpoise, and whale. The
latter is remarkable as being by far the largest creature known to the
animal kingdom.

THE DOLPHIN.

This animal usually swims in troops, and its motions in the water are
performed with such wonderful rapidity, that the French sailors call it
_la fleche de la mer_, or the sea-arrow. St. Pierre, in his "Voyage to
the Isle of France," assures us that he saw a dolphin swim with
apparent ease round the vessel in which he was sailing, though it was
going at the rate of about six miles an hour. A shoal of dolphins
followed the ships of Sir Richard Hawkins upwards of a thousand
leagues. They were known to be the same, from the wounds they
occasionally received from the sailors. They are greedy of almost any
kind of scraps that are thrown overboard, and consequently are often
caught by means of large iron hooks, baited with pieces of fish and
garbage.

The bounding and gambolling of dolphins has attracted the attention of
writers and poets in all ages, and is described as being extremely
beautiful.

The ancients believed that dolphins attended all cases of shipwreck,
and transported the mariners in safety to