American Big-Game Hunting 
which so frequently occur in the old ranges, 
and which often contain water after all other 
moisture, except that of the streams, is dried 
up. These wallows were formed by the roll- 
ing of a succession of buffalo in the same 
moist place, and were frequently quite deep. 
They have often been described. Less well 
known was the habit of scratching themselves 
against trees and rocks. Sometimes a soli- 
tary erratic boulder, five or six feet high, 
may be seen on the bare prairie, the ground 
immediately around it being worn down two 
or three feet below the level of the surround- 
ing earth. This is where the buffalo have 
walked about the stone, rubbing against it, 
and, where they trod, loosening the soil, which 
has been blown away by the wind, so that in 
course of time a deep trench was worn about 
the rock. Often single trees along streams 
were worn quite smooth by the shoulders 
and sides of the buffalo. 
When the first telegraph line was built 
across the continent, the poles used were 
light and small, for transportation over the 
plains was slow and expensive, and it was 
not thought necessary to raise the wires high 
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