176 THE STORY OF THE TRAPPER 



On the plains, the greatest danger was from lack 

 of water. At one season the trapper might know where 

 to find good camping streams. The next year when he 

 came to those streams they were dry. 



&quot; After leaving the buffalo meadows a dreadful scarcity of 

 water ensued,&quot; wrote Charles MacKenzie, of the famous Mac- 

 Kenzie clan. He was journeying north from the Missouri. * We 

 had to alter our course and steer to a distant lake. When we 

 got there we found the lake dry. However, we dug a pit which 

 produced a kind of stinking liquid which we all drank. It was 

 salt and bitter, caused an inflammation of the mouth, left a 

 disagreeable roughness of the throat, and seemed to increase 

 our thirst. . . . We passed the night under great uneasiness. 

 Next day we continued our journey, but not a drop of water 

 was to be found, . . . and our distress became insupportable. 

 . . . All at once our horses became so unruly that we could not 

 manage them. We observed that they showed an inclination 

 towards a hill which was close by. It struck me that they 

 might have scented water. ... I ascended to the top, where, 

 to my great joy, I discovered a small pool. . . . My horse 

 plunged in before I could prevent him, . . . and all the horses 

 drank to excess.&quot; 



&quot; The plains across &quot; which was a western expres 

 sion meaning the end of that part of the trip there 

 rose on the west rolling foothills and dark peaked pro 

 files against the sky scarcely to be distinguished from 

 gray cloud banks. These were the mountains ; and the 

 real hazards of free trapping began. No use to follow 

 the easiest passes to the most frequented valleys. The 

 fur company brigades marched through these, sweep 

 ing up game like a forest fire; so the free trappers 

 sought out the hidden, inaccessible valleys, going where 

 neither pack horse nor canot a lee d esturgeon could 

 follow. How did they do it? Very much the way; 



