GRATUITOUS ADVICE. 49 



meet with any tribes of Indians, or, better still, those 

 excellent fellows the Pawnees (Murray, in his book, says 

 he remained months associated on the plains with this 

 tribe, and never passed so delightful a time in his life), 

 you may safely rely on their fidelity and honesty, and 

 they will take you with them and show you all the fun. 



"It is no use your taking English dogs ; the plains are 

 so thick with thorns and bushes, heavy grass and jungle, 

 that an English dog could not go a yard. 



" You '11 suffer terribly from mosquitoes and a fly with 

 a bayonet-shaped proboscis, and nothing you- can do will 

 keep them off. The mosquito-curtain, of course, you will 

 have, but the mosquitoes get under that. 



" Take no bed. Take a buffalo robe and your blanket ; 

 that is all you require, for the Indian summer is the most 

 beautiful thing in the world very mild and yet bracing, 

 the heat of the sun tempered by a mist in the sky. 



" Take some brandy a little ; you will find plenty of 

 whiskey in the country, and that with water is all that 

 you will require. In short, your buffalo robe and blanket ; 

 rifle, shot-gun, and tobacco-pipe, with an association with 

 Indians or trappers, will carry you in safety wherever 

 you wish to go ; and if on starting from England you 

 put 150 in your pocket, or have credit in the United 

 States to that amount, it will be all that you can require. 



" By all you hold dear, and for the safety of your life, 

 avoid the river steamers. The captains are hard-drink 

 ing, dangerous, go-a-head fellows, who, with a stomach 

 full of ardent spirit, exclaim on starting, that, reckless of 

 the safety of their vessel, the merchandise in it, or the 

 lives of the men, women, and children entrusted to their 

 care, '-they'll go ahead if they bust their boiler ; ' so for 



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