WAPITI-RUNNING ON THE PLAINS 69 



in all directions, forming a labyrinth of steep pre- 

 cipitous gullies. 



These canons, and indeed every crack and 

 cranny below the level of the prairie, are thickly 

 timbered v^ith cypress ; in other words, the natural 

 wood grows everywhere where it is not subjected 

 to the continually recurring prairie fires which 

 desolate the region, and wherever it is sheltered 

 from the cutting blast of wintry winds, almost as 

 destructive in their effects as fire. The river is 

 fordable in most places as far as depth of water is 

 concerned, but the bottom is very treacherous, con- 

 sisting generally of soft shifting quicksand. We 

 pitched our camp in a nice shelcered situation, not 

 far from the head of one of the canons leading down 

 to the river, near enough to the stream to be able 

 to water our horses without inconvenience, and 

 sufficiently close to the plain to get a good look out 

 over the surrounding country without having to 

 go too far. 



It was a pleasant and convenient camp, and we 

 should have been very comfortable if we had not 

 suffered so much from cold at night ; but unfor- 

 tunately for us summer turned suddenly into winter, 

 a violent snowstorm came on, and for a few days 

 after it we felt the cold very severely. We had 



