1 8 HUNTING TRIPS 



become undistinguishable from their Amer- 

 ican companions, for these plainsmen are far 

 from being so heterogeneous a people as is 

 commonly supposed. On the contrary, all 

 have a certain curious similarity to each 

 other ; existence in the west seems to put the 

 same stamp upon each and every one of them. 

 Sinewy, hardy, self-reliant, their life forces 

 them to be both daring and adventurous, and 

 the passing over their heads of a few years 

 leaves printed on their faces certain lines 

 which tell of dangers quietly fronted and 

 hardships uncomplainingly endured. They 

 are far from being as lawless as they are 

 described; though they sometimes cut queer 

 antics when, after many months of lonely 

 life, they come into a frontier town in which 

 drinking and gambling are the only recog- 

 nized forms of amusement, and where pleas- 

 ure and vice are considered synonymous 

 terms. On the round-ups, or when a number 

 get together, there is much boisterous, often 

 foul-mouthed mirth; but they are rather si- 

 lent, self-contained men when with strangers, 



