OF A RANCHMAN 93 



ready partially settled by farmers, and we 

 had one or two days' quite fair duck-shoot- 

 ing. It was a rolling country of mixed 

 prairie land and rounded hills, with small 

 groves of trees and numerous little lakes 

 in the hollows. The surface of the natural 

 prairie was broken in places by great wheat 

 fields, and when we were there the grain was 

 gathered in sheaves and stacks among the 

 stubble. At night-time we either put up at 

 the house of some settler, or, if there were 

 none round, camped out. 



One night we had gone into camp among 

 the dense timber fringing a small river, which 

 wound through the prairie in a deep narrow 

 bed with steep banks. Until people have ac- 

 tually camped out themselves it is difficult 

 for them to realize how much work there is 

 in making or breaking camp. But it is very 

 quickly done if every man has his duties as- 

 signed to him and starts about doing them 

 at once. In choosing camp there are three 

 essentials to be looked to wood, water, and 

 grass. The last is found everywhere in the 



