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still as plain and distinct as ever. The two 

 deep parallel ruts, cut into the sod by the 

 wheels of the heavy wagon, stretch for 

 scores of miles in a straight line across the 

 level prairie, and take great turns and 

 doublings to avoid the impassable portions 

 of the Bad Lands. The track is always 

 perfectly plain, for in the dry climate of the 

 western plains the action of the weather 

 tends to preserve rather than to obliterate 

 here it leads downhill, the snow water 

 has cut and widened the ruts into deep gul- 

 lies, so that a wagon has at those places to 

 travel alongside the road. From any little 

 rising in the prairie the road can be seen, a 

 long way off, as a dark line, which, when 

 near, resolves itself into two sharply defined 

 parallel cuts. Such a road is a great con- 

 venience as a landmark. When travelling 

 along it, or one like it, the hunters can sep- 

 arate in all directions, and no matter how 

 long or how far they hunt, there is never 

 the least difficulty about finding camp. For 

 the general direction in which the road lies, 



