OF A RANCHMAN 287 



and hunt wherever they wish. There is little 

 or no difficulty in going over the prairie, but 

 it needs a skilful plainsman, as well as a good 

 ister, to take a wagon through the Bad 

 Lands. There are but two courses to follow. 

 One is to go along the bottoms of the val- 

 : the other is to go along the tops of the 

 les. The latter is generally the best ; for 

 each valley usually has at its bottom a deep 

 winding ditch with perpendicular banks, 

 which wanders first to one side and then to 

 the other, and has to be crossed again and 

 again, while a little way from it begin the 

 gullies and gulches which come down from 

 the side hills. It is no easy matter to tell 

 h is the main divide, as it curves and 

 :s about, and is all the time splitting up 

 into lesser ones, which merely separate two 

 branches of the same creek. If the team- 

 ster does not know the lay of the land he 

 will be likely to find himself in a cul-de-sac, 

 from which he can only escape by going 



a mile or two and striking out af: 

 In very difficult country the horsemen must 



