ON THE PRAIRIE 37 



over which I had planned to travel and hunt 

 for the next two or three days. At inter- 

 vals of ten or a dozen miles this prairie 

 was crossed by dry creeks, with, in places 

 in their beds, pools or springs of water, and 

 alongside a spindling growth of trees and 

 bushes ; and my intention was to hunt across 

 these creeks, and camp by some water-hole 

 in one of them at night. 



I rode over the land in a general southerly 

 course, bending to the right or left according 

 to the nature of the ground and the likeli- 

 hood of finding game. Most of the time 

 the horse kept on a steady single-foot, but 

 this was varied by a sharp lope every now 

 and then, to ease the muscles of both steed 

 and rider. The sun was well up, and its 

 beams beat fiercely down on our heads from 

 out of the cloudless sky ; for at this season, 

 though the nights and the early morning and 

 late evening are cool and pleasant, the hours 

 around noon are very hot. My glass was 

 slung alongside the saddle, and from every 

 one of the scattered hillocks the country 



