ON THE PRAIRIE 93 



swiftly over the plateaus, where the footing 

 was good and the going easy, for the gales 

 had driven the feathery snow off the with- 

 ered brown grass; but getting on and off 

 these table-lands was often a real labor, their 

 sides were so sheer. The horses plunged and 

 scrambled after us as we led them up ; while 

 in descending they would sit back on their 

 haunches and half-walk, half-slide, down the 

 steep inclines. Indeed, one or two of the 

 latter were so very straight that the horses 

 would not face them, and we had to turn 

 them round and back them over the edge, 

 and then all go down with a rush. At any 

 rate it warmed our blood to keep out of the 

 way of the hoofs. On one of the plateaus 

 I got a very long shot at a black-tail, which 

 I missed. 



Finally we struck the head of a long, 

 winding valley with a smooth bottom^ and 

 after cantering down it four or frve miles, 

 came to the river, just after the cold, pale- 

 red sun had sunk behind the line of hills 

 ahead of us. Our horses were sharp shod, 



