ON THE PRAIRIE 175 



possible, choose some prominent landmarks, 

 and then should learn how they look from 

 different sides for they will with difficulty 

 be recognized as the same objects, if seen 

 from different points of view. If he gets 

 out of sight of these, he should choose an- 

 other to work back to, as a kind of half- 

 way point; and so on. He should keep 

 looking back ; it is wonderful how different 

 a country looks when following back on 

 one's trail. If possible, he should locate 

 his camp, in his mind, with reference to a 

 line, and not a point ; he should take a river 

 or a long ridge, for example. Then at any 

 time he can strike back to this line and fol- 

 low it up or down till he gets home. 



If possible, I always spend the first day, 

 when on new ground, in hunting up-stream. 

 Then, so long as I am sure I do not wander 

 off into the valleys or creeks of another 

 water-course, I am safe, for, no matter on 

 what remote branch, all I have to do : 

 follow down-stream until I reach camp; 

 while if I was below camp, it would 



