SURFACE. 33 



' gramma-grass.' The buffalo-grass is uninviting to the 

 eye, being so very short that an inexperienced man in 

 search of pasture for animals would pass it without con- 

 sideration. It makes up in thickness what it lacks in 

 length, and horses and cattle not only eat it greedily, but 

 fill themselves much quicker than would seem possible. 



The Arkansas Valley at Fort Lyon is covered with 

 tall, fine-looking grass, which the large herds of domestic 

 cattle will scarcely touch, preferring to go eight or ten 

 miles away from the river to feed upon the buffalo-grass 

 of the high plain. Another curious fact in this connec- 

 tion is, that the cattle under such circumstances return to 

 the river for water only on alternate days. 



Another good grass is called ' bunch-grass.' Neither 

 this nor the buffalo can be cut for hay, which, if required, 

 must be cut from the taller but coarser and greatly less 

 nutritious grasses from the bottoms. 



Another phenomenon of the plains is the sand-hills. 

 Commencing sometimes high up on the second plain, the 

 sand is arranged or disposed in what may be termed 

 sand-streams. The ground covered varies in width from 

 a few yards to thirty or more miles. Sometimes the sand 

 is piled in oval or conical hills, from ten to 200 feet 

 in height ; at other times it seems to cover the ground to a 

 greater or less depth in an almost level mass. These sand- 

 streams pursue an almost unbroken course in a general 

 easterly direction, sometimes, but not invariably, follow- 

 ing the course of the larger water-courses. The edges or 

 boundary of the sand are clear cut and well-defined a 

 remarkable fact, since the sand is so light as to be the 

 sport of every wind. It is in colour from bright yellow 

 to pure white, and the particles of fine sand are so very 

 minute that a handful thrown into the air disappears 

 entirely. 



One of these sand-streams takes its rise in the high 

 land known as ' The Divide,' keeps an easterly course 

 parallel to a tributary of Big Sandy, called Bush Creek, 



