92 THE PLAINS. 



nearest of the other portion was about seventy feet from 

 the other flank. The members of my little party had the 

 living stream within fifteen or twenty feet on either side. 

 I consider this the most imminent danger that I have ever 

 encountered on the plains. 



Had I and the sentinel been asleep nothing could 

 have saved my whole party from a horrible death ; for the 

 banks under which we were camped were so steep that, 

 even had they seen and been sensible enough to avoid 

 the camp, the buffalo in front would have been driven 

 upon and over us by the pressure of those in rear. 

 There must have been 4,000 or 5,000 animals in this 

 stampede. 



I have already, in speaking of the tent arrangements, 

 recommended a bedstead. In very culd weather it is 

 best and warmest to couch on the ground ; but in the 

 pleasant season of summer and fall the ground is too 

 warm, too dirty, and too full of ' things with legs.' The 

 high plains are extremely prolific of insect life, spiders, 

 beetles, &c., and the bed on the ground is apt to be more 

 populous than comfortable. 



Except in the vicinity of ' dog towns ' (the dwellings 

 of the little marmot, miscalled the prairie dog) there are 

 singularly few snakes on the plains. The only one at all 

 dangerous is the rattlesnake. There is considerable 

 nobility of character about this reptile. Though always 

 ready for battle, he never strikes without fair warning, 

 except when weak, tender, and probably almost blind 

 from just shedding his skin. He is very susceptible to 

 cold, and will at night crawl into the most comfortable 

 place to be found. I have never had a personal ex- 

 perience of his fondness for tent and bedding, but have 

 seen him shaken from a horse-blanket, or found him 

 curled up near the warm ashes of the camp fire. 



In Texas rattlesnakes are very plentiful, and I have 

 heard many anecdotes of their fondness for a tent. A 

 brother officer found one coiled under the edge of his 



