180 GAME. 



An army surgeon, a keen and successful sportsman, 

 informed me that once he was marching across country 

 with a command of several companies. One afternoon 

 they had encamped in a small mountain valley, meadow- 

 like in its evenness and the luxuriance of the grass. 



Near his tent was a small clump or thicket of bushes 

 scarcely ten feet in diameter. Having occasion to go 

 into the clump, he was startled to find himself within six 

 feet of a splendid pair of antlers, and, looking closely, he 

 saw the form of a magnificent buck, crouched close, his 

 head on the ground, perfectly motionless, but watching 

 the intruder from the corners of his eyes. Eeturning to 

 his tent, the doctor got his rifle, and, going again to the 

 thicket, violated the order against firing in camp, but 

 secured full pardon for the offence by bagging the largest 

 and fattest black-tail buck that ever fell to his lot before 

 or since. 



The reader will recollect that in the earlier part of 

 this work I separated ' the plains ' into three plains, each 

 of which has its characteristics ; and the lines of demarca- 

 tion between which are generally indicated with much 

 precision. 



The great ' divide,' on a slope of which Denver stands, 

 and which is itself a portion of the great second plain, 

 extends eastward in a direction from a little north of west 

 to south of east, crosses diagonally the Arkansas and 

 Purgatory Eivers, and pushes its way far into the Indian 

 territory. 



The Purgatory cuts through this second plain by a 

 most magnificent canon ; while the Chaquaque, Eule 

 Creek, and many other streams, take their rise in the 

 grand step by which the descent from second to third 

 plain is accomplished. The step is very marked. For at 

 least 200 miles the second plain terminates in a wall, 

 generally precipitous, and varying in height from 500 to 

 2,000 feet. From the foot of this wall the third plain 

 stretches eastward to the alluvial. 



