I 4 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER. 



stretching from Texas to North Dakota, and 

 westward to the Rocky Mountains, lies the 

 plains country. This is a region of light rain- 

 fall, where the ground is clad with short grass, 

 while cottonwood trees fringe the courses of 

 the winding plains streams ; streams that are 

 alternately turbid torrents and mere dwin- 

 dling threads of water. The great stretches of 

 natural pasture are broken by gray sage-brush 

 plains,, and tracts of strangely shaped and 

 colored Bad Lands ; sun-scorched wastes in 

 summer, and in winter arctic in their iron des- 

 olation. Beyond the plains rise the Rocky 

 Mountains, their flanks covered with conifer- 

 ous woods ; but the trees are small, and do 

 not ordinarily grow very closely together. 

 Towards the north the forest becomes denser, 

 and the peaks higher ; and glaciers creep down 

 towards the valleys from the fields of ever- 

 lasting snow. The brooks are brawling, trout- 

 filled torrents ; the swift rivers foam over 

 rapid and cataract, on their way to one or the 

 other of the two great oceans. 



Southwest of the Rockies evil and terrible 

 deserts stretch for leagues and leagues, mere 

 waterless wastes of sandy plain and barren 

 mountain, broken here and there by narrow 

 strips of fertile ground. Rain rarely falls, 

 and there are no clouds to dim the brazen 

 sun. The rivers run in deep canyons, or are 

 swallowed by the burning sand ; the smaller 

 watercourses are dry throughout the greater 

 part of the year. 



Beyond this desert region rise the sunny 

 Sierras of California, with their flower-clad 

 slopes and groves of giant trees ; and north 



