AND OTHER HUNTING ADVENTURES. 335 



less of the brand it bears, or whether it bears any, i& 

 picked up by this human cyclone and carried along. 

 Toward noon the herds already gathered are driven 

 into the branding pens, where they are corraled. 

 The calves are snatched out and the "jimption is 

 socked to ' em, ' ' as the boys express it. So with any 

 yearlings or older stock that have escaped the brand- 

 ing-iron in former seasons. One or more irons for 

 each owner are kept hot, and when a roper has 

 * ' downed ' ' an animal he or the foreman calls for the 

 iron wanted, and setting his foot upon the victim's 

 neck places the red-hot device on its ribs, and throws- 

 his weight upon it, leaving a deep, indelible, and 

 time-enduring trade-mark which even he who runs 

 may read. Its ears, dew lap, or the loose skin on its 

 jaw are then slit and it is turned loose again. 



When a band is branded it is turned out; the 

 party who brought it in change horses, and away 

 they go for another run. No special branders are 

 now provided, every man in the outfit, the cook and 

 wrangler excepted, being required to ' ' s waller dust ' ' 

 and "wrestle calves" in the pens. Near the middle 

 of the day each squad comes in after finishing their 

 catch, make a run on the mess-wagons and devour 

 the substantial provender with which they are 

 loaded^ with appetites born only of the labor and 

 excitement in which they are engaged. 



The afternoon is usually devoted to branding the 

 last bunches brought in, and to ' ' cutting out, ' ' return- 

 ing or throwing over such stock as does not belong 

 to any of the ranchmen in this district. Strays are 

 frequently picked up whose brands show them to be 

 a hundred miles or more from home. When a num- 



