386 BUFFALO LAND. 



neighboring habitation had resolved itself into a 

 mound of dirt, resembling somewhat a tropical ant- 

 hill. We were still gazing at the ruins, when the 

 owner, clad in the brief garment of night-wear, came 

 spluttering through the roof, like a very dirty gnomo 

 discharged by a mud- volcano. While he stood there 

 in the rain, letting the falling flood cleanse him off, 

 he remarked, in a manner that for such an occasion 

 was certainly rather dry — " Lucky that houses are 

 dirt-cheap here, stranger, for I reckon this one 's sort 

 o' washed ! " 



A person of small capital, as may readily be in- 

 ferred, can live very comfortabl}^ on the plains. His 

 house may be built without nail or board, and his 

 meat may be obtained at no other ex]3ense than the 

 trouble of shooting it. 



We saw many wooden buildings at the different 

 stage stations, wdiich had subterranean communica- 

 tions with little sod watch-towers, rising a couple of 

 feet above the ground, at a distance of forty or fifty 

 yards from the main building. Loop-holes through 

 their walls afforded opportunities for firing, and if 

 the wooden stations were burned, the occupants could 

 find a secure retreat. We heard of but one occasion 

 in which the tower was ever used, but then 

 it was most effectively, the savages, gathered close 

 around the main building, being surprised and put 

 to sudden flight, by the murderous fire w^hich seemed 

 to spring out of the ground at their rear. 



