BUFFALO HUNTING. 61 



the deck of a vessel, is the nearest simile I can 

 think of. In both an almost level horizon in each 

 direction is met by the sky. Nothing in either is to 

 be seen to break the stillness, save it be the animal life 

 that have these elements for their home. Although 

 this may be applicable, as a general rule, to prairie 

 scenery, there are portions less monotonous ; in places, 

 heavy belts of timber mark the margin of streams that 

 ultimately help to feed some of the giant rivers of the 

 American continent ; while as you approach the great 

 vertebra of the country the Eocky Mountains hill 

 after hill rises, overtopping each other ; again frowned 

 down upon by lofty mountains, beautiful in colouring, 

 soft in their distant outlines, and grand in their 

 irregular and picturesque shape. Moreover, between 

 these hills, almost impassable at first glance, through 

 canons and gulches you can thread your way, perhaps 

 for many, many miles, when, perchance, a beautiful 

 meadow,* thousands of acres in extent, opens before you, 

 rich and bright in the abundance of its grasses, while 

 the slopes that gird these retired retreats are covered 

 with the densest and loveliest of indigenous trees. 

 Such spots as these are a naturalist's elysium, for game 

 of every variety select them for retreats. The buffalo 

 cow comes to them frequently to calve ; the worn-out, 

 * In America termed Park. 



