I04 THE WILDERNESS HUNTER, 



was worse when we came to some deep gully 

 or ravine, breaking the line of fire. Into this 

 we of course had to plunge, so as to get across 

 to the fire on the other side. After the 

 glare of the flame the blackness of the ravine 

 was Stygian ; we could see nothing, and simply 

 spurred our horses into it anywhere, taking 

 our chances. Down we would go, stumbling, 

 sliding, and pitching, over cut banks and into 

 holes and bushes, while the carcass bounded 

 behind, now catching on a stump, and now 

 fetching loose with a " pluck " that brought it 

 full on the horses' haunches, driving them 

 nearly crazy with fright. The pull up the 

 opposite bank was, if anything, worse. 



By midnight the half carcass was worn 

 through ; but we had stifled the fire in the com- 

 paratively level country to the eastwards. Back 

 we went to camp, drank huge draughts of 

 muddy water, devoured roast ox-ribs, and 

 dragged out the other half carcass to fight 

 the fire on the west. But after hours of 

 wearing labor we found ourselves altogether 

 baffled by the exceeding roughness of the 

 ground. There was some little risk to us who 

 were on horseback, dragging the carcass ; we 

 had to feel our way along knife-like ridges in 

 the dark, one ahead and the other behind, 

 while the steer dangled over the precipice 

 on one side ; and in going down the buttes 

 and into the canyons only by extreme care 

 could we avoid getting tangled in the ropes 

 and rolling down in a heap. Moreover the 

 fire was in such rough places that the carcass 

 could not be twitched fairly over it, and so 

 we could not put it out. Before dawn we 



