10 COLLECTOR'S RAMBLES 



with immense iron pipes ; and three Indians, with sev- 

 eral huge lumps of meat for their winter rations, were 

 taking a ride to their camps. 



Soon after leaving Omaha, a rosy light could be seen 

 in the western horizon, and at about midnight we were 

 within a short distance of a prairie fire. The effect 

 was grand. The car was as light as day, and the heat 

 was intense. 



The Union Pacific road runs along the left bank of 

 the Platte River for many miles, and then crosses at 

 North Platte. The country is very flat, but the soil is 

 not so good as farther east. Immense herds of cattle 

 may be seen grazing on the dry grass, and antelope and 

 deer are very common. The country is almost treeless, 

 and the fences are built of sods, giving it a very un- 

 thrifty appearance. The houses are few and very poor: 

 a man must live about as isolated from his fellow-beings 

 as if he resided at the north pole. There is a sense of 

 loneliness and desolation about the plains in winter, 

 very unlike their flowery summer season. As we went 

 on, the bare brown plains gave place to snowy wastes, 

 where one might fancy himself on a frozen, snow-cov- 

 ered sea, many miles from land. The second night 

 after we left Omaha, at about two o'clock A.M., as the 

 train was standing at a small station, we were treated to 

 a scene of excitement which will ever remain vivid in 

 my memory. It was a clear, cold, moonlight night. I 

 got up from my seat where I had been trying to sleep, 



