174 FOURTH EXPLORATION, 1880 



hour, we were across and ready for our next difficulty, which soon 

 came. 



"The next day was extremely warm, men and horses were 

 thirsty, and, as it drew on towards noon, I climbed a hill and saw, 

 scarcely a mile away, a beautiful lake, glistening in the sun. With 

 joyful hearts, we hurried on and unhitched close to the lake. The 

 horses, naturally, went to the water, but to our astonishment, 

 would not take any. An examination showed that our beautiful lake 

 was liquid mud, with scarcely an inch of water on the surface. We 

 had our dinner, as we carried our own supplies, but it was sundown 

 before our utmost endeavours could find any water for the horses." 



"While travelling on the prairie, in September and October, 

 no fire should be lit during the day, unless two or three persons 

 are standing ready to extinguish the fire in the grass, when suffi- 

 cient ground is burnt over for saftey. No fire should be left un- 

 covered when the party moves away, and it is the duty of the 

 leader to see personally that all fire is either extinguished or 

 covered up. There is a fine of $200.00 for the starting of a prairie 

 fire and, as the informer gets half the fine, Indians and half- 

 breeds are constantly on the alert, during the dangerous season, to 

 pounce on any delinquent. Many people blame the Indians for 

 setting the prairie on fire, but my experience leads me to lay the 

 blame on the white men, especially the young bloods who go 

 shooting in the fall. A stump of a cigar dropped on the prairie 

 is much more dangerous than an Indian fire. 



"Travelling, on the prairie, is an easy matter, with or without 

 a road. Experience, combined with intelligence, however, is 

 necessary to insure success. My plan is never to combat a dif- 

 ficulty without seeing my way to overcoming it. Most people, 

 when travelling, take a guide or a man who has been over the 

 country before and who knows or professes to know where the 

 water holes are. As a rule, these men are not of a high order of 

 intelligence, and dare not venture off the beaten track. They 

 know nothing of the use of the compass and laugh at any person 

 essaying to cross the country by the aid of one. Should these 

 persons get into a region not visited by them before, they are 

 perfectly helpless, and will do more harm than good. 



