32 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



When studying on the distant and far-west plains of 

 America the habits of the buffalo (for though this name is 

 erroneous, still it is the appellation by which I knew them 

 and daily heard them called), or pursuing them to supply 

 our camp with food, I never, in the retrospect of a long 

 and adventurous life, enjoyed such perfect health, for the 

 air on these distant plains is the purest I have ever breathed. 

 Frequently on a knoll I have stood, after some unusually 

 hard run, inhaling and enjoying its freshness as the thirsty 

 traveler does a cup of clear cool water drawn from a mount- 

 ain stream. Each day you perform your allotted work, 

 and no cares are sufficiently weighty to be dwelt upon or 

 procrastinated till they return with redoubled force. Your 

 horses are your companions ; hardy and enduring you have 

 proved them to be ; and between master and steed a bond 

 of sympathy springs up, the animal being all reliance, the 

 owner determined that the confidence shall not be mis- 

 placed. With the true-hearted sportsman, who loves hunt- 

 ing for the pleasure it affords, and the opportunities of 

 studying nature as it emanates from the Creator's hands, 

 carnage when useless is detestable: unnecessarily taxing 

 the endurance of his steed, or paining it with uncalled-for 

 punishment, is a crime he would no more be guilty of than 

 the honest man of despoiling his friend. Again, your gun 

 or rifle, ever a willing servant when properly taken care of, 

 requires no small amount of attention ; to no other hands 

 than your own trust it to be cleaned. However high your 

 birth, delicate your nurturing, or boundless your means, to 

 do without the assistance of hirelings, and rely entirely on 

 yourself, is far from derogatory ; on the contrary, it is de- 

 serving of commendation, and the benefit that will result 

 in after-life from such lessons can not be too highly esti- 

 mated. I have known a few months of wild Western life 

 do more good in forming a character than years passed in 



