so SHOliT STALKS 



carefully apportioned, aucl, after they are fastened on with 

 the '^ diamond" hitch, examined, to see that the balance is 

 right. After tln-ee hours' hard work w^e pulled out and 

 took the shortest cut to the AVind River, which we w^ere to 

 follow to its source, and beyon(L 



Mexican saddles are universally used, and are com- 

 fortable riding wdien you get the knack of it, which 

 consists in lengthening the stirrups and straightening the 

 knee. In ignorance of this "tip" the "tender-foot" soon 

 finds himself tender elsewhere. I was slow to learn to 

 carry my legs like an inverted V, and suffered accordingly. 

 Nor were my raw places soothed by the remark: "You 

 fellers should learn to ride afore yer come hunting ; " but 

 it would take worse experiences than this to spoil the keen 

 delight of the first few days' ride in the crisp air, and 

 above all, of the first camps. One of the earliest of my 

 minor misfortunes was to crush the life out of my watch 

 with my knee, when I thought I was only squeezing my 

 air-bed. Thenceforth there was only one sound time- 

 piece in the party, and that had lost the minute hand ; 

 but it is astonishing how soon you can dispense with the 

 fringe of civilisation when you try. Our train consisted 

 of four riding horses for ourselves, five pack horses, two 

 pack mules, and six horses belonging to our three men — 

 seventeen in all. 



Our plan was to cross the ridge which constitutes the 

 backbone and watershed of the continent, and thence make 

 a rapid dash, lightly laden, to the Geyser Basin in the 

 National Park, wdiich, at that time, had been but rarely 

 approached from the south. Afterwards we proposed to 

 return to the basin of the Wind River to hunt. 



