16 

 four. N. W., better known as " Commodore," Kittson appre- 

 ciated this fact and never would in any of his later prairie 

 trips ride in any other way or in any other vehicle. 



As there is only one way to ride in a cart, so there is only 

 one way of stowing its accessories ; the most important of 

 which is your half-sized axe. Put into the cart by a green 

 hand, this useful implement becomes an engine of destruction; 

 cuts into your packages of tea, etc., ruins your blankets and 

 jolts along till its long handle reaches far over the tail board, 

 and an extra jump tumbles it on to the trail, to delight the 

 heart of the first Indian who passes, but to cause you to be 

 extremely sorrowful when you have to make camp with a 

 jack-knife, or replace an old axle. No, the axe should take 

 no risks, and must have a leather socket for its head and a 

 strap for its handle, and both outside the cart on one of the 

 side boards. The gun is the next in importance; and for 

 that, too, there is only one way, if you are not to risk shooting 

 yourself or your companion. The butt must rest near 3'our 

 seat on the left side, the barrels in a loop to the top rail at an 

 angle of 45 degrees, this arrangement, while making its 

 carriage quite safe, enabling you to seize it quickly while 

 3^et tiie |:>rairie chicken or duck is passing. 



Not so dangerous as the two foimer, but infinitely more 

 difficult to manage are the frying-pan, with its long handle, and 

 the copper and tin kettles, to put the one loose into the cart 

 was to blacken and smear all its contents ; while the kettles, 

 after a preliminary row-de-dow, would speedily part with their 

 bales and lids, batter themselves into uselessness against the 

 sides, anithen jump out bodily on to the track. No, having 

 tried many ways with kettles, I have come to the conclusion 

 that only when inside one another and lashed securely below 

 the centre of the axle, wdiere they may jingle in peace, are they 

 to be circumvented. As for the frying-pan, having been so 

 often entirely beaten in attempts to muzzle one, I have long 

 ago given up any thought of rendering innocuous that jing- 

 ling, banging, crooked, perverse but indispensable adjunct to 

 prairie travel. 



