30 NEW TEACKS IN NORTH AMERICA, 



out doubt the only permanent way of solving the difficulty. 

 As these adyance, the forts on the lines of travel, one by one, 

 become useless, while the Indians, after receiving a series of 



m 



+ 



good thrashings from the settlers, soon learn, like the Great 

 Pah-ute nation in California, that their days of successful 

 warfare are over, and that their only chance is to keep quiet, 

 and to allow the Government to feed them. - 



We left Fort Harker on the morning of the 11th, and, three 

 miles beyond, passed through Ellesworth, a wonderful place, 

 having scA^en or eight "stores,'' two hotels, fifty houses of other 

 kinds, occupied by nearly a thousand persons, and yet just 

 one month old. Six weeks ago the wild buffalo was roaming 

 over its site, and the Indians scalped a foolish soldier whom 

 they caught sleeping where the new school -house now stands. 

 The day of the "buffalo and Indian haye passed for ever; 

 never again will the one graze, or the other utter a war 

 "whoop on this spot. 



During the two following days we strained our eyes m 

 vain for a glimpse at the big game ; their marks were every- 

 where — tracks, wallows, and skeletons innumerahle. We 

 killed many reptiles — the pretty, little garter snake, and the 

 long and graceful racer, one of which species measured over 

 ;8ix feet ; and several of those venomous pests of the plains, the 

 rattlesnake. As a general thing, it is not hard to tell a 

 poisonous snake from a harmless one. The head of the former 

 is covered with large scales, usually five in number, whue 

 that of the latter is clothed with small ones, similar to, and 

 continuous with, those covering the neck and body. Again, 

 if you turn the serpent over you will find that, if it ^^ 

 harmless, the succession of semicircular scales which cover 

 the under surface, continue unbroken to the tip of the tail, 

 while at the caudal extremity in the venomous species these 



) 



n 





I 



