XXIV 
THE WAPITI 
281 
the ground, buried beneath canvas and a heap of 
snow. 
This took a considerable time to rearrange. 
Fortunately Henry (the German cook) had made 
a large quantity of hot coffee ; this he slipped 
beneath the tent-wall, and we never enjoyed any¬ 
thing more delicious. 
Having mounted my horse, accompanied by 
Texas Bill, I rode throughout the whole day over 
a large extent of country, as the new sheet of 
snow would be a tell-tale guide to the game that 
had moved since the fall. 
I returned much dissatisfied ; my eyes were 
terribly inflamed by the glaring surface ; my face 
and neck were blistered, and we had seen literally 
nothing except a solitary bull bison and a few 
black-tail deer. It was time to retreat, as the 
Big Horn range had been thoroughly disturbed. 
Leaving instructions that the camp was to follow, 
on 8 th September Lady Baker and myself started, 
without any attendant, across the mountains for 
a ride of about 20 miles to the ranche of Mr. 
Peters, in accordance with the invitation they had 
kindly given us, to pay them a visit upon our 
return. 
There are few portions of the world so utterly 
trackless as the wilds of America. In Africa there 
are generally traces, or paths, although insignificant, 
which mark the natives’ routes from one village to 
another; but in the prairies, and throughout the 
mountains in America, there are no inhabitants, 
