grass by the neck an
enormous rattlesnake, with his head completely shattered by Shaw's
bullet. As Delorier held him out at arm's length with an exulting grin
his tail, which still kept slowly writhing about, almost touched the
ground, and the body in the largest part was as thick as a stout man's
arm. He had fourteen rattles, but the end of his tail was blunted, as if
he could once have boasted of many more. From this time till we reached
the Pueblo we killed at least four or five of these snakes every day as
they lay coiled and rattling on the hot sand. Shaw was the St. Patrick
of the party, and whenever he or any one else killed a snake he always
pulled off his tail and stored it away in his bullet-pouch, which was
soon crammed with an edifying collection of rattles, great and small.
Delorier, with his whip, also came in for a share of the praise. A day
or two after this he triumphantly produced a small snake about a span
and a half long, with one infant rattle at the end of his tail.

We forded the South Fork of the Platte. On its farther bank were the
traces of a very large camp of Arapahoes. The ashes of some three
hundred fires were visible among the scattered trees, together with
the remains of sweating lodges, and all the other appurtenances of a
permanent camp. The place however had been for some months deserted. A
few miles farther on we found more recent signs of Indians; the trail
of two or three lodges, which had evidently passed the day before,
where every foot-print was perfectly distinct in the dry, dusty soil. We
noticed in particular the track of one moccasin, upon the sole of which
its economical proprietor had placed a large patch. These signs gave us
but little uneasiness, as the number of the warriors scarcely exceeded
that of our own party. At noon we rested under the walls of a large
fort, built in these solitudes some years since by M. St. Vrain. It was
now abandoned and fast falling into ruin. The walls of unbaked bricks
were cracked from top to bottom. Our horses recoiled in terror from the
neglected entrance, where the heavy gates were torn from their hinges
and flung down. The area within was overgrown with weeds, and the long
ranges of apartments, once occupied by the motley concourse of traders,
Canadians, and squaws, were now miserably dilapidated. Twelve miles
further on, near the spot where we encamped, were the remains of still
another fort, standing in melancholy desertion and neglec