ne upon which we should sooner reach water--
and that is the most important consideration on a prairie-journey. We
headed in a more westerly direction; by which, keeping in a straight
line, we expected to strike the Rio Grande some distance above the
rancheria.

The sky was leaden-grey--the sun not being visible--and with no guide in
the heavens, we knew that we might easily diverge from a direct course.
To provide against this, my companions had recourse to a compass of
their own invention.

On taking our departure from camp, a sapling was stuck into the ground,
and upon the top of this was adjusted a piece of bear's-skin, which,
with the long hair upon it, could be distinguished at the distance of a
mile or more. The direction having been determined upon, another wand,
similarly garnished with a tuft of the bear's-skin, was set up several
hundred yards distant from the first.

Turning our backs upon these signal-posts, we rode off with perfect
confidence, glancing back at intervals to make sure we were keeping the
line. So long as they remained in sight, and _aligned_ with each other,
we could not otherwise than travel in a straight path. It was an
ingenious contrivance, but it was not the first time I had been witness
to the ingenuity of my trapper-friends, and therefore I was not
astonished.

When the black tufts were well-nigh hidden from view, a similar pair--
the materials for which had been brought along--were erected; and these
insured our direction for another stretch of a mile; then fresh saplings
were planted; and so on, till we had passed over six miles of the plain.

We now came in sight of timber right ahead of us, and apparently about
five miles distant. Towards this we directed our course.

We reached the timber about noon, and found it to consist of black-jack
and post-oak groves, with mezquite and wild china-trees interspersed,
and here and there some taller trees of the honey-locust (_Gleditschia
triacanthos_). It was not a close forest, but a succession of groves,
with openings between--avenues and grassy glades.

There were many pleasant spots, and, faint with the ride, I would fain
have chosen one of them for a resting-place; but there was no water, and
without water we could not halt. A short distance farther, and we
should reach a stream--a small _arroyo_, an affluent of the Rio Grande.
So promised my companions, and we rode onward.

After passing a mile or so through the timber-