the wintry frosts by the dead grass which covered the plain My Indian pony evidently had indulged in this kind of feast before, and went rooting about with his lips, exposing the fresh green vegetation. Here was a paradise for our animals. Af ter the inadequate supply of food it was assuredly the most gratifying experience of the day to see them enjoying themselves.

The surroundings of our camp had the appearance of a fine place for game, and everywhere we discovered indications that our opinion was correct. As we went into camp a beautiful herd of deer started from the open space near the stream, and darted into the bushes. A small drove of buffalo had just passed over the hill.

As soon as we had designated the site for the camp Essetoyeh, leaving his squaw to look after his comfort for the night, accompanied by several troopers, set out on a hunt.

In the course of an hour our little camp was established, tent-flies spread, fires built and blazing cheerfully, water boiling, provision baskets were overhauled, and preparations were made generally to perform the important and interesting duty of laying in a supply of provender. On this occasion everybody was his own cook. We sat around the fire, each fortified with a skewer, made of a green stick, sharpened at the opposite extremity, on which was impaled inviting strips of buffalo meat, deer, and salt pork. The reader may smile, and say a delightful combination. Hazen, who was somewhat of a connoisseur in camp cooking, had provided himself with a patent broilingmachine, the merits of which were so marked that the General soon found himself quite busy in preparing and distributing specimens of his skill.

Having laid in an enormous quantity of "broiled," pickles, and hard-tack, tin cups were unstrapped and filled with a dense black fluid, in which were huge particles of coffee floating about. The beverage had, at least, the recommendation of strength. With the accession of a camp buscuit, by way of dessert, several gallons of the mollifying stimulant passed out of sight almost imperceptibly, and with little effort.

This exercise wound up the labors of the day. Pipes were smoked, filled, and smoked again. As the potent influence of sleep began to draw about exhausted nature, one by one, we rolled into our blankets, and amid a chorus of snores the night quickly sped away. The lonely sentinel paced his beat. Everything was quiet and undisturbed until the following dawn, when the unwelcome reveille awoke us from our slumbers.

The next morning we early broke camp, and were again on the march. The day was cloudy, and rain momentarily threatened. The air was chilly and dense with dampness. We were now approaching the Witchita range, so as to obtain a closer view of its general outlines. The summits of the higher peaks were veiled in a drapery of mist. The rugged sides, the immense boulders towering aloft, or bending over in giddy precipices, could be well defined with the aid of our glasses. The country was more bold and rocky. The timber was heavier, and grew in extensive belts at the base of the mountains, while their sides were perfectly bare.

At eleven o'clock in the morning, we reached Medicine bluff, Our Indian guide contemplated this wonderful exhibition of nature with awe and reverence. To the interpreter he said, pointing to the conical summit of the central elevation, "there the great spirit sometimes dwells-there the Comanche goes to drive out the bad spirit." As for ourselves we were wonder struck with the sublimity and magnificence of the scene. The bluff was a mile in length, forming a perfect crescent. At the base of the perpendicular scarp, which constituted the concavity of the crescent, coursed a beautiful stream about twenty yards in width, called Medicine Bluff creek. In some places the creek seemed bottomless, so that looking into its crystal waters, it had the appearance of a basin of ink, and again pursuing its way in more shallow spots became pure and sparkling. From the very brink of the creek rose the vertical sides of the bluff three hundred and ten feet in height by actual measurement. The sides had the appearance of a trap-rock, and the strata stood almost perpendicularly. At the central and highest point,

the strata met, separating in the descent. The surface of this face of the bluff was regular and perfectly smooth. A minute species of moss covered the sides with a garb of pale green, which might easily have been mistaken for the rock. By far the larger portions of the face was perfectly bare, though at some places a few stunted cedars had found a lodgment in the crevices. On the opposite side of the creek, in several places, the banks were forty and fifty feet high, rocky, and overhung the stream; but they were, however, mostly low, stretching off into an alluvial plain.

From this side, we amused ourselves by firing several shots at the rocky wall. The detonations were echoed up and down the valley with surprising effect, and alarmed a herd of deer which had come down to drink. The timid animals were now bounding over the plain terrified at such strange sounds.

Medicine bluff was, unquestionably, the result of upheaval, though an earthquake alone could have detached it from the adjacent rocks. It was remarkable also that the pressure should have applied itself to so small an area. The face of the bluff rose at once from an immense fissure, now the bed of Medicine Bluff creek.

Leaving our escort in the cañon in the rear of the bluff, and taking with us a few orderlies, we rode as far up as the steep ascent permitted, and then also dismounted making the rest of the laborious journey on foot. The Indian guide Essetoyeh when asked to ascend with us to point out and explain the country, merely observed "me no sick" and obstinately refused to go to the top, but galloped off in pursuit of game.

From the rear the bluff presented three knolls, the centre one being the highest. The steep sides were composed of small fragments of rock, indicating that at one time they were made up of boulders. The disintegration, however, was of a character to admit of the growth of large quantities of bunch grass, and a peculiar variety of flowering cactus. This plant consisted of one, two, and sometimes eight or ten buds, an inch or two in diameter, and flattened on the top. The buds clustered upon

a single root, were covered with a heavy mail of spines, and were not to be touched with impunity. The flower was of a purple tint, and formed a tuft in the centre of the ball. Some very fine specimens were collected by our party.

Having reached the central knoll, the view was extremely grand. The course of the Medicine Bluff creek could be traced, wending its way from the mountains, across the intervening valley, and away down the broad expanse in our rear. Mount Scott, about eight miles distant, stood before us with its pyramidal outline. Clouds swept by its rocky summit. It stood like a sentinel guarding the eastern gate to the mountain range. The country on either side changed suddenly into a rolling plain, Between us and the mountain swept a great valley. A small herd of buffaloes were grazing in a perfect sense of security upon the sides of a small spur of the range. Everything else was without life, and a profound solemn stillness reigned. From our commanding position we looked around upon the face of nature untouched by the hand of art, the very air was pervaded by that profound reverential solitude which, on such occasions, touches the soul with a deep sense of the divinity of creation.

Turning from the view towards the mountains, the eye rested upon a broad valley. Indeed, so extensive, that were it not completely surrounded by a range of low hills, it might have been taken for an endless plain. On the right a belt of timber defined the course of Cache creek, which about two miles from us united with the Medicine Bluff creek, the latter then losing its name.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

LEGENDS OF MEDICINE BLUFF.

M

EDICINE bluff, I afterwards learned, figured prominently in Indian history, superstitions, and tradition. The bluff, from time immemorial, had been held in high reverence by all the tribes who had dwelt or hunted in the vicinity, and by none more so than by the Comanches and the Witchitas. The hill was considered to possess miraculous and mysterious influences. There the Great Spirit often descended, and from the bluff looked over and cared for his people, saw that game was abundant, and that his children were prosperous and happy. Upon the summit of the principal knoll, the Comanche medicine men had erected a cairn of stones about six feet in height. Here the sick repaired, or were brought by their relatives or friends, and were left to the invisible presence and subtle power of the Great Father.

It was told me by an aged medicine man, and with a manner of unflinching confidence in the veracity of what he had to say, that the sick, who were beyond the control of their own powers of healing, were deposited on the cairn and left to be disposed of by the Great Spirit. If the sick had not offended the Spirit they were suddenly healed and returned to their kindred. Sometimes they were transported bodily to the happy huntingground. But if they had been notoriously bad, they were allowed to die, and the ravens descended from the air, and the wolf came up from the valley and devoured the body, and the bones were gathered up by the bad spirit and deposited in the land of terrors.