The
patient may be protected against the rain or sun by bending small
willows over the frame, and covering them with a cloth.

RAPID TRAVELING.

Small parties with good animals, light vehicles, and little lading, may
traverse the Plains rapidly and comfortably, if the following
injunctions be observed.

The day's drive should commence as soon as it is light, and, where the
road is good, the animals kept upon a slow trot for about three hours,
then immediately turned out upon the best grass that can be found for
two hours, thus giving time for grazing and breakfast. After which
another drive of about three hours may be made, making the noon halt
about three hours, when the animals are again harnessed, and the
journey continued until night.

In passing through a country infested by hostile Indians, the evening
drive should be prolonged until an hour or two after dark, turning off
at a point where the ground is hard, going about half a mile from the
road, and encamping without fires, in low ground, where the Indians
will find it difficult to track or see the party.

These frequent halts serve to rest and recruit the animals so that they
will, without injury, make from thirty to forty miles a day for a long
time. This, however, can only be done with very light loads and
vehicles, such, for example, as an ambulance with four mules, only
three or four persons, and a small amount of luggage.

FUEL AND FIRE.

There are long distances upon some of the routes to California where no
other fuel is found but the dried dung of the buffalo, called by the
mountaineers "chips," and by the French "bois de vache," the _argul_ of
the Tartary deserts. It burns well when perfectly dry, answers a good
purpose for cooking, and some men even prefer it to wood. As it will
not burn when wet, it is well, in a country where no other fuel can be
had, when it threatens to rain, for the traveler to collect a supply
before the rain sets in, and carry it in wagons to the camp. When dry,
the chips are easily lighted.

A great saving in fuel may be made by digging a trench about two feet
long by eight inches in width and depth; the fires are made in the
bottom of the trench, and the cooking utensils placed upon the top,
where they receive all the heat. This plan is especially recommended
for windy weather, and it is convenient at all times. The wood should
be cut short, and split into small pieces.

It is highly important that travelers sh