o compass, it is always well
to make an observation, and to remember the direction of the wind at
the time of departure from camp; and as this would not generally change
during the day, it would afford a means of keeping the points of the
compass.

In the night Ursa Major (the Great Bear) is not only useful to find the
north star, but its position, when the pointers will be vertical in the
heavens, may be estimated with sufficient accuracy to determine the
north even when the north star can not be seen. In tropical latitudes,
the zodiacal stars, such as Orion and Antares, give the east and west
bearing, and the Southern Cross the north and south when Polaris and
the Great Bear can not be seen.

It is said that the moss upon the firs and other trees in Europe gives
a certain indication of the points of compass in a forest country, the
greatest amount accumulating upon the north side of the trees. But I
have often observed the trees in our own forests, and have not been
able to form any positive conclusions in this way.

CHAPTER VI.

Guides and Hunters. Delawares and Shawnees. Khebirs. Black Beaver.
Anecdotes. Domestic Troubles. Lodges. Similarity of Prairie Tribes to
the Arabs. Method of making War. Tracking and pursuing Indians. Method
of attacking them. Telegraphing by Smokes.

DELAWARES AND SHAWNEES.

It is highly important that parties making expeditions through an
unexplored country should secure the services of the best guides and
hunters, and I know of none who are superior to the Delawares and
Shawnee Indians. They have been with me upon several different
occasions, and I have invariably found them intelligent, brave,
reliable, and in every respect well qualified to fill their positions.
They are endowed with those keen and wonderful powers in woodcraft
which can only be acquired by instinct, practice, and necessity, and
which are possessed by no other people that I have heard of, unless it
be the khebirs or guides who escort the caravans across the great
desert of Sahara.

General E. Dumas, in his treatise upon the "Great Desert," published in
Paris, 1856, in speaking of these guides, says:

"The khebir is always a man of intelligence, of tried probity, bravery,
and skill. He knows how to determine his position from the appearance
of the stars; by the experience of other journeys he has learned all
about the roads, wells, and pastures; the dangers of certain passes,
and the means of avoiding t