le pack, but it
just then occurred to me that I was wasting our precious ammunition, and
that, considering the value of powder and shot to us just now, the birds
were hardly worth a load apiece; so I left off cracking at them. As I
stepped forward to gather what I had killed, the rest whirred away into
the woods.

"On reaching the tree where they had perched, I was very much surprised
to find a raw-hide rope neatly coiled up, and hanging from one of the
lower branches. I knew that somebody must have placed it there, and I
looked round to see what `sign' there was besides. My eye fell upon the
cinders of an old fire near the foot of the tree; and I could tell that
some Indians had made their camp by it. It must have been a good while
ago, as the ashes were beaten into the ground by the rain, and,
moreover, some young plants were springing up through them. I
concluded, therefore, that whoever had camped there had hung the rope
upon the tree, and on leaving the place had forgotten it. I took the
rope down to examine it: it was no other than a lasso, full fifty feet
long, with an iron ring neatly whipped into the loop-end; and, on trying
it with a pull, I saw it was in the best condition. Of course, I was
not likely to leave such a prize behind me. I had grown, as you may all
conceive, to have a very great regard for a rope, considering that one
had just saved all our lives; so I resolved on bringing the lasso with
me. In order to carry it the more conveniently, I coiled it, and then
hung the coil across my shoulders like a belt. I next packed my game
into the bag, which they filled chock up to the mouth, and was turning
to come back to camp, when my eye fell upon an object that caused me
suddenly to change my intention.

"I was near the edge of the woods, and through the trunks I could see a
large open space beyond, where there were no trees, or only one here and
there. In the middle of this opening there was a cloud of dust, and in
the thick of it I could see two great dark animals in motion. They were
running about, and now and then coming together with a sudden rush; and
every time they did so, I could hear a loud thump, like the stroke of a
sledgehammer. The sun was shining upon the yellow dust-cloud, and the
animals appeared from this circumstance to be of immense size--much
larger than they really were. Had I not known what kind of creatures
were before me, I should have believed that the mammoths were