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Show 48 TEAVELS AND ADVENTUEES LN THE FAE WEST. PE0FE8S0E ESPY'S THEOET OF EAIN. I have had occasion to observe that the immense clouds of smoke which filled the atmosphere continually during the time the prairies were on fire, were condensed during the cold of the night, sometimes form-ing rain, but always heavy dew, which I did not observe before the prairies were burning. I think Prof. Espy says that artificial rain can be produced by smoke from large fires, and from the observations I have made I coincide in that theory. It is not unlikely that the Indians, who have from the earliest knowledge of the prairie country annually set the high rank grass on fire, did it to afford artificial mois-. ture for the immense tracts of buffalo grass plains, on which subsist hundreds of thousands of buffalo, elk, and deer. No rain falls at certain seasons, and without dew the grass would be all burnt up by the scorching heat of the sun. The Indians, I believe, practically put into operation the theory of Espy-knowing from experience that smoke is condensed into dew. On the Kansas River the dew fell very heavily. I found it necessary while doing guard to cover myself with my India-rubber poncho, to prevent my clothes from becoming saturated with water. * * * * * * * Last night our camp was visited with a heavy storm of rain and sleet; it was bitter cold. It rained considerably yesterday, but the temperature was not lower than 65°. The wind increased during the night, and one sudden gust blew our cotton tent completely over, exposing us to the peltings of the merciless storm of |