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Show 392 Ex. Doc. No. 41. The mounds made by the gophers or sand rats were mor~ abun( la nt than heretofore, and in several places a num.h<·.r of these mounds had bc<'n made so close together th.at the dt~ttnctllc s of each was completely lost in the mas , covenng an area of five or six feet. · ) 1 Our road was full of plovers, (<"hara<!H:us marmoratus; .1tcy would run along before us with ~reat raptdlly; .then. sto1: unttl we a proachctl quite dose, when they woul<l run oil agatn. Thu. they k~pt travelling before u~ all. day. vVe shot severa l o~ thct~.'.n.n,J 1 prc ~ervctl some of then skms,. more as a memento oi .the ptam~s than as a curiosity, for these bll'dS a~·e very auun<lanl Ill the Umted States, from Canada to the g ulf oi J\.Tcxt<'O. As we procl'rded on our jounwy, we heard the confus<'<.l h~11n of thousands of grasshopper:;;, uow .and t~1en brok<>n by th<.' d11rplllg ?f the cricket. Tht·se insects arc found tn great abundance, a.nd out<u.n greater :-.ize than any I ha.' c seer~ elHewherl': . I g-ot a cnl'ket tl11~ morning that measured 1~ Inches 111 l<:nf4th of 1ls bod:y. We now (•nlen·d on the level pra1n ,, where notlung- wa to be sct'n but a '"ide expanse of gre<'ll gr.tss, and the sly ;d)o' c fillcrl with cumulus clouds, the shadows of which, as they fell upon us, add<•<l to the refreshing cfl'eds of tl1<: deli ghtful bn'<'Ze one. generally meet~ upon th~ the pra!r~c. ~fter. travelling a l_ong dJ!.:lta.nce over a country, tllC JJ'f('gnlantics of wlucl1 were so Impcn;ep.u.blc that one almost doubted their <'}l.is1cncc, we rcrl<'h<• l that postllOll ,\ hirh I took to he the top of the divid •. Here lny thl' llalf clc"\ Oured ('arcass of an ox that !Jad, doubtless, ~uccumb<'<l to t~c fatigues of Lhe journey anLl depriva liou of watl'r; Jc,r these alllmals , uff cr much more fro to ~'ant of wa tc r than tlw mule. ~ omc h trkey vultures, f'ai ling aoo\e our hc.uls, showed thai they wcrcnot. ignorant of the locality of the carriOtl . [n a little while after passinr,- 1 he o, 's carcass, we fl'il('hcd 110 mile crcc·k, wl1ich is 22 111 iles distant ft om our last uigbt's ramp. ~t this cr<•elc the re is a fiue grove of timbe r, t.:ontai1. i;1g all the vaneties found in the vicinity of Kansas r iver . A bout 12 o'clock we reached this creek, and Wl' lH rr foun<l ~he Job in , ( t u r d u s 111 i g r at o r i us , ) t h e eat b i r d a n <l t h c b l t1e b ; r d ; n n d , ht g l l above us, the swallow-tailed hawk (niluderus fus< ;1lu.) was swccpit. g round in ~raccful circ les, its white head glancin~ in ~he sunlioht. 1 asl\cd the Indi.ul 1a<l to shoot it for me with l1is nile; but. h~ gazed upwards at the bird, and s<'emcd so struck with the .beauty of ils mov<'ments that he uttcr<'d 110L a word, but shook llls hcatl to signify thal the bird was too fair for him to kill it. 1 sho~ld think it impossible for smaller uircls ever to escape this }l,twk, wlucl~ unites the form and swifln<'ss of the swallow with the boldness an< • trc·ngth of wing of the falcon. Nigh the hanks of the strc am tlH're "\\as a 1 ow pi ere of groun<l covcrc<l with the purple motl:ud.t, (monarda. a11ophylla.) The gaudy butterllics that I ha.Ye ~:~pokcll of ucfurr, as flittlllg around the as('lepias, "ere now sucking the sweet..- of th c::;e flower:;;. l3eforc we had fairly pitched our tc·nts, young Mr. Nourse. ()f Washington city, entered our camp. He had, alone, boldly set Ex. Doc. No. 41. 3!)3 off from Fort Lc~venworth the 1lay after we had left determine<! to ov •rtakc us. We were dt•lightcd at his safl' arriv::l; nor wc•re w~ J<'ss pleased '~hen we found that he· had brougltt letters from the fra'n ds and n•lattv cs whom wr ha1l left behind. Jt~ly :L-We arose early ~his morning to gain as much of tbC' cool porlwn of th' day a~ pos-.;ILlt•, d.ctcnninecl to push on and s<•e if we could n ol get rul of the Jltes that arc so trouhl<'somc to our hor?t' ·. The poor brutes serm to ha\e no time to grazt>; and when ptC'kctc.d o.nt, they ~mploy tlu·ir fcechng tilll ·in rolling in th~ grass au~l kH·l~Ing _frantt~·ally, so thn1 the grountl n·. ounds with t~lC stamptng .of .thru h.oois; aud, in taking- obs<'rvalions with the at.d of the _arttfi<.:1·ll honzon, one is obliged to selc'ct a spul at some lhstan<.'<' fr o.m the hor.~es, to . pn•vcnt the jar whil'h tla·y produce from dt :-;turbwg the surl<~<'e of thP mcr.cury. The season app<·ars to be urH.tsually dry; 110 n11l '-' crc•t·k, wltt('h at thi-, tim<' Ltst year was full of water, uow has only a few scatten·<l pools in its U<'d . .i\11 ~l ny w<.> had a brisJ· hr<.'cze fHJtn lhc soutlnvcst, makin~ 1he travt'llt llg Y<'fY f~leasant. ?-'}w pJOV<'r i1Tl(~ COW birds WCI'C playing along 1lH' road 1n fror~t of us,. and catch~ng the gras::,hoppers that were ~<"attcrcd arountl m unltHllt ·d profus10n. At JO o'elo<·k, having marehed 15 mileH, we rcadH•d Jndqwndenee ?reck, so called by Colo_nel Fremont, in <.:on ·equencc of' our <'tH·ampwp; here on the 4t.h of .July, one year pr ·vious. This creek contau\ ' the OJJ1y ruunt~g \\ atrr we have sel'll ~in<'c leaving our <'nmp by the Wakaroosa nver. Along th<· roacl sulc, I gathered a plant call tl lam u' s q ll<trlt' r, (chen o podium alb nm,) Lh<' pI a in lain wee <1 (p lantago. major,) and.~" beautiful ~.cnsiti\c plant, with a yello,; llowcr, slightly re'{emblu.Jg tl1c violet, (cassia chamae< rista) . Wl' CnCill,'lJH' tl ~;even llldl:-i b<•yond Judepcndctl<'C <.:reek, in,\. ravi1 e tunurrc d. wtth the elm, the cotton wood, thC' hickory and the oak. Some of. o u r h un1 c r s w <' n t o u t an d k i I I e d sever a I w i 1 d lu r h•} s, (~1clca~ns gallopaoo .) We saw a Jlo<"k o1 curlew, (numenius longnostns1) aud Home teal, (a'lilS ea1ol.) Saturday, JuJy 4 .-Al 5i (>'dock, this morning-, we crossccl the c~c c k upon w llich W<; hnd en t:.tm ped, and so on reac hcd an cl eva t • <l P ~ c c e _o f g r o u n d , fro m \\ h en < e \\- (' c o ul d ~ e c o u r r o <u l c r o s i n g · htgh rt~lgc in a direction S. GO.> \rV. \Vl1il::;t prosecuting our march we ~lollrcd two di...,tant spots in tlw horizon; and, as W<' ll<'arl'd tht·m, w~ JUdged, [rom the whit~? light that one of the obj•·ds rclleC'L<·d, tlt.tt they mq~ht Le mounted 111en. Before long we met tltc·m, and founcl our conjl'cturcs correct. They sail! they were tradn~·, and had been ar-; far as Coun<·il grove. At 7 o'{'lock, W<' crosse<l a stream of runni11g water; at 8 o'clock, we reached one composccl of poolR, 1ls Lanks h, avily timlH•rcd with :Walnut, an d w c a 1 so n o tic cl tIt c h u <' l <'} t' , ( p a vi, t lu ten,) an d, skirt;~ g th<• stream, goo:-;cb ·rry h shes, (rilH·s triilorum,) and tldcr. At . 0 ' cl O(' k, '' e rcaeh eel Roc}, ere<. k. Tit is st rram is Y<'ry appro{~ rt .ttcly llillllt'd, as its banks chiefly !'OllSisl of roc)·. l'i<•ar Wla•rc f lC r.ottd crossrs ther{' i::; a J arge poo I from fonr to li \ t' ft•d in cl cptll, on~111g a fine bath~ng pl'1<'t'; but we did not stop bert', as W(' w<·re anxwus to re,tch some l'mint•Jl t pl: cc in honor of the day. W c |