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Show 396 Ex. Doc. No. 41. in its general character that it at once catches the eye of the traveller. On either siue of us we observed little circular spots marking the })laces whcr<' the buffalo once wallowed; .for t.hcse l1ugc animals have a h a b i t o f t h r o w i n g t h c m s l~ 1 v e , on. t b e tr s u I.e s u p o .n ~ h e g r o u n d ; they th •n l'Omm<•nce walktng, as It were~ With. thcll' 1ect on the rircumfercn<'e of a circle; this causes theH bod1cs to rcvolvr, and thus result cirC'ular depres::;ions in the prairi('s; th<'sc, after a rain, are for a long time filled with water, with which the traveller Is often fa i n to s l a k (' hi R t h i r st. 'l'hese ol1l W<lllows nrc now over~rown with plants tl1at grow m or<' lu xu r ian tl y than on o th c r port ions of the p rai ric. Thrrr i, the ~plendi<l <'OHopsis ( eoreopsis tindo1ia) and the sil vn margined euphorbia; (euphorbia margtnata;) these at once arrest the attention. lt i ' ~<·!,lorn, now, that the buffalo range this far; no sign of old exc-rements arc to be seen, and the bl<'achcd bones left upon the })lains Ly the hun lt•r have Ion ~~ sinre mouldcred away. Towards the clo:-.c of tbc day we found tlH• frontal bon(' of a buffalo's skull, the Ollly sign, in a~lditi on to the wallows, of this animal having been Olll't' ilU tt lldanl. Along th(' road were numbers of the bcctlr, laying in their winter . totes, "baud Jl onignaJ i aut inca uta ftt\.uri." W' slopped to noon, at ll~ o'docL Aftl r a halt of half an hour, we started again, and at 1~ ~ o' ·1o ·k, form ·d our camp on Turkey creek Here not a stick of tunh er iR to be sct·n, but wr found somP beautiful plants with brilliant scarld flowers (malva p<'data) and roots which arc ea.tablc. \Vt· also obtained sp •cimcns of the pomme bLmchP, (psorale·1 es cul,·ntct,) and in the Vt atrrs of Turk<'y creek w <'aught some ~un p< rch and catfish. 1.,he men killed S<'' cntl ratlll·snakc.' ncar our camp, and one a ~rr.y sn5d, r , warkcd with : row of blackish spots along the back; 1t 1. :tid nevn ln exce r<l two ftct in length, anJ is call('d the grey rattlesnake. 11cfore da.rl, the sky became black with c.lou~ls, who~e nppcarancc \\as soon followed by a heavy show •r of ram. 'J'I,i::.:. tLy, 9th; al daylight, \\e struck our tents and eommrr1 ced our mar · h; h ca "Y clou~l , were at in t <'rvals passing O\ er us and C'Ompldcly deluginJ us with rain. When the rain would cease, we would ~to1 , a fe v moments nn!l let our animals rest. We ll o t i u .. d · o 1ll e b u fEll o ~ k u 11 s n c a r t h c r o ad ; t h e y m u s t h n v c 1 a i n here many years, a~ they Wei e crumbling to pieces. At 3 o'cl.ock we reached thP L1ttlc Admnsas, a tributary of the grrai n.vcr ~he l~anw of whid1 it he.trs. This stream is from five to C'ig-hticct 111 vvulth, and aYerages .five inches in depth· on its banks were som(• large elm· a.nci box c1dl'r; we also sa\~ the common. <'ld.1·r, (samLucus,) lli.~rrnw.le<d"ed willow, and the grape, (vitis aesti,aiis,) t1H• tiOfll (nxal1s stncta) <~nd lamb's quarter, (chenopodium album,) grt•w near the stream. Th' lain had crasccl a \Vc cntc•recl camp, and as the antr· lope arpearc!l abundant and at 110 great distance, .MenarJ WilS Ex. Doc. No. 41. 397 sent to shoot some of them, but his gun had got so wet during the day it would not fire. We noticI erd .t o-dayf the pink ~cnsitiv })l(a nt (s. rllr''l nk· .· t ) Ia lltl ( lila a of m o t < e 1 c 1 o ~~ s rag ran<'<', o t h n t m. y hat, in t 0 w h j c h I had thru t som specuncns, wa pleasantly ]) rfum cd. Vvith tl · 1· l f I I . . liS p .ln t, w c a so o u IH a w u t e v a r H' t y, ( cl a r1 i n g to n i a b r a c h y p 0 d a,) t h c flowers and le01.vcs arc smaller thau the plant fir .·t mc•;1t io ucd, an<l has no odor. Late in t~1c evening sev ral ?f the volunl(•er compani s carn.c up ; t ~ e y s <U tl t h e y we r e s u ff e r In g f o r '" an t o f p r 0 v j s i 0 11 f' ; a ~ l h . commissary waggons h~d got on too far in arlvancr, tlH'Y Rent for-w a r d to h a v c so m c of t h m ret u r n B u t w c w ' r <' a It rr· · f h 1 1 . · ' su r n n g rom a Ca\~ c. t at pro! ~rcc m some of us f<•elings Mlore unpleasant than l:unger, the blo\\ fly had peoplecl our blankets with 1· · f . . . . • IVIrlg mas es o corruplton; 1t ts saul that thes in eel. W<'re neve 1) f seen so f ar out m. t 11 c pra.t n.e s. r e ore Friday,. lOt/~,.-Jt is still raining, the clouds arc chasing each oth ~ raptdly acros the sky, and now and then th(• rain po he.avdy down. W c remained in ramp some time waiting for ;~e :am to sto.r: We thus. lost sev ral hours, out we found travelling In ~he prautcs rather Increased the chafing of our animals. We noticed to-day some swallow·, (hirundo bi co lor ) also the t tl l tl r tl . , } bl . ' ur e < ?vc, 1e 1t e quai , t 1c ue Jay, (garulus ·ri. latus,) and the king fi her (a1ccdo al ·yon.) . We collected . orne Jamb's quarl<'r ancl h!d it cook e11, ancl noticed along the road side the purslane, (portulaca olQraC'ea;) this also, ~ould an wer for the table of the prairie voyageur. Our days JOurney was 16 miles. SatuTday lJtA.-We were up this morning at 3~ o'clock, ancl ready ~or the start.. Our arran~"Y(•ment of mosquito bars was broken 1n upon last mght by a h •avy shower of rain that for ·cd us to rctre~'t to our tents. . After marching three miles, we reached Cow cr ck; it was vrry dtfftcult.to cross on account of the miry bottom, but we got safely over w1~hout great delay. llcforc we l1ad proc<'eded far, we caught s1ght of th? "plum butt? /' bearing N. 20° \V. We passe(! through a large v1l1age of pratrl dogs, (Arctomys Luclovi c.:iann ·) although now deserted, there w ~·c fresh s~gns of the dogs havi~g thrown out some earth from their txcavat10n . Last night's rain hac!, doubtle s, forced them to leave their housrs. In the ponds th~t had settled on the plain, we saw several craw fish, and the cnckets were gathered nroun.cl some ant bills. As our wagons ~o~ed along the road, t~e J.1zards ,(l~ccrta .linratus) were darting ptdly along the rut· 1n front of 1t, anx1ous to escape being ~bushed. 'fhe common l~nd turtle (testudo rlausa) wcr ·also very of undant. As we got qutte ~ear the Plum buttes, we caught sight the. buffaloes, (bos amen ·a nus,) and some five or six of our P.arty Immediately gave chase. The buffaloes ran around in a Circle of three-fourths of a mile in diameter; so those who were near the centre of this circle had an excellent view of the cba c. llolster pistols were the only arms used, and we soon l1ad the plea- |