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Show [ 243] 12 bloom : i~ some places, bending beneath the weight of purple clusters; in· orhers, .wnhout a flower. lt seems \O love best the sunn.y slopes? with a dcuk sod and southern expo~ure. hvery where the rose 1 met wtlll and renrincls us of ctdti\·ated g«udcns and civiliza1ion. It is scattered ove1~ the prairies in ~ lllaii hosquet:, and whrn gliuering in the d<'ws nnd wavin<r in the pJen~nnt l~rceze Of rl!e. early. lllOI'Iling, is. ~he mo..:t b.ea.tllifn1. of lhe 0 prairie ~ower~: ~he. arte11nsw '· absm~ he, ?r prame .snge, as 11 1 ~ vn rJOusly called, is mcrensmg 111 s1ze, and glrtrrrs l1ke stlvrr, as the southern breeze turus up its lrnvrs to llre.sun. All these plauts ha\'e their insrct iJdtubiiJnts, v::uiously colorct.l ~ tukl!l¥' gcnc'rally fit' hue of the 11ower on which they live. The a_rtemtsut l~n · 1ts 'mall fly accompanying it through r very chancre of clenlfiOil and Jnt1tnde; nnd \\·hen·\·rr I ha\' ·ecn the a.w-!r;n·as tub('rosa, I ha\'C ~h.ntys rcrna1krd, too! <~n tit~~ flow<•r, a J~rge l~tJtterlly, ~o nearly rc~cmblii1g ~~ rn .color, ~s, to uc.dt:::;tmgnr~hablc at a Iuiie drslnn e only by the motion of J~s \\'rngs. 1 rnvciJ1ng on 1he frc~h traces of the Orrgon cmicrrn11ts r Iie\'es a. little tire l01wl1nr :::of tltr road· and to ni (TlH nft r a march of twenty-t\\'0 '/ t> , mr ('fl, \\'C' lwltl'd on a snwll nc<'k, whic~1 lwd IJecn on<' of their enc:amp- JlH'trt~. As \\·e ndn111cc west,~·nrd, th~ sod appears to be gcltin,cr mor sandy, ~~nd the surface rock, nn <·rratrc cleposrle of sand and g rn\'el, rt'sts here ort a ued of conrse ycllo\\' alld gmy nnd very friaule and ton e. J~vcnincr closed over with rnin and it~ 11, ual att endant, i10rd es of mo quitoes with which we were nnnoyed for rite first time. ' . Ju~tc 22.- We .enjoy d nt br nkfa t this mornincr a luxury v ry unu~nal Jn .1111 .' ~o nntry, 1~1 a <.:up of excellent cofJce, with cream from our cow. Bc1ng nrrlkecl at n1ght, crca.m wns thus had ~n the nwrnincr. Our rnid.dny hnll wns nt \Vyeth s creek, Ill the bed of wh1 ch, were ntimerou bould rs of dark .ferrug-inous ~and. ton , '!l.ingled w!th or hers of the red sandstone nlreaJy mentioned. I [ere a pack of cards, ly1ng loose on the gra~., marked an cnCi. mtpmeut of Ol~r Orcg~>n ellJigm_nts · a.nd it wa nr the close of the day whrn \\ e mad c o u r IJ 1 \' o u n c Ill t he 1111 d !:' l u f , o Ill e w (' II -t i 1n b (' r <' d ra v in r · near 1 h c l~ittle. Blt1<', twcnt_y- fot~r 111ilcs from our ca1up of !lw preceding Hight. Croc.:smg the urxt morn1ng a Itllntber of hand-ome cr<'ek~, witlt clear watc 1 nn.d sa.ndy beds, ."'e renrhrd at I 0, n \'rry beautiful wooded stream, about tlt11ty-fl\'e .f<'ct w1dc, Ci\lled "anJy crct>k, and , sollH'tinle~, ns the Otoes freCJU<' ntly Winter th ere, '.he Otoe fork. The country ha , 1Jccon1e very sandy, iHH! the. plant ' lc ... vnr.l d and .ahundnnt, with the exception of the am01plw, wltlclt nval~ the grass m qttallttty, though not so forward a~ it has been found to 1 It e ea~1 \\'[Hd. At lite Big rl\cc., where we hnd intended to noon no water wns to be ~ 1 '1,1 . ' J ~nne· te bed. of tlte l1.111e ~rc<·k WitS per.r('ctly dry, and on liiC adjacent s.1ndy bottor~1 cactt, for rhr i1rst tlllle, llladc tlt e1r appearnncr. \Ve nwde here a siJ?rt delay lll search of \\'rt tcr, and, nftl'r a hard day's mnrrb of twenty-eirrht mrlcs, 'JH·nmpPd at five o'clock on the 1 jittle Blue, \vhrre our arri\'nl m~de n ~cene. of I he Ambiall de· so rt. As fa 't ns they arri\'cd, men and horses rn~hed 111to tlw lrram, where th y bathed nnd drank to<r ther in common r.n.1o.rrncn.t. \Ve ~vere now in tlte range of the Pawllres, who were accusIOil~ ed to mfesl tltrs pnr~ of lite cotrtltry, stenling horse· from conrpnnics on t!l 1 " \\:(.~y lot he mountn1ns,. an~l when in suflir.icnt force openly attacking ancl 1.1111 H.I( 11ug them, and !'llhJertrn<r thrm to vnnous 1-inds of in~-;uiL For the ~H~t tinJe, thrr ·for<', guard was mountrd to 11ig·ht. Our route tire next ll10I'll - 1n~ l<~y up tlte valley , whic:h , bordc·rcd by l1ills with crrar<'f'ul slopes lookr<l UllCOltlOtJly green and bcnutiful. 'l'he stream was abon~!ifty feet wide n~1d three ' ( 13 [ 243] or four deep, fringed by colton wood and willow, with freq uent g roves of oak tenautcd by tlocks of 'rtHkcys. Garne here, too, mncle its appearance in greater plcuty. Elk were frequently :3' n on the hil!s, and now and then an antelope houuurd across our path, or a deer broke from tile groves. The road in the afternoon wus over the upper prairies, several tniles from the river, and we cncatllped at. suns ton one of its small tributaries] where an abuAdancc of prcle ( rqwisetll'm) aflf>n1cd fine forage to our tired anintals. We bad travelled thirty one miles. A heavy bank of black clouds in the west carne on tP in a storm belween nine nnd ten, precedeu by a violent wind. The wiu fell in such torrents that it was difTicult to br<'athe fttcing the wind, the thunuer rolled incessantly, and the whole sky was t1emulou. with Iightlling; now and then iJiuniinated by a ulindiug fia~h, succeeded bv pitchy darkne s. Car:-'on had the watch from ten to midnight, and to him had been a ~sirrn cd our young compagnons de ·voyage, lYle 'Srs. Brant u.nd R. Benton. Thi · was th ·ir fir ·t night on guard, and ·uch an introJuction did not augur very au ' pi ciously of the pleasure· of the expedition. Many things conspirrd to render tlJCir sit uation uncomfortable; stories of desperate and bloody Iudian fights we(e rif, in tlte camp; our position was badly chosen, s urrounded on all sides by tintuercd hollow::;, and occupyincr an area of several IJUnclred feet, so that necc,:;sarily the <:;uards were far apart; and now and then l could hear Hanclolpb, a~ if relievrd by the sound of a voice in the darkness, cullin,,. out to the sergeant of the guard, to direct his attention to ~0n1e imaginary alarm~ but tltey stood it out, and took li11..:ir tuin regularly afterward. 'l'he uext morning we hatl a srecimen of the false alarms to which aH parties in these wild regions arc ubject. Proceedi ncr up the valley, objects were seen on tbe opposite hill~, which disappeared before a gla s could be brought to bear upon them. A mnn who was a short di:stauce in the rear came spurring up in greut haste, shouting Indians! Indian~! lie hatl been near enough to see auJ count them, nccordin~T to his report, and bad made out twenty-seven. I immediately halted, arms were examined and put in order; the usual preparation made; and Kit Cnrson,springing upon one of the hunting horse~, cro ... seJ the river, and galloped on· into the opposite prttiries to obtain some certain intelligence of their mo\·ement ·. :Mounted on a fine hor ·e, without a saddle, and scouring bareheaded O\'er tlte prairies, Kit was one of the finest .pictures of n horseman I have ever seen. A short time enauled hill! to discover that tbe ludian war party of twenty."evcn consislcd of six elk, who had been gitzing curiously nt our caravan ns it passed by, and were now scampering ofr at full speed. This was our first alarm, anti its cxciten1ent brokr acrreeably on the rnonotony of the day. At 011r noon halt, the men \vere exerci~cd at a tarcret, and in tho evening we pitched our t ~nts nt a Pawnee encampment of Ia 'l July. They had apparently killed bufl:do here, as many bone::; were lying about., and the frames where the hides had been sf retched were yet stanJing. 'J1he road of the day had kept the valley, which is sometime · rich and well timbered, though the country is generally sandy. Mingled with the u ' llal plants, a thistle ( carduus leuc6grapltus) had for the last day or two made its appearance; and along the river bottom, tradescantia (t~irgi~tica) and milk plant (asclepias s-yriaca*), in considerable quantities. " .. Thi'l plant i.5 very odoriicrous, and in Canada charms tho traveller, ~peeially when pa.~sing through wood'! m the evening. The rreneh there oat tho tender shoots in spring, fkJ ~-e do a paragus. The natives make a s~.tgar of the fiowof3, gathering thc ru in the moraiDg |