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Show 10 Ex. Doc. No. 41. comparison, as far as .Santa li'c, is .a series of o~scr~·at.ion~ ·m:de at F<1rt LeaYcn\vorth, w1th the same m trumrnt, nmntng tln ough two yea;s; and the height of the hospital at Fort LcaYcnworth above the sea as. umed at 912 feet. .F'rom Santa Fe down the Del Norte, and thence west as far as camp 83, of Octoher 2Gth, the basis of compa ri on is the series of ob ervations runnino- throun·h two month , at Santa Fe. • From the c' amp ofb Octobeb r 2Gth,, on the a·11 a, t I1 c b ~· .r s o f com-parison is the mean of the ob:ervat10ns matle at San Dtcgo, on the Paciftc, ncar the lcYcl of the sea. The barometer was left. on the Pacific , u n d e r the <' h a r g c of Lieu t e ~ an t Warn c r 1 top o g rap lu cal c ngin ecr ; and the further o?servat tons made ~vrth 1t on th~1t coast will alford •at some future ttme, 1lata upon wluch to reconsHler the results no~v gin·n, particularly tho se in the last section. In the abgence or· corrrspontling obserrations, the object hns bern, to get a column of rcfl'rencc, prorrrcssing we .. t, with the places obserYed at. The formula nscu is th~t of Allman's. The hei ghts dcd ucccl are marked on the map; but they should l>e.con iclercd, at be t, but as ncar approximations to the tt uth. The t!me of day at which the observations w·ere matlc is not that which cxpcrienee has hown to be be. t; but, the haltf; being be-yond my control, I \vas compclletl to yiel<l to circum ·tan.ces. . As far as Santa Fe, I rccPived the assistance of Lieutenants J. W. Abert and G. W. Peck, of the corps of topographical engineers; both of whom had but too recently returned from an exploring expedition in Jess favored climates, and fell ill-the first at .Bent's fort, and the last at Santa Fe. From Santa F6 to the· l)acific, I was aided by First Lieutenant W. II. \Varner, of the topographical engineers, and .1Hr. Norman Bcstor; all of whom deserve notice for the zeal and industry with which they performed their duty. \Vhi 1st with me, Lieutenant Peck made the topogrnphical sketches · after he ]eft, they were made by Lieutenant Warn<:~ r. ' I would hrre gladly avail myself of the opportunity of thanking C.o~onel Robert Cam.pbell and Dr. Engelmann/.(< of t. Louis, for the dtsu~tercstetl and. efficient aiel they rendered us in St. Louis in our h~lTt d prcparattons for a Jo11g and tedious journey. The advi ·c gtY~·~ us_ by Colo?cl Campb.('ll, a gentleman of great experience in pr~~nc ltfc, wa~ felt benefictally to the last ofthe journey. Ihe country between Fort Lcav nworth and Santa l'e, traversed by t.he a1_·my of the west~ may be divided into three great divi:ions, <h t1nct m character, clunatc, and products, viz: from Fort Leavenworth to Pawnee fork, from Pawnee fork to l3cnt\; Fort, and from Bent's l'ort to Santa F6. The two fir. l divisions have bern so often traversetl that I have omitted my diary embracing tl~cm, contenting myself with a few gener~ l remarks? but the sc:1cntdl.c, and especially astronomical obsen: atLOns refernng to them, arc a· full as in regard to the other reg10ns. .•11Abn ~nt!'rc~tin~ accot~nt of the caet_i ob~crveu on the route, furni!!hcd by Dr. EncY!cmann WI e wund Ill Appcndtx No.2, eontmuctl. 0 ' Ex. Doc. No. 41. 11 F?r the information of dctacltments moving on that roule a table ~f d rs .tanccs has been pr~a rec_l ;_ which, with the map, ( th~ugh on 1athcr too .mall a s~ale for mtlttary purposes,) may enable movements to be watlc wtthout other guides . . Ret wee~ li ort ~..~~avcnworth a11rl Pawnee fork, the country is .a htg_h, r?llt~g pratnr, travrrsccl by many streams, the large~ t of ':· lu c h 1 s t 11 c K an s_a s, o r " K a w ; " and all b u t t b is r i y c r m a y be ford cd, except dunn g frcshc ts. ~fhc beds . of the streams ar? generally <1 ·cply indented in the sot!, and .th?n .b~11ks .almost vertJcal, dev('loping, where the strea~s make ~hctr tnctstons tn the earth, str!lta of fos ·ilifcrous Jim e~ tonr of vanous shades. of brown, filled with the remains of crinoidea. ' . 0 11 a b ran (' h . 0 i t ~) c vV a h -K a r russ i ' w h . r e tIt e 0 I c rr 0 n { r a i 1 s t r i k s 1t, ~ seam of bttumtnous coal crops out. This is ~· o rked by the Jndtans, one of whom we met driving an ox-cart loaded \rith c a~ 1,' . ~ o W ~s t p o ~ l. For the m o t p a~ t, the soil is a san cl y ] 0 am, CO\Cied wtth nch vegetable depostte; the whole basetl 11pon a . tratum of clay and limet;tone. Trees arc to be 'et•n only along the m<1rgins of the strenm , and the general appc_<nnnc·c of the country is that of vast, rolling fields, enclosed wtth olossal hedges. The growth alono- these s tre<~ m s, a~ th cy a p_p roach the cast ern part of th c section5 under constdcrat10n, c·onststs of nsh, burr oak, black walnut chcsnut onk b!aek oa~, lollg-lcavcd willow, sycamorr, buc:k-eyc, Am ri c.an elm; prg-nut l11ckory, hark-bc~r:y, and ~unHlch; towards the we t, a you approach the 99th mendran of lon g itudr, the growth along- the slrca·ms becomes almost cxclu. ively Goaon-woo<l. Counc·il Grove creek form~ a1~ e:ccp~i?n. to thi. , as mo t of tlte trees enumerated above {!,' lll'l_Sh 111 ItS V~('lillt)', and rrndcr it, for that rca on, a we]Jk n own h.a Jy ng-plnce lor caravans, for the r('p:1 irs of wagons, and t!J' acqlllsltton Of sp<'ll'C axle~. On .tne uplands the grast; is luxuriant, an(! occasiona1ly is found t h c '" tl d t c a , (am or p b a c a n c s · t.: n s_,) an ~I p i 1 o t ·w c c d , ( s i ] ph i u m ] a c i 11 _ ahu~;) the .low grou~d: .a bo.un1l 111 pnclly r .If:b, narrow leafed asel ·lHas, \\:htlc llowcnng llJd.r g o, flowering ru~ l1, gpoltcd tulip, bcdst raw, wll d b llrgam ot, sp1d e r w~rt, pink . pi de r wort, pom me hJanrhe, (psor_alca cscultnta,) scar~ct maha, pilot we ·d, hazel, button bush, wlitl strawberry, rat-tatl, and arrow ru h. 1 A':3 Y?H draw ncar the meridian of Pawnee Fork, 99° west of ( .r rcenw:ch, the '?untry ('hange!', almost impt'rccp tibly until it ~~~erge lll_t? th_e ar~tl, barren \\'astcs des ·ribcd unclt.:r tha; spction. .I l:e transttt~n ts 11~ark~d by the occ.urrcnc~ of cadi and other spinose pl.tnts, ti1e ftrst of wltt eh we snw tn lo11 g ttudc 9l 0 • Ne;~r. the snme mcridie1n the bufl'alo grass ll< wns seen in small q.uantlttcs, and, about noon, our party was cheered for the fir t tunc .by the sight of a small "band" of buffalo, two of which \H' ktllcd, at the expense of a couple of Jlne l10rse . , which never n·covered from the chase. 1T orses occasionally fed on rrrain bee om c. ~ e r y weak f c c tl i n g o 11 g r a . a l on e, an d h o u J d n c v e~· i n t hat condttton be subjected to quick work. A violation of this precept • F or a Jc criptiou of this famous gra5~1 sec Appc1.Jix No.2. |