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Show 388 Ex. Doc. No. 41. road, we noticed that our hors.cs wo':11<1 fr quenlly sink t~ the fetlock, an<l saw on the gr~und lltt~e ptles of loose ~rt!1'. lt~c s~nall , t 1 ·11 being about 5 mchcs lugh an<l 10 or 12 llH h(. s m dtam- ,tn 1 t • ' < • • l f . • 1 b I t . at the base and w1thout any opentng; t 1ey arc 01 me< y t 1c sea netd ' rats or gop' hers, (pseudostoma bur ' <H·l U , ) anll a 1t ~ toug 1t t I1 t·r habitations eover the prairies, there are few persons I have mel with who have cv r se n them. . . . . On our route we started several praute chtck ns, (tetrao cupula) After a march of 11 miles we reached 't rang~r creek, a romanltc little stream of water, clear as crystal, that nppl~s ?vcr a pebbly bottom. The banks arc high nrHl composcll of n ch ~oam t.hat nourish s immense oak and sycamor s, (~latanus orctdent~lts.) 'l'h banks were now so slippery from the raw, and so. tecp wttbal, that we were ne ·es itate<l to unload our wagons bcfor we could achieve the asc nl. We were soon encamped, an<l had our. bedding exposed to the sun to. <lry. We. noticed a great quanttty.~f the orange colorrd ::.sclcptas, (a~clep1as tubcrosa,) around whtch gaudy butt.c rfli ·s '.vere flitting. The low grou?cls. nea.r l~S· were covered wtth a pnckly button-head rush, ( erymgna~ •. tqu,ttt cun;,) the roots of which, when candied over, formed the lo smg comhts of Falstaff. 'l'he woo1ls were skirted by a dense growth of ha~ I, plum. trees, and tangled grape vines. Jlerr, too, we founcl the lttlle quad,(.ortix virginiana,) suddenly ri ing up from under our f ~t, and. tarthn.g us with the whizzing c::ou n d of it · wings. This even Ll1 g the mosquitoes were very numerous, an<l we lay down to be tormented by these provoking pests; but few of us were abl to sleep, although none of us slept very comfortably la. t night. 29th.-Ye terday evening, we found that th hind ~xlclr~c of our wagon had been split in crossing the neck; and, b?mg fearful lest we hould break down at some place where good t1mbcr co~dd not be obtain 'd, we sent out two men to procure a piece o~ tu~ber, and they soon brought in a fine piece of hickory, d~aggwg ~t into camp by the mean:::; of a "lazo" that they had afT1xcd to tt and had then passed round the neck of a mule. Luckily for us, there was a good carp nter in the volunteer camp, an.d althougll his tools consiste<l only of a saw, an axe, a drawing kn1fc, and an auger, he, neverthelcs , managed to fashion a very good Clxletree. This work detain d us until 1 o'clock, when we started for the Kansas river, having, through the kindness of Colonel Ruff,. obtained a new teamster in place of the one who deserted last mght. The prairie was y el what is called rolling; the flat bott~1~s were covered wtth the rosin we<•d or polas pLnt (silplicum l:lctrHaturo,) whose pcnnat -parted 1c aves have their lob'e s extenc1 m. g l1'k c f1in rrers b on ca.ch side of the ~id. rib. I~ is said that the planes of.tl~c l:av~~ of tln s p 1 an t arc co 111 c 1 J c n t w 1t h t h c p 1 an e o f the roe n d tan ' b those I have noticed must have been influenced hy some local at· traction that deranged their polarity. The orange colored asclepias, (A. tuberosa,) and the melanthi urn virgin icum, a w bite-flowcrin g bush, were also abundant 1 . b ) The timber on the ravines consisted of the white oak, (Q. a a, Ex. Doc. No. 41. 389 blade jack oak, (Q. ft•rruginea) mulberry (mortts r b. ) 1 (l' · ) 1 1 · 1 ' ' · u tn, wa nut 1 • 111gra,. t I' llC Or)_', the red bud, (c'rieis canadcn ·is.) '1'1' ndtl(•s (u~llf'a canacl<·usr s) had grown to the lttirrht of 7 or 8 f te all of whtch sh()w the prodi~~al fertility of the sofl. cct, AR. W<' .i~P J~roac~1cd the· I anR.as river its tributari<•c:; srcmrcl to multtply lctpully, .tnd the rolls 11.1 the prairie became mor<· abrupt A l .3 o'clock, w asf'tlld<·d a hwh ridrr<• tl1·tt cr 't\ c 11 L. . } 1 I . ·t fi · · h h ( b. "' • Ill(' \ 1 c \V of.,t te w tOe ~urr~und tn g coun.try. Presently re<tching a lillie stJcam, who1'oe b.tnks were cxc·esstvely stc"J) 'll' 1 LI.LJ)l tl ·• • • ~ • d ,, )er), H' wag-ons <~tl emptrcl to a:<'eud; but one of the wagon w·ll(•t·ls ~an l· <leq> ~n the 1!1ud, and completely stopped all progH•ss· wt• ,\·ere th('r<•fore ohligctl to unload <'V<'rjthing-, and thl•n cLtp al'l hands to t ~H' w h l' c·l , w h en w e r o s <' ll H' h iII am i c1 t h r c h p r r s 0 f t 11 <.' 10 t' n . A 11 n·rH.: Illnan, mounted 011 a \\ild mule, had aln·ady cross<•d and wa slnncllllg on the western hank, which is 10 or 12 ft·C't in Ju·igJ1t w ~.~ ~ r~ t lJ (' J:lU 1 <'. s u d d < • n 1 y s p run g o fl' t h c b a n k i n t 0 t h (\ c r e e 1. j us~ gt.l:zrrlg: '~lth tt~ feet the h<·ad of one of the mrn ovc•r \\l1~m it J.>~s1··1.;;c<! tn 1 t ~ d e:-;pe ra lt' 1 cap. No one was hurt, and tlr c P rcn dun an :st1 s,\l as iu·m as<'\ <·r. As w c n r a. r (' d t h c J\ a " o r 1 a n H a s r i v <' r , so m e o f 11 s w c· n l i n a d - Yanct• and soon re;H~hcd a11 Indian house•; the occupants snid they \\-Nc Shawnees. Th.cy nppe·ncd to be very comfortably fixed; had })~t'ut,y of fine looktng- ('alllt, pi gs, aud ('hickcns; within a. few yctrtl; of th<• h~use, a dear stn•am of !.!;ood wat<•r ~pouted forth fro th r Side o~ a lull. We ~earned of the Indians that the distance t 1 : the Kaw u vcr "·as 1 ~ n11 1 cs. ,. . Cr,o ssin. gI a higIh ri,ige, \Ve <·nlrr the I\anz·ts hotto1r1• 1' t , .. · .c • ' . ".t~ o~ cr-grown. Wtt 1 a t~' I gr:~t-~s (arundo plrrag-mil<'s) from 5 to G fu·t hiuh and nungl<·d w1ll1 tltt:-i wns th<· long- l(.•a f,·d willow an<l thc· ·otht ' wti oo t1,' ..A c~·u.a ~· t cr o.1 · a · 1 · on lilt eJr~m the ri\cr bank, we c·ntnc<l the mbu., t:o.nsiStlllg- o! th(.' V.trtcti<'S already m.C'ntiont•d· 1lte ground on 1 wluc·.h ~l gn·w '~us a d<'<'p !Pose ~;uu l dinicult to g/t tl1rottcrh . Sl ·n th.e fl\<'I: we found two.larg<: flat boats or scows mann~d by t.lWJHC l.r ultan~, d1ess<•d 111 bntdlt colored ~hirts with }· I · arounclll .. J •. 1- ,1,1 .n . , ~ 1.1w :-; • . H It u t1 < s. 1 e < ·u r r <'11 t of t he r ~" n \\ as v <' r y n pi d s 0 tJ at It requtred tlte grcal<'st < '- Crtions on tile part of our 'r<'IT;;ncn \o rrrvent. the Loats from bciug S\\ c•pt far down the stn•am. \V. and<'d JUS~ at the mouth of tlu• \Yakar0os.t l'r<'ek. Here t!t trc· j~ ~ 0 lH'rr eptrbJe current; the n<'<·k is 11 fe<'t deep \\}Jilc' the 1 i,e~ ~}:1;:l.not a vet age mor<' than 5 feet, and in S<'\ cr~d plai'<'S is <jttilc 1 1 t was llt'arly 10 o\:lodc bd'ore all our company had crossed an< 1 was so dat k tha t we could :-;c:ar<:ely S<'e to arr;lntr<• <"unp· .,0' we ., y 1 1 · r, ' , ., .. · .. <own on t H~ nvn bank and sc•nt our hor:o:('S out 011 the JdHo tll,t 'l • t 0 .nrY f ''lz' <• · ln\T e [' . ·l I . tilLS tt:1 our ~uppers at 1:2 o cloc:k ;tnd lay ·l '' 11 ag:•tn to slcc•p; hut, worn out <ll{ we wt·r<· the mosc1uitocs s lO'Wf t•d u·s n 0 <.: Olllpa~SL.O il' <Ill< I 1i ll'!.!<' l1 0011. no· !1\\']s (bn' bo viri•illl'lllllS) as r t . 1 1 , · ._.. ., · ' o ' · ' , 0 < OJu o < "JtlJ us, c·ommPnl·ed a st•n•nad •. The pure colcl watn of the Wal aroos.t loo]{(•<l so inYitiug that fSaOclle\t·• Of US· C.'O ll l1! 11 0 t rc f rn1. n j ' romp J ung-.w g beneath J· ts np;tal sur- ' .oHc of the llat boats formed a ronvt•ni •nt plal'e from whieh 10 ~prwg. The sun was rising, surrounded by golden clouds; in |