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Show 400 Ex. Doc. No. 41. mined to wait no longer, and by sunc1own had ?ompletet~ a raft of dry wood, capable of bcarin{S 1,000 pouncls w1th~ut bcmg overloaded. The m~n work d w1th great energy, ancl 1t was trul.y exci ting to sec th m straddle the hug~ logs and. float down 111 the rapid curr nt whose waters were rushtng alo~g w1.th. such a fi~rce ra- . 1'1 ty dimi1ling the urfacc of the str am w1th rot mature wlurpools, aPnHd ma' king the willows, no:v covered mu. l way.b y t I te .tn un< I ~t.t ng waters, bend and spring as 1f moved .by a hurncanc. Somelunes rafts of brush and loose log came rusl~mg alon~, bu.l the m~n stuck fast to the logs they bestro'clc, scrcamtng 0~1t 1n wild excttcmcnt, as if to (lrown the gurgling sound of .the wtld wa~ers. . To-day we saw several large :whtle. cranes wtth black-ttpped wings; (grus Americann ,) and Lam.g. kdlccl me some rattle. nakes, ( crotal us horrid us) and several pra1ne sna.ke~ . Along the . creek we found an abundance of plums (prunus vugtns) and cherncs. ThuTsday, l6th.-As otn: raft was now completed we com.mence,J crossing all our camp cqmpagc., and by ] 1 o clock evcrythtng .was safely transferred to the south ulc of the stream. W c wt're obltgccl to carry ov r much less at a time than we had hoped to have done, for our raft, butlt of the dryest wood that we could find, became water logged. The elm a!1d box .elder we.rc t~c only ~rccs we could get, and when green thell' spectfie grav1ty 1s but little less th.an that of water. The wagon body was placed upon the raft to distribute the weight that might be placed .in it equa~ly. A rope was stretch d across on which a noose could shcle, and tlus noose, by. a long rope was attached to our raft to pre' en t its being swep l a way In ca c the ~trctchecl rope should break. This precaution proved mot wise as the rope did break, but the knots upon it prevented the noos~ from sliding off, and our craft swung round into an eddy where it was comparatively alm. \V c now proce dcd to cross our caval cad c; some of . the horses r<· n· first driven and went bt avcly over; others were very trou?le· t·.ome, but at lencrth, seeing th 'ir companions enjoying the luxu r~ant t,rass, they all plunged in and arrived safe on the opposi~~ stde. • 'ome had to struggle hard to g t up the banks, that, in addttton to their steepness, were covered with a thick coating of mud, deposited by the waters. It was a beautiful sight to sec ::;orne of the finest of our horses spring from the high banks of the stream, .to see the splash of spray as it showered around when the horse ellsappeared, and aga.in to see the noble a.nimal rise above the wave, snorting and dashmg the :waters from lus mane, as. he swam f?~. thf opposite shore. Our In(han lad ~ecmcd to enter wto the sputl 0 the scene; he seized the cabrcsto of one of the wildest horses and dragged him down into the water; running out upon the raft,.he stood for a moment, ancl then plunged into the stream, throwtng l1i arms alternately as he dashed across. It is in such scenes. as this that the Indians excel; their fine limbs, dark hair, and. ilashmg eye lend all the imagination could desire to perfect the wdd grace of motion, the picturesque of attitude that such occasions develope. The water had fallen nearly 3 feet during the past nig:ht, and as it still continued to fall, the troops commenced crosswg at the Ex. Doc. No. 41. 401 regular ford, which is one-fourth of a mile abo,'c b t 1 era l o f t 11 ·L r 1w rse)s . T o-ciay, the rrn( n who ' W" , u1s ; u 1 ost se-v- · d a y was L . 1 1. b . ' nS ( fOWll '( ycster u u r H' < , 11 H o d y h a v 10 g b ern f 0 u 11 d h y < - m. . f . IT'. f . • I, . . JUr m n cngacred 1 a tw g . 1 r t e n < s s c n t t o u s 1 o 1 111 " <'I . · ., 0 t }1 r u.~ 1• 11 w 1u ·c }1 to b bu r }llm; and, before the .sun w?nt clown, he was deposited in 11·, 1 Y rcsltng- pla ce : "rcquH!scnttn pace." 18 ong At 11 o'clock, Colonel Doniphan cam to our ca1,1 1 · f 1 G I 1( . r r r an ( lll 0 r m cl us t tal llt'ra carny Wlsltt•d to sec us. vVe aft' . I 1 1 t I 1 I . . . • crw.tr< s carucd t la t t ll e g c.' Ill' J' il liH S 0 10 C lll <} Ill !'1 C S t 0 11 l a Jc C i n 1' n CY • l t t l b y t 11 c S mo I\, y 1I ·1 1 1 l·o t. k ; .,1 route tl1at Lt.< 'utcnaut" hl ('"tr c<' l .o 1h ' r o u t e }.t ,..t < 1 .. ·l J , 1 r} , , , , • " '- <ll1< m yse 1f tr<nc C< v. 1cn we were <Llt:H.:hcd to the comm<nHl uf C 1 11 r6mo nt; but tl1e rou ghness of that country the ... f)· . 0 fonell ( l l · · ' " R<'IH e O a f ro::u.s~ an,< t tc s~arc:tty ~f water .and wood, and the> povnty of the pastutngc, render the Arkansas rnc·t route much to bP prc·ferrcd At 3 o' <.: 1 o c k w c t' om m r n c· c d our march and o on ,. t r tt ·1 · d t} t 1 · l • ' · t c a r o a 1:1 we pur ·uec untl ncar 10 o cloC'k at ni,rht wll'' rl , l . . r. ' " v CnC'arnp < near some pools oi water, h:n 1ng been mad" 'l\\·ar" c1. . . . ( ( \. i' Otl r a p r r 0 cl c: h to lhun some I nne be(orc th~,~ were 111 Htf!ht, h) the ny of tlt<> kill-det'q, lorers, (dtaradttus von1l'rou".) VV<· soon ktndl d <)t' r. f "bo't scI cvacH1 ·," nne l lh<'n l.o und"c had campf'd ]n .,, fJlr (.'·S O· d ·11 1. 1 I . . . <L pr.unc . og Vl age; a u~c p ac? lor pt cke tlllg hors ·s, ar. the neighborhood lS ~I nerall·y dcs tttutc of grass. On our mar ·h W<' obtain" cl ... ,· 1. . "' .. sln-gu ar spccu•s o cactus, rcs~mbl111g roundi(.!h bodies <·overed with lo~1g protnhetanccs,.wnosc ttps W(•rc crowued wit!1 stars of white r.p rucc;, ~ucar mammdarca sulC'ata.) •.l Wl' !:l .. W duting tl.tc dny .many skyla~kR; (aJ .... nda alpcrtris:) they < •• lowed us to approach quttc close before thLy to o.l wing antl as they flew through the air sang sw(·ctly . Frtdny, 17ti~J.-'Vc have n ?w entered thai p orlion of the prairie that well deserves t.o be consulcrcd part of the gn.•at desert. The shor.t, curly buffalo gntss (sc:lcria dact.ylo id ,·s) if' ~ccn in all direct~ ons; lh plain is .dotted with C'lcti and tlu lle, (cardulls lanc? olatus,) while only m buffalo wallows one meets thl.! silvt'r marg~ ncd e_uphorbia; and in the prairie dog villag"s, a species of asclepias, With truncated leaves . .we saw several wild h or. cs; in on c group there were three, anti ~tth our spy glasses we had a fine opportunity for examining them. h~re was a bay, a roan, and a blade; they stood for some time ~.azmg at us as if completely absorbed. in loo~ing at the strange 1 ~ht, when, as ~c app.roacbcd, they rat .ed thetr long flowing tails a~d dashed offw1th thc1r long manes wav1ng round their necks anti With a speed that soon carried them out of view. Un like the ~ustangs, these looked to Le large and beautifully proportioned. u~aloes seemed as if trying to surround us. We saw scarcely anyth1ng else far or near. The whole horizon was lined with them and t~eir figures would sometimes shoot up to an immense height' as t~en change of position caused the vi ual rays to pass through me~hu~s of different refracting power, w bile 8ecm ing lakes would lipnng mto existence, whose farthest shore seemed wide1y separated from us by the broad volume of water that intervened. There were many dusky wolTes (canis nubilus) prowlin&r aro•nd 26 |
