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Show [ 17 -l 11~ Tllouo-\1 di.appoiutcd in ohtaininry the pre. ents which l~ o.t.l been cviLleut. ly expe~ted, they hchu.,·ed very courteou~ly, and, after a little conversation, 1 left them ·:wd, cn 11 ti 11 uitlg on np tb.c nver,_ ha_ltcu _to noon ?n the bluff, as the bottom are almost in_nndated; cont111~1111g m the a{tcnJOon our . t alo 11 rr tile mouutains whiCh were dark, !lllsty, aml .llrouded-tl!real- IOU· eo- ,.., stoo ' . ,. . I I I I cmll0 •• ~ 1-111 ., the snow l)Caks sot~wtnnes g 1ttcrmg t 1roug 1 t 1c c oud be-yond th r! first riJg:..~. . . . , . . . . . , ... \Vc snrpri.<'d a gnz7.ly bear sanntc_nng along the 11_vr. J , wlllc.ll, IUllllg hitn. elf upon his hind legs, took a deltbcrate survey ol n~, t~w. t dtcluotap. pear very sa.tisfa_ctory t~ hinl, and _11 ~~ ,scr~mbletl_ mt~ the ~-~~cr,~l~td s_wa~n to the oppnstte s1t1 '. We lwltcu lot trl.e ntgllt_,'1 llttl_e ,t_b?vc Chull y cre_ek; the even in()" clondv with llHliiY mosqu1toe:'. Some II H.I!Jle~·e11t ol~ ·crvatwns placed the ~amp i.11 latitnJe 39° 431 5~J'~, antl chrouomctnc lotlgltudc l Qj <)tl I n •l I I "' J;:IIJ ·s.-\Ve continued to-day to travel up ~he Pllltt_e; the morni11g plea. ant with l1. pro. peeL of fa irer w_l'atl!cr. J)mmg tile Iorenoou om way lay over a more broken eontll ry wrth a gravelly am~ sandy surface· although the immeuiate bottom of the river W<l~ a gootl sot!, of a dark sandy mould, resting upon a st ratum of large pebble~, or rol:ed stcmes, as at L~rarni~ fork. On onr right, aud ap parently very ncar, but probably or 10 m.tlc ·eli taut, and two or three thousand feet above us, r•w the ftrst ru.ttgc ol tllc moun. taiu s, like a durk cornieeu line, in clc~u c~ntra.st with the gr?at snnwy chain which, immediately heyonu, rose g!Jl!cnug five tllon~anc.l feet abo_ve them. \Ve Ct.lllO'hl this mor11i11a a view of l.Jike's pea le: but tt appeared for a ffiO· mcnt onl v a· clomis ro~e early over the mount aius, aud sllromled them in mist and ·r~in all the dny. lu tltc fir.~l ra1Jgc were visible, as at the Red Bnt ll'S on the North for k, very lnfty esrarpnH'lltS of n'd rock. \\~ll iletrav· elling through this region, I retJJark<!d that always i11 th e_ morui11g the lofty peaks were visible and bright , but very soon small wl11te clouds began I? ettle around tllem-orcwing thicker Ulltl darkn as tlw day advanced, n~llll the afternoon, when the thu11der began to roll; and i11variably at.evcnwg we had more or Jess of a thunder storm. At ll o'clock, atlu 21 lntlcs from St. Vrain's fort, we reuchcu a point in this onthcrll fork ol the Platte, w!Jerc the stream is diviued into three fnrks; two of these (o11c of them being m.uch the largest) issuing directly from the mountains on the west, an? fornutt~, with the easternmost branch, a river of the plains. The elevatiOn of_ tlus poiut is about 5,500 feet above tile sea; this river lulling 2, 00 feet ttl a distance of 316 miles, to its jnnctio11 with the North fork of the Platte. In this estimate, the elevation of the jnnclion i. as umed as given by our bar· ometrical observations in 1S12. On the ea Lemmo t branch, up which we took onr way, we first came amoug the pines growing on tile top of a very high bank, and where ~ve halted on it to noon; quaking asp (popu lus trem?tloirles) was mixe~ wtth the cottonwood, and there were excell ent g r0ss aud ruslws for the ammals. During the moming there occurrecl many beautiful flow e rs~ which we had not hitherto met. Among them the common blue flow eri11g flax made its first appearance; and a tall and iul!ldsome species of gilia, with slen~er scarl~t flowers, which appeared yesteruay for the first time, was very Ire· quent to-day. V{e had found very little game since leaving the fort, and provisions be· gan to get unpleasantly scant, as we had had no meat for several days; but towards sundown, when we had already made up our minds to sleep another 113 tJtght without supper, Lnj cnncssc had the good fortune to kill a fine deer vllich he found fccuitJg i11 a l1ollow near by; and as the rain begau to fall" threatening an unpleasant night, we hurried to secure a comfortable camp w the timber. To-night the camp fin's, girdled with appolas of fine venison looked l'!Jeerfnl in pite of t111~ torrny weathe r. ' Jttly 9.-0u ac~omlt of tlte low state of our provisions and the scu.rcity of gau1e, I detcrnltlleu to vary our rowe, and proceed several ca1t1ps to tile t•astward, iu the !tope of falling in with the bufl'ulo. This route a lon()" tile dividing ~rouud Let ween the South Cork of the Platte and the Arka~tsas would nh.1 afl(mJ so 1nc adJitioual gt'n~rllplric:11 intormatiotJ. Tlt is moruiug: tlH.: rclore, WC llll"IWU tO the eastward, aiOIIg" tlte 11pper W:tlers oC the stream nn which we lt;td encu1npcd, etltcrillg a co ll lttry of picturl' que and varied cenery; brok ' II i11 10 rocky bill ' nf si ttgular !Jape ; little vall eys, witl1 pure crystal watl'r, IH.~re leaping swiflly ;tlnng, and there losin~.,. itst•lf in til !:-ands; grecu. pu ts oC luxuriam gra · flowers of all colors, allll tillliJcr of ditfere.lll kiuds-every t!Jin~ to give it a varied beauty, except ga11w. To one o1 tltese r l~ Jn arka ld y sltuJh!U lnll ·, having on the sumn1it a circular Jlat rock two or three ltu11dreJ \'Oru.s i11 circu ul f"cn' llCe some o11e nave til name of Pout 1dcake_, wl_trclt it l;a~ lJeeJt permi tted to r~tain, as on~ llnngry people seemed to tlttlllc u a very agreeable comparison. £11 the afternoon a buffalo bull was kill••(t, nud we encamped ou a s1mdl stream, ltl'ar th roa.cl whieh runs fro111 St. Vraill'.s (o rt to tlw Arl<awm ._ July 10.- Snow fl·l l heavily on the moutJtains durillO' the ni rrht, uml Pike's peak tlti momintr is lumi nous and graud, covered {·rollt the ~n uunit, as low down as we cau ~ce , with !rlitteritw white Lcavi11 f.,. the l'ncamr1- . ,, 0 . 0 ment at 6 o'c_loek,_ we 'lllttinued our ea!-iterly conrse over a rollingco u ut r y~ ncar to the ll tgl! n dtres, which arC' gc11r r;dly rough a11d rocky, witll a coarse couglomeratc uisplayeJ itt IIW!o>~t'S aiH.l envered with pines. Tlt is rock is very friab l_<', and il is llltdo tt htcdly fro!ll its dC'cnmposition that the prairie denvc thc1r ~andy a11d gran·lly form;uinll . Ill G lllile::: we cro,seu a head water of th e_ K~n wa y riv~~ r. ou wlliclt we Co u11u a st rol!g fort aud coni! that had ~ceu IJtult Ill the :::pnug, and halted to noon ou tile principal brauch of lite n vcr. 1Jnri11g the nwnJiwr onr rnntc led over a dark vc <.,.etable llJOuld 0 .1 0 I . I '- 0 ' llllXC:u Wit 1 s:tuu nnu gra \· ·I, the clwr:ll'l •ris tic plant beillg esprrrcdle, (ono-in ·ychis salica, ) a spvcil's of t'lov<'r wl 1icl1 i tnuclt u:;ed in certain parts of (!c:rman r for P~l f.;t urugc or stod\-jll'iiH'ip<tlly hogs. It is sown Oil rocky waste grout tel, '' hicl! would otl1envise he useless alld O'rows very luxurialllly, retlllirittg only a re11uwul of" tile seed abo;lt o u c~ ill fifteeu years. !1s t!_L uHdatJce here g rea tly <!(Ids to tl1e 1~a~to ra l value of this region. A ~}>CClt.!S Of' 1\ IJtt'lllllll"ia itt flOWt'r \V;tS YCry C'OIIllt10 1J along the Jine Of IOUO, -.J!~ the creeks Wl'rc titnl><'red witlt willow and pine. We encamped on Bljou'.· ~ork, tile wc.~t~~r of whiclt, uulike tlto clear streams we had previously ' rosscJ, IS of a wlltllslt color, and tltc soil or the bottom a very bard, tough r.:h )'· TlJere was a prairie dog village on the bottom, and, in the endeavo1 'o unear.th one of the little :.wimals, wo labored ineffectually in the tongh day mlttl dark. After de. cending, with a ·J io-ht incliuation, until it htH.l 'OllC the depth or two (ect, lite hole suddeuly tnrnctl at a sharp Ullrl"ll' in mother directio11 f(H o11e more foot iu depth, wheu it again turned, takint· nn asccndin~ dirC'ction to the uext nearest hoi<'. I have 110 dou bt that all 1heir little habitations collllllllllicate with ea('h other. Tlle !!rcatcr part o 8 |