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Show [ 23] 128 he was hemmed in on all sides by the snow. He redoubled his exertions, but his struggles served only to exhaust his strenO'th and he found great difficulty in breathing. The full conceptio~ o'f his awful situation now burst upon him; he struggled violently but not a limb could he move, and he had sunk into the depth or' despair, when we fortunately rescued him from his icy tomb. Once more an air of happiness seemed to diffuse itself over the faces of the men. Preston 's story awakened us to a lively perception of the fearful vicissitudes ~hrough which we hau passed. Our hearts acknowledgeu how futile would have been all our efforts, unless assisted by the Great Being who rules the winter storm. The men seemed to vie with each other in reciprocatin cr acts of attention and kindness, and it seemed as if there were n~ bounds to the generous impulses which actuated their conuuct towards myself. Februa1·y 23.-My pedestrian exercises were now terminated after having accomplished 179 miles of the 352 miles which li~ between Jackson's grove and Fort Leavenworth. Although I was perfectly willing to walk,. and had nO\l" 'become so accustomed to do so, that I felt no inconvenience from t'he exercise, still I was not permitted to choose; Mr. Smith made me mount his horse while he journeyed on foot. We found !\h. Hoffman and Mr. Mil~ ler, who had started yesterdny morning at the same camp with oursel~' es . They l~ad been obl.iged to leave the·ir wagon, and pack all .theu camp furmture on theu mules. vVe halted wjthin three miles of the Diamond spring, where we found plenty of green elm, for fuel for our fires. February 24.-The day was stcJrmy and cold, but we heeded not the weather, and pressed on until we reached " Council grove." Here we found. grate~ul ~helter in tha~ noble grove whose huge walnut trees raise their limbs aloft, as tf to battle with the clouds in our defence, while their lower boughs were stretched over .us to shield us from the pitiless pelting of the storm. Paroquettes were sweepin.g rapid!~ in lar~e circuits among the topmost branches of the ancient demzens of the forest, and their screams shrill and grating echoeu through the lofty arches of boughs now shorn of their summer glory .. During o~r day.'s march, flock~ of the pretty snow lark wer.e contmually takmg wmg as we advanced, and warbled forth thetr sweet notes as they flew. · As soon as darkness ·shrouded u~, som~ large screech owls commenced a serenade, and the forest rang with a c~ncert of their doleful music ~~re, as well as at" Cootton Wood fork," we sa; a great many pratne ~ens, but the snow on the ground caused us to be instantly percetved by these watchful birds, which take flight the moment we endeavor to approach them. Fe?ruary 25.-It is again cloudy and very cold; a high wind is hlowmg from ~he nort?east, and now and then a fog of snow arises and the small tcy particles, driven by the fierce winds make one's face feel as if raked with briar brushes. We en cam p~d at one of the. Beaver ~r~eks. Here one of Mr. Hoffman's men killed a racoon, wh1ch was d1v1ded among his party, being the only meat they had 129 [ 23] to eat. , While sitting by camp fire? I noticed some beautiful forms which lwere assumed by the p~rhcles of snow which fell on m blanket. They resemble stars wtlh six radii· each of the~e rad·~ was ornamented with . beautiful aborescent shapes resembling th~ cross of" Santo Dommgo." I n?ticed that all th~ icy fi_brcs _of these flakes made angles of 60° with each other; th1s was Il!vanably the case with all those that I saw. The annexed sketch 1s an exact figure of these · cunous crystals. The storm which produced these flakes bore a greater resemblance to the "snow fogs" than to a regular storm; only a few flakes were falling, so that they did not inconvenience us in the least, and we paid no attention to them except to examme their beauty. February 26.-Whe• we awoke, the gr~und was covered with snow, and jt was stormy all day; the wind of the north blew hard ~ t~e snow fell fast, the ground became soft and slippery, and the ravmes were filled with water. It was bad trave11ing for the wagon, ~nd much worse for the men who were plodding along on foot. '!fe, notwithstanding, made a Jon g . march, encamping in the evenmg at ''110 creek," which is 26 miles from the preceding camp. We built huge fires, and soon made ourselves quite comfortable, alth~ugh the fine particles of hail which had pelted us all day still c?nh.nued to fall. The woods h d be'en full of prairie chickens; in all dnections we noticed their foot prints in the snow. · ·. . February 27.-W e determined to make a long march, and In spite of the continuance of the storm we started at a very early hour. The mist of mixed snow and hail fell almost uninterruptedly throughout the day. Clouds after clouds were chasing each other across the gray sky. Once the sun shone forth with sufficient brightnr. ss to cast a shadow, but its .brightness was in the next moment · obscured. Under foot it was wet and slippery; the road was full ~f ~ools of snow and mud. ·We marched twenty-five miles to Willow spring," where the road to Fort Leavenworth turns off towarrls the north; continuing our journey two miles further, we e.ncamped on a stream which adds its tribute to the waters of the nv~r Wakaroosa. Here we found a plenty of hickory wood, a fine spnng, and as good grass as the season affords; during the day we ~~w flo.cks of snow larks and several prairie chickens. The rave~s ve given place to the crows· the latter birds seem to confine theu wand er·m g. to the precincts of ' American corn fields. Feb.ruary 28.-We had now. but thirteen miles to mai'Ch before rea.chmg the Kansas river. I rode on rapidly, and soon overtook 9 |
