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Show 330 BOTANY----THE ANIMAL KINGDOM----QUADRUPEDS. a very interesting chain, which runs nearly in a north-east direction from La Platte and the great northern bend of the Missouri. They lie about 100 miles to the east of the Rocky Mountains, and form the watershed between the Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas, several rivers having their sources in those mountains. Many kinds of fossils, and numerous species of plants and animals, which do not occur on the Missouri, are found on those hills. The paper birch {Betula papyracea) grows there, of the bark of which the northern Indians make the large pirogues, which are described in various works on North America. This tree is often thicker than a man's body; the bark is stripped off" in large sheets, by making two parallel transverse incisions above and below, and then a perpendicular incision ; after which the bark is loosened by means of wooden wedges. It is dry, and comes off very easily. Within is the smooth watered skin used by the Indians for writing their characters upon, from which circumstance the tree has derived its botanical name. The Black Hills are said to be likewise interesting in a zoological point of view. Among other animals found there, are the panther (Fells concolor), several species of rodentia squirrels, &c. In the prairies on the Missouri, near Fort Clarke, the same species of cactus are found as near Fort Union; the grasses are not of so many species as might be supposed; Chondrosium oligostachyum (Nees), which grows to the height of ten or twelve feet, and Bryzophyrum spicatum, are, however, found there. As I had no opportunity of botanizing here in the summer time, my list of plants of this part of the country is very incomplete; but Bradbury and Nuttall were more fortunate. Many officinal plants grow here, but there are no physicians to direct the use of them. In the forests about Fort Clarke, only a very small quantity of useful timber is found. The poplar burns quickly, and emits much heat, and the bark serves for the winter food of the horses. The animal kingdom has many interesting species, for those of the extensive western prairies are united with those of the cold regions of North America. The best accounts of the former are given by Say, whose early death is deeply to be deplored : and for those of the more northern regions, Richardson's admirable Fauna Boreali-Americana is replete with interest and information. The buffalo herds do not appear in the immediate vicinity of Fort Clarke, except when the winter is very severe, because they are too much disturbed by the numerous Indians in the neighbourhood. The hunters of the fort are often obliged to ride twenty miles before they find them. In the cold snow-storms, so prevalent during the winter, these animals take refuge in the forests on the banks, when great numbers of them are killed, and it is often almost impossible to drive them out of the wood. Their bones and skulls, scattered all over the prairie, prove the immense destruction which is made of these harmless animals. The elk may be shot at about eighteen miles from Fort Clarke; but it does not approach nearer, because of the Indians, to whom the skins of the elk are of great value in the manufacture of their shoes. The white- |