72 
Prairie Dog, Gopher, Mushrat, numerous small Rodents, &c., 
the Buzzard Prairie Owl, many species of Hawks, the Prairie 
Chicken, Frogs, Toads, Garter-snake, Massasauga Rattle- 
snake and King-snake. In the small streams and pools in 
dry creeks, the Sun Perch and small species of Cat Fish, are 
frequent ; in the Lakes of the Eastern Plateau, Salamander 
Ichtyoid Batrachians abound, though fish are sometimes or 
often absent. In Devil’s Lake, Pickerel are found, while the 
Missouri contains large Catfish, several species of Sturgeon, 
&c., but apparently only small numbers of these. The Fauna 
of the Plateau on the East of the Missouri, is specially dis- 
tinguished by the immense numbers of water-fowls, Ducks, 
Geese, Water-hens, Divers, Snipes, Cranes, Plover, Bitterns, 
&c., found everywhere. The more extensive waters of Devil’s 
Lake abound in these, and besides in Swans, Pelicans, 
Herons, Recurvirostras, Fish-hawks and Gulls. On the west- 
ern side of the Missouri, insect-life is very highly developed 
in innumerable forms, the orders of Orthoptera (Grasshop- 
pers, Crickets and Phasmas) Diptera, Hymenoptera, Neurop- 
tera, Hemiptera and Coleoptera appearing to predominate. 
The small creeks and ponds show but very few forms of 
Mollases, only Physa (heterostropha?) Limnea (stagnalis and 
desidiosa) a Planorbis, a Cyclas and an Anodon being observed, 
none of these so far as remembered, on the shores of the 
Mini-Wakan. 
The difference in the climate of the Plateaus on the two 
sides of the Missouri Valley is very remarkable. The west. 
ern side is in part at least, exceedingly arid, dry and hot, so 
much so, that western winds passing the Missouri Valley be 
tween Fort Sully and Fort Rice, feel as if they had passed 
through an oven. Yet in the middle of August on the Yel- 
lowstone, 35 miles above its mouth, the expedition of 1864 
experienced heavy frosts. The Eastern Plateau is very wet, 
and when the expeditions of 1864 and 1865 crossed it, cold 
rains were very frequent, chilling men and animals, causing 
the death of some of the horses in the month of September. 
The Western side, the Missouri Valley, and especially the 
Bad Lands of the Little Missouri, are very subject to hail- 
