286 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



with all the hills reduced so as to make a gently rolling 

 surface, the woodland to remain as it is, and the entire 

 surface of cleared land covered with grass — that upon 

 the upland thick and short, and in the low lands one or 

 two feet high, and in the swamps four or five feet, and 

 he may have a very faint idea how a prairie looks. 



So you see they are not so "very level." Gently un- 

 dulating, applies to all prairie countries within my knowl- 

 edge. Sometimes, though rarely, hills occur that are too 

 steep to cultivate conveniently, and sometimes rocky 

 bluffs. But a general characteristic in this region is des- 

 tituteness of stone, except a few boulders of granite, that 

 have come from parts unknown. 



The streams are most generally muddy bottoms. The 

 timber in the groves or islands that abound throughout 

 this sea of grass, is most commonly short, and grows thin 

 upon the ground, without underbrush, except at the 

 edges, where the hazel bush seems to be the advanced 

 guard, and is constantly encroaching upon the prairie. 

 There are large tracts of timber land called "barrens," 

 which are about half way between prairie and timber 

 land — the tree standing apart like an orchard, and the 

 ground covered with grass, the sod of which is much less 

 tough than that on the prairie. 



One very prominent feature of a prairie, I should men- 

 tion, and that is the constant and ever varying succes- 

 sion of flowers from spring till fall. 



A singular and false notion prevails about the height 

 of the grass, and that it must be difficult getting about. 

 It is not even difficult for a sheep, as the grass never 

 grows high enough upon the dry land to impede or hide 

 them. Near the banks of streams, or in marshes, it is 

 like going through a field of oats or wheat. And it is in 

 such places that grass is cut for hay — some very good — 

 some good — and some that the less said about, the smaller 

 the sin committed. 



But as for pasturage, no country can excel this. The 

 milk, butter, cheese and beef attest the rich juiciness of 



