134 PRAIRIES OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



creature amid their pathless solitudes, and they in- 

 stinctively fled from his approach. 



Scenes of this kind are frequent in the wild un- 

 varied plains of the Missouri and Arkansa. Captain 

 Head observed some villages of a similar description 

 among the Andes, the entrances of which were uni- 

 formly guarded by two owls, which were never an 

 instant from their post. But why these venerable 

 personages thus tenaciously occupied their sta- 

 tion, could only be a matter of conjecture. No 

 traveller has yet determined whether it be to 

 apprise the inhabitants of danger, or perfidiously 

 to prey upon the young, should they incau- 

 tiously peep forth, unattended by their parents. 

 Most probably the latter, as the inhabitants never 

 venture out except in the evening. Captain Head 

 noticed them as the most serious-looking animals 

 he ever met with; even the young ones were gray- 

 headed, with mustachios, and looked grave and 

 thoughtful, and when they sit on the top of their 

 mounds they seem to be moralizing. 



These creatures abound, too, in the extensive 

 prairies of the Mississippi, and beautiful is the scenery 

 that frequently surrounds them. In some parts, 

 far as the eye can reach, the ground presents a 

 series of undulations, covered with fine herbage, on 

 which the astonishing number and good condition 

 of the herbivorous animals clearly indicate its value 

 for purposes of pasturage. In others the dense and 

 verdant foliage of poplars and of elms is contrasted 

 with the bright red of the sandstone cliffs, which 

 rise far above the tallest trees, and disclose here and 

 there masses of snowy whiteness. 



