First Expedition to Kansas Chalk 41 



After hours of search, I find in moist ground the 

 borings of crawfishes; with line and sinker I meas- 

 ure the depth to water a couple of feet below in these 

 miniature wells. The welcome signal is given to 

 Will, the driver, and he digs a well, so that both man 

 and beast may be supplied. 



If I could sum up all the sufferings I endured in 

 the chalk fossil fields, I should say that I suffered 

 more from the lack of good drinking water than 

 from all the other ills combined. Except when we 

 were in the vicinity of one of the half-dozen springs 

 that are scattered about over an expanse of country 

 a hundred miles long and forty wide, the only water 

 that we had to drink was alkali water, which has the 

 same effect upon the body as a solution of Epsom 

 salts, constantly weakening the system. Yet whole 

 neighborhoods of settlers to this day have no other 

 water for themselves or their beasts, and they show 

 the deteriorating effects in their faces and their 

 walk. 



If I have found, scattered along a wash, the bones 

 of some fossil fish or reptile, as soon as we have 

 pitched camp and eaten our meal of antelope meat, 

 hot biscuits, and coffee, we both return with pick 

 and shovel, and, carefully saving each weathered 

 fragment, trace the remains to where the rest of 

 the bones lie in situ, as the scientists say, that is, 

 in their original position in their rocky sepulcher. 



