SEPARATE ROUTES. 301 



lated my adventure on rejoining the party. The old men laughed at my 

 expressions of wonder — assertmg that they had before seen such creatures 

 in the high mountain-lakes, and called them ' water bulls.^ " 



Resuming our course, we travelled by easy stages for five succeeding 

 days, which brought us to Council Grove, a noted place of rendezvous 

 for Santa Fe companies. 



The intervening country from Cow creek exhibits an entire change in 

 its geological character. The landscape is gently undulating, and fur- 

 rowed by frequent watercourses. Timber is becoming more abundant. 

 The soil appears humid, and presents an air of general fertility. The 

 grasses also differ in their species and assume a lusty growth. 



The sand-hills which had before skirted the Arkansas, as the traveller 

 advances, lose their naked deformity amid dense groves of timber, and 

 finally disappear in the distance. 



There is throughout a marked scarcity of game common to the grand 

 prairies, and everything denotes an approach to the frontiers of civiliza- 

 tion. 



Council Grove is a stream of considerable magnitude, tributary to the 

 Osage river, and, by the Santa Fe trail, is one hundred and forty-four miles 

 west of Independence. Its bottoms are broad, fertile, and well timbered 

 with heavy forests of oak, walnut, maple, and most other varieties of 

 wood indigenous to the States. 



The country in its vicinity is highly interesting to the agriculturist, 

 and presents a soil remarkable for its fertility, inviting the hand of indus- 

 try to a rich reward. 



Here, too, all the varied products of the farmer might find a ready cash 

 market, from the numerous mountain and Spanish companies that con- 

 stantly pass and repass, and, doubtlessly, at commanding prices. This 

 locality, in fact, being situated upon the very verge of the grand prairie, 

 aflfords a most eligible point for a settlement, and will doubtless soon ac- 

 quire a merited importance as the place of general out-fit and supply for 

 the western and southwestern trade. 



Through the agency of Friday I became acquainted with the existence 

 of a vegetable found in these parts, which is known as the prairie-potato. 

 This attains a size almost equalling our common potato. It is of a rough, 

 knotty appearance, somewhat oviform, and when cooked is dry and 

 sweet tasted. It is found generally in the banks of watercourses, and 

 produces a low ground-vine, not dissimilar to a species of that vegetable 

 usual to warm climates. 



We were detained here for five or six days, by a continuous rain 

 which raised the creek to an extraordinary height, — overflowing its banks 

 and completely flooding its extensive bottoms. So sudden was the rise 

 that we were compelled to move camp three times in the course of an 

 hour, and were final'y driven to an adjoining hill. 



Improving the first interval of fair weather presenting itself, I bade 

 adieu to my Indian companion and renewed my journey alone, as our 



