58 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



the rest of the day our men and horses were rendered ahiiost fran- 

 tic, the former bitterly imprecating, and the latter stamping, and 

 kicking, and rolling in the sand, in tremendous, yet vain, efforts 

 to rid themselves of their pertinacious little foes. It was rather 

 amusing to see the whole company with their handkerchiefs, 

 shirts, and coats, thrown over their heads, stemming the animated 

 torrent, and to hear the greenhorns cursing their tormenters, the 

 country, and themselves, for their foolhardiness in venturing on 

 the journey. When we encamped in the evening, we built fires 

 at the mouths of the tents, the smoke from which kept our ene- 

 mies at a distance, and we passed a night of tolerable comfort, 

 after a day of most peculiar misery. 



The next morning I observed that the faces of all the men 

 were more or less swollen, some of them very severely, and poor 

 Captain W. was totally blind for two days afterwards. 



25th. — We made a noon camp to-day on the north branch or 

 fork of the river, and in the afternoon travelled along the bank 

 of the stream. In about an hour's march, we came to rocks, 

 precipices, and cedar trees, and although we anticipated some 

 difficulty and toil in the passage of the heights, we felt glad to ex- 

 change them for the vast and wearisome prairies we had left 

 behind. Soon after we commenced the ascent, we struck into 

 an Indian path very much worn, occasionally mounting over 

 rugged masses of rock, and leaping wide fissures in the soil, and 

 sometimes picking our way over the jutting crags, directly above 

 the river. On the top of one of the stunted and broad spreading 

 cedars, a bald eagle had built its enormous nest ; and as we 

 descended the mountain, we saw the callow young lying within 

 it, while the anxious parents hovered over our heads, screaming 

 their alarm. 



In the evening we arrived upon the plain again ; it was thickly 

 covered with ragged and gnarled bushes of a species of worm- 

 wood, (Artcmesia,) which perfumed the air, and at first was 



