66 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



called the Black Hills. The general aspect here, was dreary 

 and forbidding ; the soil was intersected by deep and craggy 

 fissures ; rock jutted over rock, and precipice frowned over 

 precipice in frightful, and apparently endless, succession. Soon 

 after we commenced the ascent, we experienced a change in the 

 temperature of the air ; and towards mid-day, when we had 

 arrived near the summit, our large blanket capeaus, — which in the 

 morning had been discarded as uncomfortable, — were drawn 

 tightly around us, and every man was shivering in his saddle as 

 though he had an ague fit. The soil here is of a deep reddish or 

 ferruginous hue, intermixed with green sand; and on the heights, 

 pebbles of chalcedony and agate are abundant. 



We crossed, in the afternoon, the last and steepest spur of this 

 chain, winding around rough and stony precipices, and along 

 the extreme verges of tremendous ravines, so dangerous looking 

 that we were compelled to dismount and lead our horses. 



On descending to the plain, we saw again the north fork of 

 the Platte, and were glad of an opportunity of encamping. Our 

 march to-day has been an unusually wearisome one, and many 

 of our loose horses are bruised and lame. 



7th. — The country has now become more level, but the prairie 

 is barren and inhospitable looking to the last degree. The 

 twisted, aromatic wormwood covers and extracts the strength 

 from the burnt and arid soil. The grass is dry and brown, and 

 our horses are suffering extremely for want of food. Occasion- 

 ally, however, a spot of lovely green appears, and here we allow 

 our poor jaded friends to halt, and roam without their riders, and 

 their satisfaction and pleasure is expressed by many a joyous 

 neigh, and many a heart-felt roll upon the verdant sward. 



In the afternoon, we arrived at the " Red Butes," two or three 

 brown-red cliffs, about two thousand feet in height. This is a 

 remarkable point in the mountain route. One of these cliffs 

 terminates a long, lofty, wooded ridge, which has bounded our 



