Journey up skittish. Their sense of smell is said to be very keen. 
Fork The _ We also got sight of the European rabbit, which is 
Laramie | not found in the eastern part of the United States. 
The day was very sultry. We covered eighteen 
miles before we found some water in a puddle. In 
the afternoon, while we were again on the march, we 
were overtaken by a terrible hailstorm. Some of the 
hailstones were as big as pigeon eggs. The horses on 
which we rode could hardly be held in check; but the 
pack animals ran away as if under the lash. The hail- 
storm lasted, with short interruptions, about half an 
hour. We then gathered up our pack animals, which 
had run miles in the meantime, and camped near Ash 
Creek, which empties into the North Fork. The next 
morning we reached the North Fork, but it was noon 
before we could find a passage for our carts. The 
North Fork with its surroundings is just like the 
South Fork—much sand, little wood, no buffalo. We 
are now to go up the right side of the river about one 
hundred and sixty miles to Fort Laramie. The next 
day we saw four Indians on the further bank. They 
swam over. They were Shiennes. They gave us to 
understand that their tribe had parted from the Sioux 
and would be here in a few days to go up the river 
with us. They urged us, therefore, to wait. Our 
leader acted as if he did not understand them, gave 
them some tobacco, and went on. The next day we 
received a second embassy, but with no better result. 
The bluffs of our side, on which I now saw for the 
first time some cedars, gradually diminished until 
