"392 Ex. Doc. No. 41, 



,The mounrls made by tKe gophers or sand rats were more abun- 

 dant than heretoforej and in several places a number of these 

 mounds Lad been made so close together that the distinctness of 

 each was completely lost in the mass, covering an area of five or 

 six feet. 



Our road 'was full of plovers, (charadicus marmoratus;) they 

 Avould run along before us with great rapidity; then stop until we 

 approached quite close, when they would run oiT^galn. Thus they 

 kept-travelling before us all day. We shot several of thera, antlj 

 1 preserved some of their skins, naore as a menaento of Ihe prairies 

 than as a curiosity, for these birds are very abundant in the Uni- 

 ted States, from Canada to the gulf of Mexico. 



As we proceeded on our journey, we heard the confused hum of 

 thousanJs of grasshoppers, noys^ and then broken by the chirping of 



the cricket. These insects are found in great abundance, and obtain 

 greate 



I got a cricket this 



morning that measured 1-| inches in length of its body. 



We now entered on the level prairie, where nothing was to be 

 seen "but a wide expanse of green grass, and the sky above filled 

 with cumulus clouds, the shadows of which, as they fell upon us, 

 adtled to the refreshing effects of the delightful breeze one gene- 

 rally meets upon the the prairie. After travelling a long distance 

 over a country, the irregularities of which were so imperceptible 

 that one almost doubted their existence, we reached that position 

 which I, took to be the top of the divide. Here lay the half de- 

 Toared carcass of an ox that had, doubtless, succumbed to the 

 fatigues of the journey and deprivation of water; for these ani- 

 mals suffer much more from want of water than the mule. Seme 

 turkey vultures, sailing above our heads, showed that they were not 

 ignorant of the locality of the carrion. 



In a little while after passing the ox's carcass, We reached 110 

 mile creek, which is 22 miles distant from our last ni^rht's camp. At 

 this creek there is a fine grove of timber, containing all the varie- 

 ties found in the vicinity of Kansas river. 



hed this creek, and we here found the 



n 



(turdus migratorius,) 



( 





s sweep 



ing rounu in gracelul circles, its white head glancing in the sun- 

 light. I asked the Indian lad to shoot it for m°e with his rifle; but 

 lie gazed upwards at the bird, and seemed so struck with the beauty 

 of Its movements that he uttered not a word, but shook his head 

 to signify that the bird was too fair for him to kill it I should 

 think it impossible for smaller birds ever to escape this hawk, which 

 unites the form and swiftness of the swallow with the boldness and 

 strength of wing of the falcon. 



Nigh the banks of the stream there was a low piece of ground 

 covered with the purple nionarda, (monarda allophylla.) The 

 gaudy butterflies that I have spoken of before, as flittino- around the 

 asclepiasj were now sucking the sweets of these fl ° 



owers. 



"^xr^*'Ju:_Tf- ^^^. ^""''l^* pitched our tents, young Mr. Nourse, 



^^ ^^^^ alone, boldly set 



Washingt 



f- 



