Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



399 



turbid bosom of the stream. We therefore camped by the side of 

 the creek to await the subsiding of its waters; The country around 

 was covered with the (cucumis perennis) prairie gourd, and we 

 found it to be infested with those little striped insects that so much 

 annoy the farmer in the United States, by the ravages they commit 

 amongst the young vines. • 



ThJs creek is timbered with the elm, (ulmus Americana,) and 

 the box elder, (aceo negundo.) We frequently, during the day, 

 noticed the purslane and the "pinette de.prairiej" in the low 

 grounds the splendid coreopsis and the euphorbia were displayincr 

 their beauties; and on the uplands the prickly pear '^ 



great abundance, but it had passed its bloom. 



_ puring the afternoon a man by the name of Hughes was drowned 

 in attempting to cro^' the stream; there were two men with him ac 

 the time, but the current was so violent that it soon swept him out 

 of reach. His friends brought his clothes to our camp, where they 

 left them until they could recover the body. 



We saw to-day large flocks of the tropical or yellow-headed 

 blackbird, (agelajus xantocephalus,) also the common blackbird 



was seen in 



( 



calus versicolor,) and the Baltimore 



more 



( 



July Uth.—We were obliged to remain here all day, still wait- 

 ing the pleasures of the waters. In the meanwhile I set one of 

 the men to work to dig up a root of the beautiful prairie convol- 

 Tulus, (iporaea leptophylla.) This man worked for several hours 

 for the ground was extremely hard, so that he was at last obliged ' 

 to tear it up, leaving much of the top root behind. This root ex- 

 tended for about one foot and of not more than one-half inches in 

 diameter, then it suddenly enlarged, forming a great tuber, 2 feet 

 m length and 21 inches in circumference. The Cheyenne Indians 

 told me that they eat it, that it has a sweet taste, and is o-ood to 

 cure the fever. They called it badger's food, and somctiuus the 

 man root, on account of its great size, for they say some of r in 

 are as large ^s a man. We also procured here the Mexican vo'VY 

 (argeraone Mexicana;) noticed quantities of a willow brusti "^ lid 

 several specimensof the tooth-ache tree, (near zanthoxylum ir ixi- 

 num.) This morning Laing brought me a very large toad, (rana 

 musica,) far exceeding any I ever before have seen. During the 

 day I made a sketch of the country around our camp; the most re- 

 cognisable feature is the bluff just on the west side of the stream 

 close to the ford. * 



I , 



In the evening some of us went over to visit Mr. Hoffman's 

 •camp; one of the gentlemen attached to the party had just returned 

 from his first hunt, having killed four fat cows and brought in their 

 tongues. Thus far we havfe noticed several plants that have been 

 so cornmon that I have neglected to mention them. One is the 

 lead plant, or tea plant, (amorpha canescens,) and is in some places 

 so abundant as to displace almost every olher herb; the other is 



what 



(bap 



large black cylindricaFpod, filled with kidnej-shaped seed. 



July 15M. — This morning we commenced making a raft, deter- 



