Ex. Doc. No. 41. 545 



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which were assumed by the particles of snow which fell on my 

 blanket. They resemble stars with six radii; each of these radii 

 ^as ornamented with beautiful aborescent shapes resembling the 

 cross of ^^ Santo Domingo.'' ' 



I noticed that all the icy fibres of these flakes made angles of 

 60*^ with each ot-her; this was invariably the case with all those that 

 I saw. The annexed sketch is an exact figure of these curious 

 crystals* 



/ 



The storm which produced these flakes bore a greater resem- 

 Wance to the "snow fogs'' than to a regular stormj only a few 

 fiakes were falling, so that they did not inconvenience us in the 

 least, and we paid no attention to them except to examine their 

 bee-uty. • 



February 26.— When we awoke, the ground was covered with 

 s^ow, and it was stormy all day; "the wind of the north blew hard, 

 the snow fell fast, the ground became soft and slippery, and the ra- 

 pines were filled with water. It was bad travelling for the wagon, 

 and much worse for the men who w^ere f)lodding along on foot. 

 We, notwithstanding, made a long march, encamping in the even- 

 ing at "110 creek," which is 26 miles' from the preceding camp. 

 We buijt huge fires, and soon made ourselves quite comfortable, 

 although the fine particles of hail which had pelted us alj day still 

 continued to fall. The woods had been full of prairie chickens; in 

 ail directions we noticed their foot prints in the snow. 



February 27. — We determined to make a long march, and in spite 

 of the continuance of the storm we started at a very early hour. 

 The mist of mixed snow and hail fell almost uninterruptedly 

 throughout the day. Clouds after clouds were chasing each' other 

 across the gray sky. Once the sun shone forthwith sufficient bright- 

 ness to cast a shadow, but its brightness was in the next momept 

 ©bscured. Under foot it was wet and slippery; the road was full 

 of pools of snow and mud. We marched twenty-five miles to 

 "Willow spring," where the road to Fort Leavenworth turns off 

 towards the north; continuing our journey two miles further, we 

 encamped on a stream which adds its tribute to the waters of the 

 mer Wakaroosn. Here we found a plenty of hickory wood, a fine 

 spring, and as good grass as the. season affords; during the day we 

 saw flocks of snow larks and several prairie chickens. The ravens 

 have given place to the crows; the latter birds seem to confine their 



wanderin 



ing to the precincts of American corn fields. 

 uarv 28.— We had now but thirteen miles to 



march before 



February 28.— We had now but thirteen miies o marcu uciu.c 

 itachiiicx the Kansas rive:. I rode on rapidly, and ioon orertook 



*" 35 ' 



