122 NOTES TAKEN, 
_ We found some curious specimens of the cactus—perfectly 
round. and flat, not more than three or four inches thick, but 
many of them five feet in diameter. 
We also passed a Kickapoo grave, which our guide pointed 
out to us, and described their manner of burial, He said, 
“He dig him hole deep like man, den stick him in head up, 
and may be so he leave him,”—a singular mode of burial, 
truly. 
A doe and buck were called up on the open prairie by means 
of the bleat, sista how effectual this little instrument is in 
expert hands. One of our amateurs tried a shot at them, but 
failed to hit, and they bounded off over the plain and were : 
soon lost to sight. 
We crossed the west fork of the Trinity, and after nooning 
proceeded to make a bridge of gum elastic timber over a ravine 
that aie across our course, This tree is not the caoutchouc, 
but takes its name from the berry, which is edible, and like 
the prepared gum elastic of commerce, is springy. 
The mesquite trees here began to show the beans, which 
are similar—though narrower—to the honey locust, and being 
full of saccharine matter, our Indians seemed very fond of 
them, pulling and eating them by handfuls as they rode along. 
The wild _Passion-flower also abounded here in great pro- 
fusion, festooning the trees and looking very tempting, relieved 
by the deep green foliage. I collected a good store of the 
seeds. 
After crossing the ravine, we passed through a succession 
