[7] 388 
road, we noticed that our horses would frequently sink to the fet- 
‘lock, and saw on the ground little piles of loose earth, like. small’ 
ant hills, being about 5 inches high and 10 or 12 inches in diam- 
eter at the base, and without any opening; they are formed by the 
sand rats or gophers, (pseudostoma bursarius,) and although their 
habitations cover the prairies, there are few persons I have met 
with who have ever seen them. 5 
~ On our route we started several prairie chickens, (tetrao cupida.) 
After a march of 11 miles we reached Stranger creek, a romantic 
little stream of water, clear as crystal, that ripples over a pebbly 
bottom. The banks are high and composed of rich loam that 
achieve the ascent. We were soon encamped, and had our bed- 
ding exposed to the sun to dry. We noticed a great quantity of 
the orange colored asclepias, (asclepias tuberosa,) around whic 
of Falstaff. 
e woods were skirted by a dense growth of hazel, plum trees, 
d ¢ Here, too, we found the little quail, (or 
) suddenly rising up from under our feet, and startling 
toes were very numerous, and we lay down to be tormented by 
these provoking pests; but few of us were able to sleep, although 
and had then passed round the neck of a mule. Luckily for 
us, there was a good carpenter in the volunteer camp, and although 
a 
The orange colored asclepias, (A. tuberosa,) and the melan- 
VF * 
thium vi inicum, a white-flowering bush, were also abundant. 
a Se ee 
a ae 
2 The tim er on the ravines consisted of the white oak, (Q- alb3,) 
pg 
