27 a [174] 
thermometer 81°, with a strong wind from S, 20° E., and the sky partially 
covered with heavy masses of. cloud, which settled a little towards the 
horizon: by 10 0’clock, leaving it sufficiently clear for astronomieal ob- 
SeFNSLONS whiel: placed us in 1 latitude 40° 33' 2 26", and longitude 103° 
800 i nar 
ly The morning was very pleasant. The breeze was fresla 
S. 50° -E. with few clouds; the barometer at 6 o’clock standing at 25 done 5 
and the thermometer at-70°. Since leaving the forks, our route had- 25070, : 
over a country alternately clay and sand, each presenting the same naked © 
waste. On leaving camp this morning, we struck again a sandy region, 
in which the vegetation appeared somewhat more vigorous than that 
which we had observed for the last few days; and os the opposite side vf 
the river were some tolerably large groves of tim 
Journeying along, wecame suddenly upon a eee where the ground 
was covered with horses’ tracks, which had been made since the rain, 
indicated the immediate presence of Indians in our neighborhood. The 
buffalo, too, which the day before had been so numerous, were nowhere in 
sight—another sure indication that there were people near. Riding on, we 
discovered the carcass of a buffalo recently killed—perhaps the day before. 
We scanned the horizon carefully with the glass, but no living o was 
ie be seen. For the next mile or two, the ground was dotted with buffalo 
, which showed that the — had made a sutround here, and 
Were in considerable force.. We we n quickly and cautiously, keeping 
the river bottom, and carefully avidin the hills; but we met with no 
interruption, and began to grow careless again. We had already lost one 
of our horses, and here Basil’s mule showed symptoms of giving out, and 
finally refused to advance, being what the Canadinns call res¢é. He there- 
fore dismounted, and drove her along before him; but this was a very” 
slow. way of travelling. We had inadvertently got about half a mile in 
advance, but our Cheyennes, who were generally a mile or two in the 
rear, remained with him. There were some dark-looking objects among 
the. hills, about two miles to the left, here low and undulating, which we 
d seen for a little time, and supposed to be buffalo coming in to water ; 
2 
but, happening to look behind, Maxwell saw the Cheyennes whipping up 
furiously, and another glance at the dark objects showed them at atonce to | 
be Indians coming up at spe 
Had we been well siowetod, ane disencumbered of instruments, we > 
might have. set them at defiance ; but as it was, we were fairly caught. 
It was. too late to rejoin our friends, and-we endeavored to gain a clum 
of timber about half a mile ahead; but the instruments and the tired state 
of our horses did not allow us to go faster than a steady canter, and they 
were gaining on us fast. At first, they did not appear to be more than 
fifteen or twenty in number, but group after group darted into view at the 
top of the hills, until-all the little eminences seemed in motion, and, ina 
few minutes from the time they were first discovered, two or three ‘hun- Ss) 
dred, naked to the breech cloth, were sweeping across the prairie. Ina 
few hundred yards we discovered that the timber we were endeavoring” 
to make was on the opposite side of be meer and before we could reach 
- the bank, down came the Indians u . 
: 
Tam inclined to think that in a ta Faicela more the leading mat 
a perhaps some-of his companions, would have ro in eee - 
had jerked saree from our guns, and our f | 
