a | [ 174 7 
the course of the narrative. In my search for plants, I was well rewarded 
With the change in the geological formation ‘on leaving Fort Laramie, 
the whole face of the country has entirely altered its appearance. East- 
ward of that meridian, the principal objects which strike the eye of a travel- 
: der are the absence of timber, and the immense expanse of prairie, covered 
_ with the verdure of rich grasses, and highly adapted for pasturage. “Wher- 
__ ver they are not disturbed by the vicinity of man, large herds of buffalo 
give animation to this country. Westward of Laramie river, the region is 
sandy, and apparently sterile; and the place of the grass is usurped by the 
artemisia and other odoriferous plants, to whose growth the sandy soil 
and dry air of this elevated region seem highly favorable. 
One of the prominent characteristics in the face of the country is the ex- 
traordinary abundance of the artemisias. They grow every where—on 
the hills, and over the river bottoms, in tough, twisted, wiry clumps ; and, 
wherever the beaten track was left, they rendered the progress of the carts 
ihroughont the country. the u ater had been almost dried u p. Byavailing 
themselves of the annual rise, the traders had invariably succeeded in 
search that 
