BEAVERS. 33 



A few such men as the Delawares attached to each company of troops 

 upon the Indian frontier would, by their knowledge of Indian character 

 and habits, and their wonderful powers of judging of country, following 

 tracks, &c, (which soldiers cannot be taught,) enable us to operate to 

 much better advantage against the prairie tribes. In several instances 

 when we have had our animals stray away from camp, I have sent six 

 or eight teamsters for them, who, after searching a long time, would 

 often return unsuccessful. I would then send out one Indian, who would 

 make a circuit around the camp until he struck the tracks of the lost 

 animals, and following them up, would invariably return with them in 

 a short time. In this way their services are almost indispensable upon 

 an expedition like ours. 



June 12. — Our course to-day was very nearly due west, up the left 

 bank of Sweet- water creek, until, within about three miles of our present 

 position, we turned with the course of the stream more northwardly. 



The country we passed over was similar to that of yesterday, but not 

 so sandy or so heavy upon our teams. We came in sight of a line of 

 high bluffs this morning, which were apparently about ten miles to the 

 northwest of us. They are very elevated, and present much the appear* 

 ance of the borders of the great Staked Plain, or the "Llano estacado" 

 of the Mexicans. 



On reaching camp we found that a large party of Indians, with very 

 many animals, had been encamped here about two weeks since. Nu- 

 merous trails and horse tracks were seen in every direction, and their 

 animals have cropped the grass for a long distance around. 



Their lodges were pitched near our camp, and our guide pronounced 

 them to have been Kioways. On inquiring how he could distinguish a 

 Kioway from a Comanche camp, he said the only difference was that 

 the former make the holes for their fires about two feet in diameter, 

 while the latter only make them about fifteen inches. 



A community of beavers have also selected a spot upon the creek 

 near our camp, for their interesting labors and habitations. I know of 

 no animal concerning which the accounts of travellers have been more 

 extraordinary, more marvellous or contradictory, than those given of 

 the beaver. By some he is elevated in point of intellect almost to a 

 level with man. He has been said, for instance, to construct houses, 

 with several floors and rooms ; to plaster the rooms with mud in such 

 a manner as to make smooth walls, and to drive stakes of six or eight 

 inches in diameter into the ground, and to perform many other astound- 

 ing feats, which I am inclined to believe are not supported by credible 

 testimony. Laying aside these questionable statements, there is quite 

 3 



