452 Expedition to the 



On arriving near the Platte we observed a species of prick- 

 ly pear {Cactus ferox. N.) to become very numerous. It re- 

 sembles the common prickly pear of New Jersey, (C. opun- 

 tia.) but is larger, and protected by a more formidable ar- 

 mature of thorns. Our Indian horses were so well acquaint- 

 ed with this plant, and its properties, that they used 

 the utmost care to avoid stepping near it. The flowers are 

 of a sulphur yellow, and when fully expanded are nearly as 

 large as those of the garden pceony, and crowded together 

 upon the summits of the terminal articulations of which the 

 plant consists. These articulations, (or segments contained 



length; the tail is rather short, banded with brown near the tip, and the 

 hair, excepting' near the body, is not plumbeous at base.* 



The length of the animal, from the tip of the nose to the origin of the 

 tail, is sixteen inches; of the tail, two inches and three fourths; of the hair 

 at its tip three fourths of an inch. 



As particular districts, of limited extent, are, in general, occupied by 

 the burrows of these animals, such assemblages of dwellings are denomi- 

 nated Prairie dog villages by hunters and others who wander in these re- 

 mote regions. 



7'hese villages, like those of man, differ widely in the extent of surface 

 which they occupy; some are confined to an area of a few acres, others are 

 bounded by a circumference of many miles. Only one of these villages 

 occurred between the Missouri and the Pawnee towns; thence to the 

 Platte they were much more numerous. 



The entrance to the burrow is at the summit of the little mound of 

 earth brought up by the animal during the progress of the excavation 

 below. 



These mounds are sometimes inconspicuous, but generally somewhat 

 elevated above the common surface, though rarely to the height of eigh- 

 teen inches. Their form is that of a truncated cone, on a base of two or 

 three feet, perforated by a comparitively large hole or entrance at the 

 summit or in the side. The whole surface, but more particularly the sum- 

 mit, is trodden down and compacted, like a well worn pathway. The hole 

 descends vertically to the depth of one or two feet, whence it continues iu 

 an oblique direction downward. 



A single burrow may have many occupants. We have seen as many as 

 seven or eight individuals sitting upon one mound. 



They delight to sport about the entrance of their burrows in pleasant 

 weather. At the approach of danger they retreat to their dens, or when 

 its proximity is not too immediate they remain, barking, and flourishing 

 their tails, on the edge of their holes, or sitting erect to reconnoitre. When 

 fired upon in this situation, they never fail to escape, or if killed instantly 

 to fall into their burrows, where they are beyond the reach of the hunter. 



As they pass the winter in a lethargic sleep, they lay up no provision 



This description is drawn chiefly from a well prepared specimen belonging to 

 the Philadelphia museum, the tail of which, if we may decide from memory, is 

 somewhat too short. 



