494 Expedition to the 



mensions. They consist so entirely of small grains of fie sh- 

 coloured feldspar, that they have all of thesn an uniform 

 reddish aspect, and it is not without careful examination, 

 that any other kind of gravel can be detected in them. The 

 entrance to the interior of each of these little mounds, is 

 uniformly on the eastward side, and very rarely occurs be- 

 yond the boundaries of N. E. and S. E. It is never at the 

 top, nor on a level with the surface of the soil, but is a little 

 elevated above it. It seems highly probable, that the active 

 little architects, thus place the entrance of their edifice on 

 the eastward side, in order to escape the direct influence of 

 the cold mountain winds. 



At three o'clock as we were about to resume our journey, 

 there came on a gentle shower of ram, with wind at east, and 

 low broken clouds. In the afternoon we passed some small 

 ridges of sandstone crossing the river from north to south, 

 but very inconsiderable in point of elevation and extent. We 

 travelled this day twenty-seven miles, directly towards the 

 base of the mountains, but they appeared almost as distant 

 in the evening, as they had done in the morning. The bear- 

 ing of the high peak above mentioned, from our encampment 

 was south, 75° west. 



The ensuing day being Sabbath, was devoted to rest. 

 About our camp which was in the most fertile spot we could 

 select, in a ride of several miles, there was but a very insuf- 

 ficient supply of grass for our horses. A species of cone 

 flower, (Rudbeckia columnaris, N.) was here beginning to 

 expand. The showy R. purpurea, very common on the Mis- 

 souri, and the lower part of the Platte, does not extend into 

 the desolate regions. The common purslane (Portulacca 

 oleracca) is one of the most frequent plants about the base 

 of the Rocky Mountains, particularly in places much fre- 

 quented, as licks by the bisons, and other animals. 



From this encampment, we had a plain but still distant 

 view of the mountains. No inequality occurs in the surface 



