liocky Mountains. ISl 



to indicate by the admeasurement of ten " lodge days," but 

 we were conscious our communications with them had been 

 made through inadequate interpreters, and it was not with- 

 out reason we began to fear we might have received erro- 

 neous impressions. In the afternoon, however, the river in- 

 clined more to the direction we wished to travel; and we 

 had several courses to the south of east. At sunset we pitch- 

 ed our tent on the north side of the river, and dug a well in 

 the sand, which afforded a sufficient supply of wholesome, 

 though brackish water. Throughout the night the roaring 

 of immense herds of bisons, and the solemn notes of the 

 hooting owl, were heard, intermixed with the desolate cries 

 of the prairie wolf, and the screech owl. The mulberry and 

 the guilandina growing near our camp, with many of the 

 plants and birds we had been accustomed to see in the fron- 

 tier settlements of the United States, reminded us of the 

 comforts of home, and the cheering scenes of social life, 

 giving us, at the same time, the assurance that we were 

 about to arrive at the point where we should take leave of 

 the desert. 



19th. The mercury at sunrise stood at 71". The morning 

 was calm, and the sky tinged with that intense and beautiful 

 blue which marks many of our summer skies, and is seen 

 with greater pleasure, by those who know that home, or a 

 good tavern, is near, than by such as have no prospect of 

 shelter, save what a tent or a blanket can afford. We were 

 now looking, with much impatience, for something to indi- 

 cate an approach towards the village of the Pawnee Piquas; 

 but instead of this the traces of Indians seemed to become 

 less and less frequent. Notwithstanding the astonishing num- 

 bers of bison, deer, antelopes, and other animals, the country 

 is less strewed with bones than almost any we have seen, 

 affording an evidence that it is not a favourite hunting ground 

 of any tribe of Indians. The animals also appeared wholly 

 unaccustomed to the sight of men. The bisons and wolves 



