142 Expedition to the 



siderable fertility, now began to occur, and game grew so 

 abundant, that we had it at an) time in our power, to kill as 

 many bisons, bear, deer, and turkies, as we might wish. 



25th. Our daily jourqies over desolate and uninhabited 

 plains, could afford little to record, unless we were to set 

 down the names of the trees we passed, and of the plants 

 and animals which occured to our notice. Our horses had 

 become so exhausted by the great fatigues of the tour, that 

 we found it necessary to content ourselves with a slower 

 progress than formerly. According to our expectations, 

 when we first commenced the descent of the river, we should 

 some time since have arrived near the settlements; these, 

 however, we could plainly perceive, were still far distant. 

 The country we were traversing, has a soil of sufficient fer- 

 tility to support a dense population, but the want of springs 

 and streams of water, must long oppose a serious obstacle to 

 its occupation by permanent residents. A little water was to 

 be seen in the river, but that was stagnant, the rise occasion- 

 ed by the late rains having subsided. 



Leaving our camp at an early hour, we moved down the 

 valley towards the southeast, passing some large and beauti- 

 ful groves of timber. The fox squirrel which we had not 

 seen since we left the Missouri, the cardinal and summer 

 red-bird, the forked-tail tyrant, and the pileated woodpecker? 

 with other birds and animals, belonging to a woody country, 

 now became frequent. The ravens, common in all the open 

 plains, began to give place to crows, now first noticed. 

 Thickets of oak, elm, and nyssa, began to occur on the hills, 

 and the fertile soil of the low plains to be covered with a 

 dense growth of ambrosia, helianthus, and other heavy weeds. 

 As we were riding forward at a small distance irom the ri- 

 ver, two bucks and a fawn happened to cross our path, a few 

 rods in front of the party. As the wind blew from them to 

 us, they could not take our scenr, but turned to gaze at us, 

 without the least appearance of alarm. The leader was shot 



