Rocky Mountains. 143 



down by one of the party, when his companion and the fawn, 

 instead of taking fright, came nearer to us, and stood with- 

 in pistol shot, closely watching our movements, while the 

 hunters were butchering the one we had killed. This unusual 

 degree of tameness we could discover more or less, in all the 

 animals of this region, and it seems to indicate that mi.n, 

 the enemy and destroyer of all things, is less known here, 

 than in other portions of the country we had passed. In 

 some parts of our route, we had seen the antelopes take 

 fright, when we were more than a mile to the windward of 

 them, when they could have received no intimation from us, 

 except by sight, yet it does not appear, that their powers of 

 vision are, in any degree, superior to those of most other 

 ruminant animals. 



27th. We were able to select for this day's rest, a de- 

 ligthtful situation at the estuary of a small creek from 

 the south. The wide valley of the river here presented a 

 pleasing alternation of heavy forests, with small but luxuriant 

 meadows, affording a profuse supply of grass for our horses. 

 The broad hills swelling gently one above another, as they 

 recede from the river, are diversified with nearly the same 

 intermixture of field and forest, as in the most highly culti- 

 vated portions of the Eastern States. Herds of bisons, wild 

 horses, elk, and deer, are seen quietly grazing in these ex- 

 tensive and fertile pastures, and the habitations and the 

 works of men, alone seem wanting, to complete the picture 

 of rural abundance. 



We found, however, the annoyance of innumerable mul- 

 titudes of minute, almost invisible seed ticks, a sufficient 

 counterpart to the advantages of our situation. These insects 

 unlike the mosquitoes, gnats, and sandflies, are not to be 

 turned aside by a gust of wind, or an atmosphere surcharged 

 with smoke, nor does the closest dress of leather afford any 

 protection from their persecutions. A person no sooner sets 

 foot among them than they commence in countless thousands, 



