Rocky Mountains. 205 



©ver the river, or unhesitatingly crossed our scent in the rear, 

 and at an easy pace, or dog-trot, chose the shortest route to 

 the bluffs. 



The soil during the afternoon's ride was a deep, fine, white 

 sand, which rendered the travelling very laborious, under 

 the debilitating influence of an extreme temperature of 94 

 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, and affected the sight by the 

 glare of light, which it so freely reflected. The chief pro- 

 duce of these tracts of unmixed sand, is the sunflower, often 

 the dense and almost exclusive occupant. 



The evening encampment was formed at the junction of a 

 small tributary with the river, at the distance of about twen- 

 ty-four miles from the last mentioned creek. The very tri- 

 fling quantity of timber, supported by the immediate bank 

 of the river in this region, is almost exclusively the cotton- 

 wood; we are therefore gratified to observe on this creek, be- 

 sides the elm, the walnut, mulberry and ash, which we hail 

 with a hearty welcome, as the harbingers of a more produc- 

 tive territory. 



