Rocky Mountains. 215 



Resuming our ride we crossed three branches of a creek, 

 in one of which two of the horses entered in a part not ford- 

 able, and as the banks were steep and miry, it was with much 

 exertion and dela> that they were recovered. Oak and Wal- 

 nut trees abound upon this creek, besides, Elm, Ash, and 

 Locust. A kingfisher [Alcedo alcyoii] was also seen. 



The extreme heat was rather more intense than that of the 

 preceding day, the mercurial column standing for a time at 

 97i degrees. 



The bluffs hitherto more or less remote from the bed of 

 the river, now approached it so closely, as to render it ne- 

 cessary to pursue our course over them. On ascending up- 

 on the elevated prairie, we observed that it had assumed a 

 different appearance, in point of fertility, from that which we 

 had been familiar with, nearer to the mountains. And al- 

 though the soil is not yet entirely concealed from the view 

 by its produce, yet the grass is from six inches to one foot 

 in height. 



But five bisons were seen to-day, a privation which com- 

 municates a solitary air to this region, when compared with 

 the teeming plains over which we have passed, and of which 

 these animals formed the chief feature. 



Our distance this day on a straight line, maybe estimated 

 at fourteen and a quarter miles, though the actual travelled 

 distance was much more considerable. 



During the space of about one month, our only regular 

 food, besides meat, has been coarsely ground parched maize 

 meal, of which a ration of one gill per day, was shared to 

 each individual. This quantity was thrown into common 

 stock and boiled with the meat, into a kind of soup. This 

 meal is nutricious, portable, not subject to spoil by keeping 

 a reasonable length of time, and is probably to be preferred 

 as a substitute for bread, to other succedanea by travellers 

 in an uncivilized country. Our store of meal, however, was 

 now exhausted, and we were obliged to resort to a small 



