Ex. Doc. No. 41. 399 



turbid bosom of the stream. We therefore camped by the side of 

 the creek to await the subsiding of it" ters. The country around 

 was cov p rv.'d with the (cucumi:, perennis) prairie g\>urd, and we 

 found it to be infested with those little striped insects that so much 

 annoy the farmer in the United States, by the ravages they commit 

 amongst the young vines. 



This creek is timbered with the elm, (ulmus Americana,) and 

 the box elder, (aceo negundo.) We frequently, during the day, 

 noticed the purslane and the li pinette de prairie;" in the low 

 grounds the splendid coreopsis and the euphorbia were displaying 

 their beauties; and on the uplands the prickly pear was seen in 

 great abundance, but it had passed its bloom. 



During the afternoon a man by the name of Hughes was drowned 

 in attempting to cross the stream; there were two men with him at 

 the time, but the current was so S iolent that it soon swep 4 : him out 

 of reach. His friends brought his clothes to our carrp, where they 

 left thorn until they could recover the body. 



We saw to-day large flocks of the tropical or yellow-headed. 

 blackbird, (agelajus xantocephalus,) also the common blackbird, 

 (quis calus versicolor,) and the Baltimore oriole, (icterus Liati- 

 nore.) 



July 14th. — We were obliged to remain here all day, rill wait- 

 ing the pleasures cf the waters. In the meanwhile I Let one of 

 the men to work to dig up a root of the beautiful prairie convol- 

 vulus, (ipomea leptophylla.) This man worked for several hours, 

 for the ground was extremely hard, so that he was at last obliged 

 to tear it up, leaving much of the top root behind. This root ex- 

 tended for about one foot and of not more than one-half inches in 

 diameter, then it suddenly enlarged, forming a great tuber, 2 feet 

 in length and 21 inches in circumference. The Cheyenne Indians 

 told me that they eat it, that it has a sweet taste, and is good to 

 cure the fever. They called it badger's food, and sometimes th'e 

 man root, on account of its great siz;, for they say soiae of them 

 are as large as a man. We also procured here the Mi vican poppy, 

 (argemone Mexicana;) noticed quantities of a willow brush, \ ..d 

 several specimens of the tooth-ache tree, (near zanthoxylum fraxi- 

 num.) This morning Laing brought m? a very large . toad, (rana 

 musica,) far exceeding any I ever before liave seen. During the 

 day I made a sketch of the country around our camp; the most re- 

 cognisable feature is the bluff just on the west side of the stream, 

 close to the ford. 



In -the craning some of us went over to visit Mr. Hoffman's 

 camp; one of the gentlemen attached to the party had just returned 

 from his first hunt, having killed four fat cows and brought in their 

 tongues. Thus far we have noticed several plants that have been 

 -so common that I have neglected to mention thern. One is the 

 lead plant, or tea plant, (amorpha canescerts,) and is in some places 

 so abundant as to displace almost every other herb; the other is 

 what our men call prairie indigo, (baptisia leucantha,) it bears a 

 large black cylindrical pod, filled with kidney-shaped seed. 



July \bth. — This morning we commenced making a raft, deter- 



