392 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



The mounds made by the gophers or sand rats were more abun- 

 dant than heretofore, and in several' places a number of these 

 mounds had been made so close together that the distinctness of 

 each was completely lost in the mass, covering an area of five or 

 six feet. 



Our road was full of plovers, (charadicus marmoratus";) they 

 would run along before us with gr,eat rapidity; then stop until we 

 approached quite close, when they would- run off again. Thus they 

 kept travelling before us ail day. We shot several of them, and 

 1 preserved some of their skins, more as a memento of the prairies 

 than as a curiosity, for these birds are very abundant in the Uni- 

 ted States, from Canada to the gulf of Mexico. 



As we proceeded on our journey, we heard the confused hum of 

 thousands of grasshoppers, now and then broken by the chirping of 

 the cricket. These insects are found in great abundance, and obtain 

 greater size than any I have seen elsewhere. I got a cricket this 

 morning that measured 1| inches in length of its body. 



We now entered on the level prairie, where nothing was to be 

 seen but a wide expanse of green grass, and the sky above filled 

 with cumulus clouds, the shadows of which, as they fell upon us, 

 added to the refreshing effects of the delightful breeze one gene- 

 rally meets upon the the prairie. After travelling a long distance 

 over a country, the irregularities of which were so imperceptible 

 that one almost doubted their existence, we reached that position 

 which I took to be the top of the divide. Here lay the half de- 

 voured carcass of an ox that had, doubtless, succumbed to the 

 fatigues of the journey and deprivation of water; for these ani- 

 mals suffer much more from want of water than the mule. Some 

 turkey vultures, sailing above our heads, snowed that they were not 

 ignorant of the locality of the carrion. 



In a little while after passing the ox's carcass, we reached 110 

 mile creek, which is 22 miles distant from our last night's camp. At 

 this creek there is a fine grove of timber, containing all the varie- 

 ties found in the vicinity of Kansas river. 



About 12 o'clock we reached this creek, and we here found- the 

 robin, (turdus migratorius.) the cat bird and the blue bird; and, higu 

 above us, the swallow-tailed hawk (nauclerus fuscatus) was sweep- 

 ing round in graceful circles, its white head glancing in the sun- 

 light. I asked the Indian lad to shoot it for me with his rifle; but 

 he gazed upwards at the bird, and seemed so struck with the beauty 

 of its movements that he uttered not a word, but shook his head 

 to signify that the bird was too fair for him to kill it. I should 

 think it impossible for smaller birds ever to escape this hawk, which 

 unites the form and swiftness of the swallow with the boldness and 

 strength of wing of the falcon. 



Nigh the banks of the "stream there was a low piece of ground 

 covered with the purple monarda, (monarda allophylla.) The 

 gaudy butterflies that I have spoken of before, as flitting around the 

 asclepias, were now sucking the sweets of these flowers. ' 



Before we had fairly pitched our tents, young Mr. Nourse, 

 of Washington city, entered our camp. He had, alone, boldly set 



