XXXI] WASHINGTON TO SAN FRANCISCO 147 



sunrise next morning saw the Missouri river on our right, 

 from half to three-quarters of a mile wide, the opposite bank 

 wooded. We soon left it, crossing the prairie in a nearly 

 straight line for Kansas City, over a rich alluvial plain, with 

 numerous clumps of trees — poplars, planes, etc. Steep bluffs, 

 from one hundred to two hundred feet high, were frequent, 

 either bare or wooded. As we approached the city we came 

 near the river again, and here there were bluffs of rock of 

 cretaceous sands or limestones — a typical rich prairie country. 

 The Missouri here was like liquid mud, with a swift stream 

 and numerous eddies. On reaching the city I breakfasted at 

 the Station Hotel, bought my ticket for Sioux City, and after 

 much trouble got my trunk and lecture diagrams checked 

 through. We started at 1 1 and reached Council Bluffs, where 

 I had to stay the night, at 6.30, the whole way along level 

 prairie with the river always in sight. At the hotel here 

 were pleasant female waiters instead of the usual white, 

 brown, or black men waiters. Leaving early next morning 

 I saw abundance of water-birds, especially thousands of 

 grebes, scuttling off from the banks as the train passed, leav- 

 ing long trails on the water. At Missouri Valley, a large 

 village, we had to wait an hour and a half. Here the plain 

 was several miles wide, bounded by sloping bluffs of loess, 

 often covered with deep black mould. I walked on to some 

 waste ground, but could find no flowers, the soil being 

 very dry, with a little grass and a few stunted shrubs just 

 sprouting. About twenty miles further we reached Sioux 

 City, where the bluffs come close to the river. The city is 

 on gentle slopes which merge into high rolling prairie inland, 

 intersected by deep valleys ; but at this time of year it was 

 looking rather arid. 



Three lectures had been arranged for me here by Mr. 

 D. H. Talbot on behalf of the Natural History Society, and 

 Mr. E. H. Stone had kindly offered me hospitality in his 

 very pretty house in the suburbs. In the afternoon Mr. 

 Talbot took me to call on a lady who made beautiful draw- 

 ings in oil of native flowers. These were very skilfully 

 executed, and almost equal to those of Miss North at Kew. I 



