KANSAS HOMES. 
57 
from town to admire the prospect from Mount Oread. We have 
similar calls almost daily, while frequently for hours there are 
persons sitting upon the brow of the hill beyond us. A few days 
since a rather young-looking man called. He was a clergyman, 
and had buried his wife not long before. He had come to Kansas 
with his children, the eldest of whom, a little girl of not more 
than ten summers, was his housekeeper. I have never heard of 
them since. 
We spend the day with a friend, two miles in the country, 
who sends a carriage for us. The hills on our way look like one 
vast garden. Elegant bunches of foxglove stand by the wayside, 
lifting most proudly their tall spikes of purple, lilac and white 
flowers, from a beautiful base of dark lustrous green leaves; straw 
color, orange, and every variety of shade of pinks, from white to 
deepest red, add their blended beauty. Our road, after leaving 
the great California road, than which there was never a finer one, 
is uneven, and we pass several abrupt ravines. We see the 
house, or, more properly, the flume, a long time before reaching 
it, and are constantly expecting to be at the door; but we have 
to learn, what every one else does in these prairies, that eyes un¬ 
accustomed cannot judge correctly of distances. 
We found the lady much excited, and glad of our arrival, as 
she had had some very unwelcome visitors in the absence of her 
husband. Being also half a mile from the nearest neighbor, ren¬ 
dered it yet more unpleasant. A large party of Kaw Indians 
had passed the house, while three of the stragglers made a call 
They examined daguerreotypes and jewelry lying on the book-case 
and by signs manifested their desire for them. The lady remained 
firm in her refusal, and they relinquished the idea of appropriat¬ 
ing them. They soon made signs for something to eat, and, after 
being most abundantly supplied with meat and bread, one of them, 
the most repulsive of all, made a circle on the floor, and sign? of 
cutting it, then pointing to his mouth to represent his desire 
that a pie should be set before them. To comply with such re¬ 
quest being considered unnecessary, it was refused; whereupon 
the young Indian pulled away a cloth, at one end of the room, 
concealing some shelves, and, with boisterous exclamations of 
