85 Ishcatappa; see ante, note 46.—Ed.

86 See Appendix B.—Ed.

87 The "Kaskaias" were closely akin to the Comanche, if not identical with them. The name is rarely used after the date of the present account, and the term Comanche is extended so as to include the Indians to which it is here applied. Jedidiah Morse, Indian commissioner, reckoned their numbers (1822) at three thousand, and located them along the base of the Rocky Mountains, in the same area over which the Comanche roamed.—Ed.

88 The Pawnee now number about six hundred and fifty souls.—Ed.

89 The purposes of the Yellowstone expedition included the establishment of this military post at the mouth of Minnesota River; during 1819 barracks were erected and fortifications begun.—Ed.

90 Arctomys Ludoviciana. Ord.—This interesting and sprightly little animal has received the absurd and inappropriate name of Prairie dog, from a fancied resemblance of its warning cry to the hurried barking of a small dog. This sound may be imitated with the human voice, by the pronunciation of the syllable cheh, cheh, cheh, in a sibilated manner, and in rapid succession, by propelling the breath between the tip of the tongue and the roof of the mouth. The animal is of a light dirty reddish-brown colour above, which is intermixed with some gray, also a few black hairs. This coating of hair is of a dark lead colour next the skin, then bluish-white, then light reddish, then gray at the tip. The lower parts of the body are of a dirty white colour. The head is wide and depressed above, with large eyes; the iris is dark brown. The ears are short and truncated; the whiskers of moderate length and black; a few bristles project from the anterior portion of the superior orbit of the eye, and a few also from a wart on the cheek: the nose is somewhat sharp and compressed; the hair of the anterior legs, and that of the throat and neck, is not dusky at base. All the feet are five-toed, covered with very short hair, and armed with rather long black nails: the exterior one of the fore foot nearly attains the base of the next, and the middle one is half an inch in length: the thumb is armed with a conic nail, three-tenths of an inch in length; the tail is rather short, banded with brown near the tip, and the hair, excepting near the body, is not plumbeous at base.91

The length of the animal, from the tip of the nose to the origin of the tail, is sixteen inches; of the tail, two inches and three-fourths; of the hair at its tip three-fourths of an inch.

As particular districts, of limited extent, are, in general, occupied by the burrows of these animals, such assemblages of dwellings are denominated Prairie dog villages by hunters and others who wander in these remote regions.

These villages, like those of man, differ widely in the extent of surface which they occupy; some are confined to an area of a few acres, others are bounded by a circumference of many miles. Only one of these villages occurred between the Missouri and the Pawnee towns; thence to the Platte they were much more numerous.

The entrance to the burrow is at the summit of the little mound of earth, brought up by the animal during the progress of the excavation below.

These mounds are sometimes inconspicuous, but generally somewhat elevated above the common surface, though rarely to the height of eighteen inches. Their form is that of a truncated cone, on a base of two or three feet, perforated by a comparatively large hole or entrance at the summit or in the side. The whole surface, but more particularly the summit, is trodden down and compacted, like a well-worn pathway. The hole descends vertically to the depth of one or two feet, whence it continues in an oblique direction downward.

A single burrow may have many occupants. We have seen as many as seven or eight individuals sitting upon one mound.

They delight to sport about the entrance of their burrows in pleasant weather; at the approach of danger they retreat to their dens; or when its proximity is not too immediate, they remain, barking, and flourishing their tails, on the edge of their holes, or sitting erect to reconnoitre. When fired upon in this situation, they never fail to escape, or if killed, instantly to fall into their burrows, where they are beyond the reach of the hunter.

As they pass the winter in a lethargic sleep, they lay up no provision of food for that season, but defend themselves from its rigours by accurately closing up the entrance of the burrow. The further arrangements which the Prairie dog makes for its comfort and security are well worthy of attention. He constructs for himself a very neat globular cell with fine dry grass, having an aperture at top, large enough to admit the finger, and so compactly formed that it might almost be rolled over the floor without receiving injury.

The burrows are not always equidistant from each other, though they occur usually at intervals of about twenty feet.92—James.

Comment by Ed. The scientific name of the prairie-dog is now cynomys ludovicianus; see Bradbury's Travels, in our volume v, note 61.

91 This description is drawn chiefly from a well-prepared specimen belonging to the Philadelphia museum, the tail of which, if we may decide from memory, is somewhat too short.

92 In these villages, where the grass is fed close, and where much fresh earth is brought up and exposed to the air, is the peculiar habitat of a species of Solanum approaching the S. triflorum of Nuttall, which, he says, occurs as a weed "about the gardens of the Mandans and Minatarees of the Missouri, and in no other situations." It appears to differ from the S. triflorum in being a little hirsute, with flat, runcinate, pinnatifid leaves, and the peduncles alternating with the leaves. The Solanum heterandrum of Pursh, now referred to the new genus Androcera of Nuttall, is also very common, but is not confined, like the plant just mentioned, to the marmot villages. We collected also the Psoralea cuspidata, Ph. P. esculenta, N. P. incana, N. also a species of Hieracium—H. runcinatum. Plant hirsute, leaves all radical, elliptic-oblong, runcinate; scape few-flowered, somewhat compressed, and angular; glands on the hairs of the calix, very small and diaphanous; about one foot high; flower small. Hab. in depressed, grassy situations along the Platte.

93 Known as Grand Island. It extends from Buffalo County on the west through Hall into Merrick County. The dimensions given in the text are not accurate; it has an average width of only a mile and three-quarters, but is more than fifty miles in length. Frémont described it (1842) as well timbered, fertile, and above high water level; he noted it as the most suitable site on the lower Platte for a military post. See Report of Exploring Expedition to Rocky Mountains in the Year 1842 (Washington, 1845), p. 78. Fort Kearney was established in 1848, in Kearney County, near the upper end of the island.—Ed.

94 Now Wood River. It rises in Custer County, flows southeast through Dawson and western Buffalo counties, then turns and flows east by northeast to central Hall County, where it empties into the channel of the Platte, which runs north of Grand Island. The timber on its banks, from which it obtained its name, was consumed in building the Union Pacific Railroad.—Ed.

95 Among other plants collected along the Platte on the 15th and 16th June, are the Cherianthus asper, N., Helianthemum canadense, Atheropogon apludoides, N., Myosotis scorpioides, Pentstemon gracile. N. The Cherianthus asper is intensely bitter in every part, particularly the root, which is used as medicine by the Indians. In depressed and moist places along the river, we observed a species of Plantago, which is manifestly allied to P. eriophora of Wallich, Flor. Ind. p. 423, also to P. attenuata of the same work, p. 422. The base of the scape and leaves is invested with a dense tuft of long fine wool, of a rusty brown colour. Before the plant is taken up this tuft is concealed in the soil, being a little below the surface, but it adheres closely to the dried specimen. Its leaves, which are the size of those of P. lanceolata, are smooth, fine nerved, with a few remote denticulations. Scape slender, exceeding the leaves; bractæas ovate, spike slender, few-flowered—P. attenuata, Bradbury?—James.

96 See Bradbury, p. 113.—James.

Comment by Ed. See reprint in volume v of our series, p. 123.

97 For sketch of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, see Franchère's Narrative, in our volume vi, note 4.—Ed.

98 The Sand Hills begin at about the hundredth meridian, which crosses the Platte in western Dawson County.—Ed.

99 Argemone alba, a large plant, very distinct from A. mexicana.—James.

100 Other plants found here, were the great sunflower Helianthus giganteus, Asclepias obtusifolia, Ph., A. viridiflora, Ph., A. syriaca, and A. incarnata, Amorpha canescens, N., Erigeron pumilum, N., A. Veronica approaching V. deccabunga Scuttellaria galericulata, Rumex venosus, N., and several which are believed to be undescribed.—James.

101 In rain water puddles, we remarked a new species of Branchiopode belonging to the genus Apus; small crustaceous animals, which exhibit a miniature resemblance to the King or Horse-shoe Crab, (Himulus polyphemus,) of our sea coast, but which are furnished with about sixty pairs of feet, and swim upon their back. The basins of water, which contained them, had been very much diminished by evaporation and infiltration, and were now crowded to excess, principally with the apus, great numbers of which were dying upon the surrounding mud, whence the water had receded. This species is distinguished from the productus of Bosc, and montagui of Leach, by not having the dorsal carina prolonged in a point behind; and from cancriformis, by the greater proportional width of the thorax, and more obtuse emargination behind. The length of the thorax along the middle, is three-tenths of an inch, and its greatest breadth somewhat more. It may be named Apus obtusus.

A very large species of Cypris, also inhabits these small rainwater pools in great numbers, of which the valves are more than one-fifth of an inch in length.—James.

102 North Platte River rises in Laramie County, Colorado, in the high valley called North Park, enclosed by the Park Range and the Medicine Bow Mountains. It flows north to Natrona County, in central Wyoming, and thence turns to the southeast.—Ed.

103 Castor fiber.—Some of the European naturalists appear to be in doubt, whether or not the beavers of Europe are of the same species with ours, from the circumstance of the former not erecting habitations for themselves, thus appearing to differ at least in habit, from the North American, (which are usually but improperly called, Canada beaver, as they are not confined to Canada, but are found far south in the United States, and east to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi,) but it is possible, that the aboriginal manners of the European beavers, corresponded with those of ours, and that necessity, resulting from the population of the country by civilized man, compelled them to resort to a different mode of life, to escape the certain destruction, with which the great demand for their fur threatened them. But as the European beaver is smaller than ours, other naturalists have regarded it as a distinct species. In those districts of country of North America, from which they have not yet been exterminated, and which are populated by the whites, as particularly on the Mississippi, above the Ohio, and below St. Louis, we have not heard that they build, but it is more than probable, that, as in Europe, they change their mode of life, in order to be the more effectually concealed from view. From subsequent observation, we have learned, that the beaver does not attempt to dam large streams, perceiving at once the impracticability of the undertaking: his object in damming a stream appears to be, to preserve a constancy in the height of the water, in order that the entrance to his habitation in the bank may be concealed, and that the curious conical edifice may not be destroyed by a sudden flood, or too much exposed by a deficiency of water.

An Indian informed us, that in his time, he has caught three specimens of this animal, that had each a large white spot on the breast. Singular accounts of this animal are given us by the hunters, but which we had no opportunity of verifying.

Three beavers were seen cutting down a large cotton-wood tree; when they had made considerable progress, one of them retired to a short distance, and took his station in the water, looking steadfastly at the top of the tree. As soon as he perceived the top begin to move towards its fall, he gave notice of the danger to his companions, who were still at work, gnawing at its base, by slapping his tail upon the surface of the water, and they immediately ran from the tree out of harm's way.

The spring beaver are much better for commerce than those of the autumn and early winter, as the fur is longer and more dense. But the beaver taken in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains is almost equally good during the year.

Mr. Frazer, a gentleman who has been several years engaged in the fur trade, in the interior of North America, on the Columbia, and in North California, in speaking of the beaver, mentioned a circumstance, which we do not remember to have seen recorded. The lodges are usually so placed, that the animals ascend the stream some distance to arrive at the spot whence they procure their food. They make their excursions under water, and they have, at equal distances, excavations under the bank, called washes, into which they go and raise their heads above the surface, in order to breathe, without exposing themselves to be seen. In winter the position of these washes is ascertained, by the hollow sound the ground returns when beaten; and the beavers are sometimes taken, by being pursued into these holes, the entrances to which are afterwards closed.

Otters are frequent on the Missouri. We had an opportunity of seeing on the ice of Boyer Creek a considerable number of the tracks or paths of otters; they were the more readily distinguishable, from there being snow of but little depth on the ice, and they appeared as if the animal was accustomed to slide in his movements on the ice, as there were, in the first place, the impressions of two feet, then a long mark clear of snow a distance of three or four feet, then the impressions of the feet of the animal, after which the sliding mark, and so on alternately. These paths were numerous, and passed between the bank and a situation, where a hole had been in the ice, now frozen over.—James.

104 The narrative from which this sketch is taken, was published in the Missouri Gazette.—James.

Comment by Ed. The article in the Missouri Gazette is reprinted in Bradbury's Travels, volume v of our series, Appendix III, p. 224. An account of Hunt's expedition and sketches of the partners of the Pacific Fur Company, mentioned in the text, will be found in the same volume, notes 2, 3, 72, 119.

105 The town of North Platte is now situated on this tongue of land between the forks of the Platte; and recently a family named Peale, relatives of T. R. Peale of Long's party, were among the residents.—Ed.

106 Charles Nicholas Sigisbert Sonnini de Manoncourt was a French naturalist and traveller, who visited Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor during the years 1777-80. He lost his fortune by the Revolution, and spent the remainder of his life in writing and editing scientific works. The book here referred to is Voyage dans la haute et dans le basse Egypt (Paris, 3 vols., 1799). It was twice translated into English.—Ed.

107 Considerable additions were made, about the forks of the Platte, to our collections of plants. We found here, among others, the Pentstemon cristatum, N. Coronopus dydima, Ph. Evolvulus Nuttallianus, Roemer, and Shultz. Orobus dispar, Cleome tryphilla, Petalostemon candidum, Ph., and P. violaceum. Aristida pallens, N. two species of a genus approximating to Hoitzia, several species of Astragalus, and many others.—James.

108 Nuttall's Genera of North American Plants, vol. i. p. 296.—James.

109 John Lawson, a Scotchman, came to North Carolina about 1700, as surveyor-general; he was killed by the Indians in 1712. His book, A New Voyage to Carolina, etc., originally published at London in 1709, ran through several editions, and was reprinted at Raleigh in 1860. "He [the bison] seldom appears amongst the English Inhabitants ... yet I have known some kill'd on the Hilly Part of Cape-Fair-River, they passing the Ledges of vast Mountains ... before they can come near us." [In margin.] "Two killed one year in Virginia at Appamaticks." (See edition of 1714, in Stevens's Collection of Voyages, p. 115.)

Cuming's Tour is reprinted as volume iv of our series. See p. 177 for passage quoted.—Ed.

110 Andrew Henry was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, between 1773 and 1778, and died in Washington County, Missouri, in 1832. He was one of the original incorporators of the Missouri Fur Company in 1809 and the next year built the first post established by an American trader beyond the crest of the Rockies; this was Fort Henry, on Snake River, probably near the present village of Egin, Fremont County, Idaho. It was abandoned the succeeding spring, but furnished shelter for a few days to the party under Hunt, bound overland to Astoria. (See Bradbury's Travels, in our volume v, note 2). Little is known of Henry from 1811 to 1822; at the latter date he entered into partnership with General W. H. Ashley (congressman from Missouri, 1831-37), and for a time prospered in the fur-trade, but lost his fortune by becoming a surety for others.

Lewis River was the name given by Lewis and Clark to Salmon and Snake rivers. Fort Henry was not far from the headwaters of the former.—Ed.

111 Meles labradoricus.—James.

112 Lepus variabilis? possibly it may prove to be L. glacialis of Leach.—James.

113 Vultur aura.—James.

114 A. columbiensis. This is said to be the plant known to the party of Lewis and Clarke, by the name of "wild sage." It occurs abundantly in the barren plains of the Columbia river; where it furnishes the sole article of fuel or of shelter to the Indians who wander in those woodless deserts. See Nuttall's Genera, vol. ii. p. 142.—James.

115 There is a considerable error in the longitude of points in western Nebraska and Colorado as given on the map of the expedition. For example, the longitude of the town of North Platte, at the confluence of the forks of the Platte, is 100° 45' 53"; while on the accompanying map the one hundred and second meridian runs but little west of the spot. For this reason, and because of the few landmarks described, the location of the camps of the expedition can only be approximated; but that of June 26 must have been quite near the Nebraska-Colorado boundary. The South Platte leaves Colorado almost exactly at the northeastern corner of the state.—Ed.

116 The name "Black Hills," which is now associated with the mountains of southwestern South Dakota, has also been applied somewhat indefinitely to hills in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado. Lewis and Clark's map places hills so named along the eastern side of the North Platte, running well into Nebraska. The name is sometimes given to the hills enclosed by the circular course of the North Platte, in southeastern Wyoming; while Frémont (1842) applies it to the hills through which Cache la Poudre River cuts its way to the South Platte.—Ed.

117 We may add on this subject the testimony of Lawson, the early historian of North Carolina. After describing the huts of the native inhabitants, he adds, "These dwellings are as hot as stoves, where the Indians sleep and sweat all night; yet I never felt any ill unsavory smell in their cabins, whereas should we live in our houses as they do, we should be poisoned with our own nastiness; which confirms the Indians to be, as they really are, some of the sweetest people in the world." New Voyage to Carolina, p. 177. London, 4to. 1709.—James.

118 See Humboldt's New Spain, vol. i. p. 184.—James.

119 There are a number of springs in the ravines south of the Platte between Ogallala, Nebraska, and Julesburg, Colorado. During this day's march, the party doubtless crossed the Nebraska-Colorado line.—Ed.

120 Cherry Creek is probably the modern Pawnee Creek, of Logan County, Colorado. The statement in the text relative to its source is misleading, as no stream debouching in this vicinity heads so far west; the heads of the several branches of Cherry Creek are all in eastern Weld County, many miles from the mountains proper. Frémont camped near Cherry Creek on July 7, 1843.—Ed.

121 A small fox was killed, which appears to be the animal mentioned by Lewis and Clarke, in the account of their travels, under the name of the burrowing fox, (vol. ii. p. 351.) It is very much to be regretted, that although two or three specimens of it were killed by our party, whilst we were within about two hundred miles of the mountains, yet from the dominion of peculiar circumstances, we were unable to preserve a single entire skin; and as the description of the animal taken on the spot was lost, we shall endeavour to make the species known to naturalists, with the aid of only a head and a small portion of the neck of one individual, and a cranium of another, which are now before us.

In magnitude, the animal is hardly more than half the size of the American red fox, (Canis Virginianus, of the recent authors,) to which it has a considerable resemblance. But, that it is an adult, and not the young of that species, the presence of the large carnivorous tooth, and the two posterior molar teeth of the lower jaw, on each side, sufficiently attest; these teeth, as well as all the others, being very much worn down, prove that the milk teeth have been long since shed.

The teeth, in form, correspond to considerable exactness with those of our red fox; but the anterior three and four false molares of both these species are sufficiently distinguished from the corresponding teeth of the gray, or tri-coloured fox (C. cinereo-argenteus) by being wider at base, and less elongated perpendicularly, and by having the posterior basal lobe of each, longer and much more distinctly armed with a tubercle at tip.

Besides this disparity of dentition in the red and gray foxes, the general form of the cranium, and its particular detailed characters, as a less elevated occipital, and temporal crest, more profoundly sinuous junction of the malar with the maxillary bone, the absence of elevated lines bounding the space between the insertions of the lateral muscles, passing in a slightly reclivate direction between the orbital processes, and the anterior tip of the occipital crest, and in particular the want of an angular process of the lower jaw beneath the spinous process in the cranium of the red fox, are sufficiently obvious characters to indicate even by this portion of the osseous structure alone, its specific distinctness from the gray fox. In these differences the osteology of the burrowing fox equally participates, and although besides these characters in common with the red fox, we may observe a correspondence in many other respects, yet there are also many distinctions which the cranium of this small species will present, when more critically compared with that well known animal, which unequivocally forbid us from admitting their identity. The common elevated space on the parietal bones between the insertions of the lateral muscles is one-fourth wider, and extends further backward, so as to embrace a notable portion of the anterior angle of the sagitto-occipital crest; the recipient cavity in the inferior jaw for the attachment of the masseter muscle is more profound, and the coronoid process, less elevated than the top of the zygomatic arch, is more obtusely rounded at tip than that of the red fox.

The dimensions of the cranium, as taken by the calipers:

The entire length from the insertion of the superior incisores to the tip of the occipital crest, is rather more than four inches and three-tenths. The least distance between the orbital cavities, nine-tenths. Between the tips of the orbital processes less than one inch and one-tenth. Between the insertions of the lateral muscles, at the junction of the frontal and parietal bones, half an inch. Greatest breadth of this space on the parietal bones thirteen-twentieths of an inch.

The hair is fine, dense, and soft. The head above is fulvous, drawing on ferruginous, intermixed with gray, the fur being of the first-mentioned colour, and the hair whitish at base; then black; then gray; then brown. The ridge of the nose is somewhat paler, and a more brownish dilated line passes from the eye to near the nostrils, (as in the C. corsac). The margin of the upper lip is white; the orbits are gray; the ears behind are paler than the top of the head, intermixed with black hairs and the margin, excepting at tip, white; the inner side is broadly margined with white hairs; the space behind the ear is destitute of the intermixture of hairs; the neck above has longer hairs, of which the black and gray portions are more conspicuous; beneath the head pure white.

The body is slender, and the tail rather long, cylindrical, and black.

It runs with extraordinary swiftness, so much so, that when at full speed, its course has been by the hunters compared to the flight of a bird skimming the surface of the earth. We had opportunities of seeing it run with the antelope; and appearances sanctioned the belief, that in fleetness it even exceeded that extraordinary animal, famed for swiftness, and for the singularity of its horns. Like the corsac of Asia it burrows in the earth, in a country totally destitute of trees or bushes, and is not known to dwell in forest districts.

If Buffon's figure of the corsac is to be implicitly relied upon, our burrowing fox must be considered as perfectly distinct, and anonymous; we would, therefore, propose for it the name of velox.—James.

122 See Humb. Pers. Nar. vol. iii. p. 500.—James.

123 The results of several observations are as follows:

At eleven, A. M.

Before sunrise the mercury fell usually as low as 60°.—James.

124 Mission to Caubul, p. 179. 4to. Lond.—James.

Comment by Ed. Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859), fourth son of the eleventh Baron Elphinstone of the Scottish peerage, was a notable official in the East Indian service, which he entered in 1796. In 1808 he was placed at the head of an embassy sent to Cabul to secure the alliance of the Afghans against a threatened French invasion. The work referred to, An Account of the Kingdom of Cabul and its Dependencies in Persia and India (London, 1815), was one result of the mission. Elphinstone returned to England about 1830, declining the governor-generalship of India.

125 See Monthly Review for May 1817. p. 3.—James.

126 Karsten Niebuhr (1733-1815) was a Danish scientist and traveller, who visited Egypt, Arabia, India, Palestine, and Syria during the years 1761-67. The first volume of his travels, Beschreibung von Arabien (Copenhagen, 1772), was published by the Danish government; the second and third volumes appeared in 1774 and 1778, bearing the title Reisebeschreibung von Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern; while a fourth was brought out in 1837, by Niebuhr's daughter.—Ed.

127 See Humb. Pers. Nar. vol. ii. p. 196. vol. iii. pp. 358, 542.—James.

128 Rays of light, falling with any degree of obliquity upon the particles of that portion of watery vapour which lies near the surface of the earth, may be reflected, and pass off at an equal corresponding angle; so that if the eye be raised a few feet above the reflecting surface, an image of the corresponding arc of the sky is produced, as in the case of a sheet of water where the image, seen by the reflected light, is not that of the water, but the sky. Hence any object, which obstructs the rays of light in their passage from the parts of the atmosphere beyond the reflecting surface to that surface, is returned to the eye in a darkened image as from water.—James.

129 The party mistook this "highest peak" for Pike's Peak. This mountain, called by the French trappers Les deux Oreilles (Two Ears), is the one now known as Long's Peak, being named for Major S. H. Long, the leader of our party. Frémont found in 1842 that this name had been adopted by the traders, and had become familiar in the country. The elevation of Long's Peak is 14,271 feet, exceeding that of Pike's Peak by one hundred and twenty-four feet.—Ed.

130 At this point it becomes difficult to follow exactly the movements of the party, as the nomenclature of the region has in the interim changed almost entirely. Moreover, the itinerary is carelessly recorded and the map of the expedition is inaccurate. The journey of twenty-seven miles on July 1, reckoned from the camp of June 30, near the Bijeau, as shown on the map, brought the party nearly to the Cache la Poudre River, which flows from the northwest, reaching the South Platte below the bend where its course turns eastward. Cache la Poudre is shown but not named on the map, which, apparently erring, places the camp of July 1 and 2 above its mouth; for it is evidently the first of the large creeks passed on the third. At the bend is Thompson Creek, also unnamed on Long's map; and just above is St. Vrain Creek. Both of these flow from the west and the latter evidently corresponds to Potera's Creek of the text. The bend in the river, passed July 3, is the point of nearest approach to Long's Peak, still forty miles distant. Near the camp of that evening, at the mouth of St. Vrain's Creek, the important fur-trading firm of Bent and St. Vrain built St. Vrain's Fort about twenty years later. In favorable weather, Pike's Peak is visible from this point.—Ed.

131 Populus angustifolia, J.—James.

132 Other plants were collected about this encampment, among which we distinguished an interesting species of ranunculus, having a flower somewhat larger than that of R. fluviatilis with which it grows, often extending, however, to some distance about the margins of the pools in which it is principally found. R. amphibius; slender, floating or decumbent, leaves reniform, four or five lobed, divisions cuneate, oblong, margin crenate, petioles long and alternate. The submersed leaves are, in every respect, similar to the floating ones. Pentstemon erianthera, N., Poa quinquefida, Potentilla anserina, Scrophularia lanceolata, Myosotis glomerata, N.? &c. were also seen here.—James.

133 Crotalus tergeminus, S.—Body dusky cinereous, a triple series of deep brown spots; beneath with a double series of black spots.

Body pale cinereous brown, a triple series of fuscous spots, dorsal series consisting of about forty-two large, transversely oblong-oval spots, each widely emarginate before, and obsoletely edged with whitish lateral series, spots transversely oval, opposite to those of back; between the dorsal and lateral series is a series of obsolete, fuliginous spots, alternating those of the two other series; head above with nine plates on the anterior part, on which are a band and about three spots, two undulated vittæ terminating and confluent with the first spot of the neck, a black vittæ passes through the eye, and terminates on the neck each side; beneath white, a double irregular series of black spots, more confused towards the tail; tail above, with five or six fuscous fasciæ, beneath white irrorate with black points, six terminal plates bifid.

Another specimen, much smaller, Pl. 152. subcaudal, 20. scales at tip 3.—James.

134 The journey of July 4, and the ten miles travelled on the fifth, would carry the party thirty-five or forty miles up the river from the mouth of St. Vrain's Creek; this would, for their camp of the fifth, bring them near the site of Denver. Vermillion Creek, which was crossed early on the sixth, is evidently Cherry Creek, which flows through the present city.—Ed.

135 The ripened fruit of this widely-distributed shrub is variable in colour. In dry and exposed situations about the higher parts of the mountains, we have met with the berries of a deep purple, while in the low grounds, they are fulvous or nearly white. On the Cannon-ball creek we saw also the common virgin's bower. Clematis virginica, Ph. Lycopus europeus, Liatris graminifolia, Sium latifolium, Œnothera diennis, and other plants, common in the east, with the more rare Linum Lewisii, Ph. and Eriogonum sericeum, &c.—James.

136 Medicine Lodge Creek, Cannon Ball Creek, mentioned above, and Grand Camp and Grape creeks, referred to a few lines below, cannot be certainly identified. Streams most nearly answering the descriptions given are now called Clear, Bear, and Deer creeks.—Ed.

137 A. P. Chouteau and Julius De Munn formed a partnership in 1815, for trading on the upper Platte and Arkansas. De Munn soon after went to Santa Fé, where he sought permission to trap within Spanish territory; but the negotiations, which at first promised to be successful, took an unfavorable turn, with the result that both partners were arrested in 1817, and after a short confinement deprived of their goods and ejected from the Spanish dominions. The Santa Fé route was not fully open to trade until after the downfall of Spanish power in 1821.—Ed.

138 Defile Creek is the modern Plum Creek, which flows north through Douglas County.—Ed.

139 See p. 283.—Ed.

140 The deceptiveness of Colorado distances, owing to the rarefied atmosphere, is one of the commonest observations of tourists. Pike, in 1806, thought it would be possible to ascend the peak which now bears his name, and return to camp in the course of one day. From Colorado Springs it is apparently only a short walk to the summit; but the air-line distance is twelve miles, and that which must actually be travelled is two and a half times as great.—Ed.

141 Genus Galeodes, Oliv.—1. G. pallipes, Say.—Hairy, mandibles horizontal, fingers regularly arquated, abdomen sub-depressed livid.

Body pale yellowish-brown, hairy; feet paler, whitish, first pair smallest, fourth pair largest and longest; abdomen livid, hairy, sub-depressed; palpi more robust than the three anterior pairs of feet, of subequal diameter, but rather thicker towards the tip; more hairy than the feet; eyes and tubercle blackish; mandibles dilated, with numerous rigid setæ, and with parallel setæ projected over the fingers; fingers regularly arquated, reddish-brown at tip, and with a reddish-brown line above and beneath, within armed with many robust teeth; thorax with a deep sinus at the anterior angles.

2. G. subulata, Say.—Hairy; mandibles horizontal; thumb nearly rectilinear, destitute of teeth. This species has the strongest resemblance to the preceding, both in form, magnitude, and colouring; but the superior finger of the mandibles is unarmed, and rectilinear or very slightly flexuous; the inferior finger is arquated, with about two robust teeth.—James.

142 G. intermedium, I.—Cespitose, sub-erect, pubescent, sparingly branched above. Radical leaves reniform deeply ⁵/₇ cleft. The flower is a little larger than that of G. robertianum, and similarly coloured, having whitish lines towards the base of the corolla. We also saw here the Campanula decipiens, Tens. Lysimachia ciliata, Ph. Troximon glaucum, N., with two or three belonging to Geneva, with which we were unacquainted.—James.