not numerous. In the bottoms were frequently seen tradescantia, and on the
dry lenches were carduus, cactus, and amorpha. A high wind during the
morning had increased to a violent gale from the northwest, which made our
afternoon ride cold and unpleasant. We had the welcome sight of two
buffaloes on one of the large islands, and encamped at a clump of timber
about seven miles from our noon halt, after a day's march of twenty-two
miles.

The air was keen the next morning at sunrise, the thermometer standing at
44 deg., and it was sufficiently cold to make overcoats very comfortable. A
few miles brought us into the midst of the buffalo, swarming in immense
numbers over the plains, where they had left scarcely a blade of grass
standing. Mr. Preuss, who was sketching at a little distance in the rear,
had at first noted them as large groves of timber. In the sight of such a
mass of life, the traveler feels a strange emotion of grandeur. We had
heard from a distance a dull and confused murmuring, and, when we came in
view of their dark masses, there was not one among us who did not feel his
heart beat quicker. It was the early part of the day, when the herds are
feeding; and everywhere they were in motion. Here and there a huge old
bull was rolling in the grass, and clouds of dust rose in the air from
various parts of the bands, each the scene of some obstinate fight.
Indians and buffalo make the poetry and life of the prairie, and our camp
was full of their exhilaration. In place of the quiet monotony of the
march, relieved only by the cracking of the whip, and an "avance donc!
enfant de garce!" shouts and songs resounded from every part of the line,
and our evening camp was always the commencement of a feast, which
terminated only with our departure on the following morning. At any time
of the night might be seen pieces of the most delicate and choicest meat,
roasting _en appolas_, on sticks around the fire, and the guard were
never without company. With pleasant weather and no enemy to fear, an