The hunters were kept constantly out during the day, but nothing was killed until evening, when Verplank brought in a young buck, which enabled us to make a full meal, the first we had eaten for several days.
Game in this portion of the country is extremely scarce, and few traces of bisons are to be seen; and as we were travelling along a frequented road, we had some reason to fear this want of game might continue.
A few wild horses had been observed in the course of the day, and towards evening one was seen following the party, but keeping at a distance. At night, after our horses had been staked in the usual manner, near our camp, we perceived him still lingering about, and at length approaching the tent so closely, that we began to entertain some hopes of capturing him alive. In attempting this we stationed a man with a long-noosed rope in the top of a cotton-wood tree, under which we tied a few of our horses; but this plan did not succeed.
[283] On the following morning [5th] one of our hunters fortunately discovered the same horse standing asleep under the shade of a tree, and having shot him, returned immediately to camp with the intelligence. We had all suffered so severely from hunger, and our present want of provisions was so great, that instead of questioning whether we should eat the flesh of a horse, we congratulated ourselves on the acquisition of so seasonable a supply. We felt a little regret at killing so beautiful an animal, who had followed us several miles on the day before, and had lingered with a sort of confidence about our camp; but our scruples all yielded to the loud admonitions of hunger. The [next] day being Sunday, and the plain about our camp affording a supply of grass for our jaded horses, we resolved to remain encamped, seizing the opportunity of making observations for latitude, &c. The morning was calm and clear; the mercury at 69° Fah. For five mornings preceding this it had been at 58°, and in the middle of each day rose to above 90°. The moon was now too near the sun to admit of observations by lunar distances; but the meridional altitude of the sun's lower limb was taken with great care, and under circumstances favourable to accuracy, gave 35° 16′ 19″ for the latitude of our encampment.
The river bed in the front of our camp was found by admeasurement to be sixty yards in width, twenty of which were naked sand-bar, the remaining forty covered with water, having an average depth of about ten inches. The current is moderate, the water intensely red, having nearly the temperature and the saltness of new milk. It suspends a great quantity of clay, derived from the cement of the sand-rock; but notwithstanding its impurities, it is more grateful to the taste than any we had met with since leaving the mountains, and though drank in large quantities, produces no unpleasant effect.
[284] Some spots in the low plains had here considerable fertility, depending probably, in some degree, upon the intermixture of a large proportion of calcareous matter with the soil, resulting from the disintegrated sand-rock. Though no extensive formation, a limestone appears, yet the sandstone has, in many instances, a calcareous cement; but is traversed by numerous veins, both of gypsum and carbonate of lime.
The occurrence of the elm and the diospyros indicated a soil at least approaching towards one adapted to the purposes of agriculture. Among great numbers of interesting plants, we found here a gentian, with a flower much larger than G. crinita, an orobanche (probably the O. ludoviciana, N.) a new croton, an ipomopsis, and many others. Notwithstanding the scarcity of game which we had so long felt, we daily saw considerable numbers of antelopes, with some signs of bear, deer, and turkies; but these animals had acquired all the vigilance which results from the habit of being often hunted, and the entire want of thick forests, and even of solitary trees or inequalities of the surface, to conceal the approach of the hunter, rendered abortive most of our attempts to take them.
The common partridge (perdix virginianus) was seen near this encampment; also the dove, which had never disappeared entirely in all the country we had passed.
Rising at the customary hour on the morning of the 7th, we perceived that a part of our horses were missing. As we were apprehensive that they had been stolen by Indians, a small party was immediately sent to discover the route they had taken; pursuing along their path, the men overtook them at the distance of two or three miles, as they were straying on in search of pasture.
On leaving our camp, we endeavoured to regain the trace on which we had for several days travelled; [285] but though we spent considerable time in the search, and travelled several miles off our course, we were not able to find it. This we had occasion to regret, as the surface of the country is mostly of a loose sand, bearing turfs of wormwood and other plants, rendering the travelling difficult where there is no road. In order to shun the numerous ravines which now began to occur, we chose our route at some distance from the bank of the river, where we found the vallies deeper and more abrupt, though less frequent.