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.