drive away the animals that are necessary for their subsistence, or to expose themselves to be discovered by the strolling parties of their enemies), it proceeds from the nature of the soil, which, being a mixture of sand and light earth, is everywhere so very barren that with the exception of the absinth that covers the plains, and the gloomy verdure that shades the mountains, vegetation is confined to the vicinity of rivers,- a circumstance which renders a journey through the Far West extremely long and tedious.
Over considerable areas, chiefly between the Kansas and Platte rivers, are found blocks of granite of different sizes and colors. The reddish or porphyry is the most common. In some of the stony parts of the Black Hills are also seen numberless quantities of small pebbles of all shades. I have seen some that were united into solid masses. If these were well polished they would present the appearance of fine mosaics. The columns of the House of Representatives in Washington, which are deemed very handsome, are made of similar concretions.
On June 29th, the feast of St. Peter, a remarkable occurrence took place. We discovered a curious quarry which, at first, we took for white marble, but we soon found it something more valuable. Astonished at the facility with which we could fashion this kind of stone into any shape, most of the travelers made calumets of it. I had several made myself with the intention of offering them as presents to the Indians, so that for the space of forty-eight hours our camp was filled with lapidaries. But the greater number of these calumets could not withstand the action of the fire and broke. It was alabaster.
The first rock which we saw, and which truly deserves the name, was the famous Independence Rock. It is of the same nature as the Rocky Mountains. At first I was led to believe that it had received this pompous name from its isolated situation and the solidity of its base; but I was afterward told that it was called so because the first travelers who thought of giving it a name arrived at it on the