CHAPTER III.
FAUNA AND FLORA.'
Father Point's nosegay - Flowers - Shrubs - Trees - Birds - Reptiles - Insects - Fishes - Quadrupeds.
St. Ignatius' River, Sept. Io, 1841.
Reverend and Dear Father Provincial:'
INFORMED your Reverence that flowers are found in 09 abundance near the rock called the Chimney. Whilst we were there Father Point culled one flower of every kind, and made a fine nosegay in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the day of the Feast. As we proceeded toward the Black Hills, the flowers diminished in number, but now and then we found some which we had not seen anywhere else. I have taken notice of many of them for the amusement of amateurs. Among such as are double, the most common and those that are chiefly characteristic by the soil on which they grow, are to be found on this side of the Platte river. The rose-colored Lupine flourishes in the plain contiguous to the Platte as far as the Chimney. Beyond it grows a medicinal plant, bearing a yellow flower with five petals, called the prairie epinette; and still farther on, where the soil is extremely barren, are seen three kinds of the prickly-pear; the flowers of these are beautiful, and known among botanists by the name of Cactus americana. They have already been naturalized in the flower gardens of Europe.
The colors of the handsomest roses are less pure and lively than the carnation of this beautiful flower. The exterior of the chalice is adorned with all the shades of red
1 Letters and Sketches, p. iio. Addressed in French edition to M. Rollier, avocat a Opdorp, pres de Termonde.