woody places and along the streams and rivulets. We succeeded in killing three, not without great effort and danger. Our hunter brought us two fine fat antelopes, which were soon dressed and served up for our supper. One of the Indians killed a skunk (Mephitis Americana). The strong odor of this animal is intolerable to the whites; the savages, on the contrary, appear to like it, and deem its flesh exquisite. How true is the proverb: De gustibus non disputandum! -there is no accounting for tastes.3
On the 2d of August we set out at break of day, and were fanned by a refreshing breeze. The country through which we progressed was full of interest: the valleys were covered with a luxuriant verdure, intermingled with flowers of various hues. Groves of cottonwood, elm and ash, as well as groups of service-trees and cherry-trees, offered themselves along the beds of dry rivers and streamlets. We ascended step by step the hills which separate the waters of the Missouri from those of the Yellowstone, like so many insuperable barriers furrowed with profound ra vines. We triumphed over these obstacles with great difficulty, and at length attained the summit of the hills. There a most magnificent spectacle unrolled itself before our eyes. Nature has accumulated in this spot a great variety of her most fantastical caprices. On one side is displayed a succession of beautiful prairies, here and there interrupted with groves of stunted trees and shrubs, terminating in verdant hills dotted with groups of cedar and pine; on the other are shapeless heaps of red and white clay and piles of stones, which, viewed at a distance, resemble brick-kilns, from their peculiar color: although thrown together without any apparent order, they add much interest to the landscape.
The region through which we passed for several days
3 Father De Smet's usual charitable spirit toward novel articles of food deserts him when he comes to the flesh of the skunk. Yet there seems to be no doubt that it is sweet and wholesome meat and that it was often used. Among early travelers who make mention of it are Bradbury, Long, Gregg, Irving and Fremont.