passing over an arid desert.
The only vegetation was a few tufts of short grass, dried and shriveled
by the heat. There was an abundance of strange insects and reptiles.
Huge crickets, black and bottle green, and wingless grasshoppers of the
most extravagant dimensions, were tumbling about our horses' feet, and
lizards without numbers were darting like lightning among the tufts of
grass. The most curious animal, however, was that commonly called the
horned frog. I caught one of them and consigned him to the care of
Delorier, who tied him up in a moccasin. About a month after this I
examined the prisoner's condition, and finding him still lively and
active, I provided him with a cage of buffalo hide, which was hung up
in the cart. In this manner he arrived safely at the settlements. From
thence he traveled the whole way to Boston packed closely in a trunk,
being regaled with fresh air regularly every night. When he reached his
destination he was deposited under a glass case, where he sat for some
months in great tranquillity and composure, alternately dilating and
contracting his white throat to the admiration of his visitors. At
length, one morning, about the middle of winter, he gave up the ghost.
His death was attributed to starvation, a very probable conclusion,
since for six months he had taken no food whatever, though the sympathy
of his juvenile admirers had tempted his palate with a great variety
of delicacies. We found also animals of a somewhat larger growth. The
number of prairie dogs was absolutely astounding. Frequently the hard
and dry prairie would be thickly covered, for many miles together, with
the little mounds which they make around the mouth of their burrows, and
small squeaking voices yelping at us as we passed along. The noses of
the inhabitants would be just visible at the mouth of their holes,
but no sooner was their curiosity satisfied than they would instantly
vanish. Some of the bolder dogs--though in fact they are no dogs at all,
but little marmots rather smaller than a rabbit--would sit yelping at us
on the top of their mounds, jerking their tails emphatically with every
shrill cry they uttered. As the danger grew nearer they would wheel
about, toss their heels into the air, and dive in a twinkling down into
their burrows. Toward sunset, and especially if rain were threatening,
the whole community would make their appearance above ground. We would
see them gathered in large knots around the b