New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-17

"a grow lees and lcss valuable. Thorc arc many
Islands. however. which support q magnificent
cyovtb Of cotton. wood and which must bavo quito
a bearing on the settlement Of tho country.
After leaving the mouth Of Big Sioux tho Mis-
,ouYi Ia very winding in ito course. the distance by
water being At least three times as great as by land
We pass some conspicuous bluhs-~ DixonS
Bluff Calumet Bluffs; and siIty-ive miles above
Floyd's Bluff we come to broad prairie Destitute
Of timber called Hupan Kutey Prairie. This Is
broad expanse Of fertile bottom land, aud in the
latter part of Summer bears upon its bosom an
enormous growth Of grass and weeds In descend
inc the river in August, 1853, We camped there for
the night. The vegetation was at Its rankest
HIGHT and seeing many interesting flowers l az
tempted TO pass through il on a botanical excur-
sion but soon became lost in wilderness OF
grass and flowers which wholly concealed Inc from
view. Even a horse with his rider could not be
seen at the distance Of thirty yards. When the
autumnal fire. sweep over these prairles the scene
ry ia grand in the extreme. Not unfrequently ami
mails and sometimes even men, are over
taken, and perish. This was called by Lewis
and Clarke the Buffalo Prairie, from the
large numbers of that animal which they saw there
But il 10 no longer a pasture ground for them
Not even solitary individual has been known TO
stray down into this region for several years past
The American Fur Company formerly had trad
ing post here, but il has long since been abandoned
Along these immense bottoms are DaherOus sand
bars, the resort Of myrisds OF water fowl-tO feed
ON the tender shoots of the willow. geese, ducks,
berons, pelcans, countless numbers may be seen
at I'll times filing the air with their screams as
the boat dashes along and hurls the waves over
their Young Peicans of a snowy whlteness are
often seen in iocks of fifty or more, standing Tor
hours motionless on sand-bar, and more rarely
the swan, prize among the Indians. AT Dlxon
Bluff the chalk rocks commence with their yariega-
tious of blue and yellow. The yellow chalk does
not seem 10 differ materially from the chalk OF
commerce except in color, which Is due 10 the
peroxyd of iron Immense bluffs OF 1t are seen
in many places from James River to foot OF Great
Bend when other beds of the chalk formation
take its place The most conspicuous are those
opposite the mouth of the Running Water This
river called By the French L Eauqre Court derives
its name from the swiftness. Descending the rver
in a canoe in the month of October, when
the water was very low, | heard al the dis
tance of two miles roar of waters not unlike a
waterfall With such force do the waters OF this
river pour into the Missouri, that 1t has cut a
channel directly across that OF the latter riVer,
and turned it out of it's course, forming a large
bend; ard the mingling Of the waters produced so
many wbirlpools that our little bark was in great
danger. The Running Water has its source high up
in the Black Hills At its mouth is alerge prairie
containing also much valuable timber. hundred
miles or more from its mouth the pines begin to
appear and are said to be very abundant end OF eX-
ceilent quality. have not been able as yet to
find any kind of living shells along the Missouri
Iattribute their absence to the muddlness OF the
water Many of its tributaries, as Big Sioux
Vermilion and James rivers contain immense
quantities, strewed all along their banks, OF geo
logical curiosities. These streams are very
I'll. -, +Ia spAa
mud which in Summer seems TO be held in solu
ton, ia precipitated. Numerous springs issue
from the banks, depositing on their borders large
quantities of whitish salt, (sulphate of magnesa..
Many of the streams are so impregnated with this
salt that it is unfit for use