New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-07-26

BY the way, there WAS q Discussion st supper
between my three companiObs-aii m'uhSinfefsm
r;oe e1uerepce--as 10 the relative merit. Of cer-
tain meats, Of which give the substance for tie
benefit Of future travellers through this wild region.
buffalo found 70 BE- a general fayo-ite though my
own experience oft makes it a tough, dry, wooden
fiber. only 10 be eaten under great pr0vocahea.
infer that It is poorer in Spring than at other sea
sons. and that have 10. been fortunate IN cooks
Pear was surprised 70 learn, il not generally
liked by mouDta'Deers-my compare IONS lad eaten
every species, and were not pleased NTH any.
The black tailed Deer Of the Mountains j. general
fayorite; 90 il the MountainiIen or Grouse; 50 IL
the Antelope, Of courses the Elk aud Mountain
Sheep less decidedly 50. None OF our party liked
Horse, or knew any way Of cooking It that would
make it really Psstabe, though Of course 1t has 70
be eaten occasionally for Necessity hath 10 law
or rather, is it's own Law. Our conductor hsh
eaten broiled Wolf under compulsion, bat could
not recommend il; but be certified thit slice OF
cold boiled Dog-ptu boiled so az - free II from
rankness and then suffered to cool thoroughly-is
tender. swee. and delicate lamb. j ought to
have sscertaned the species and age Of the dog IN
wbose behalf this testimony vas 5orne-for a youog
Newfoundland or King Charles might justify the
praise, While it would be utterly uoSarrAnted IN
the case of an old cur or mastf-but the oppor'n-
nifty was lost, and can only give the testimony az
| received it.
-Cache-le- Poudre seems 10 be the center OF the
Antelope country. There are no settlements, but
a small beginning just at this ford, as yet hardly
A. al h.rI Denver 10 miles on
one side and Laramie, $50 on the other The
North Platte and the Laramie both head IN the
Mountains 40 TO 60 miles due west OF this point,
thence pursuing generally north course Tor more
than burdred miles among the hills, wnIch are
here lower and lees steep than further south The
bold, high, regular front displayed by the Rocky
Mountains for at least hundred (and, believe
for two hundrei) miles south of the Cache-le-Pou-
DIRE, hence gradually melts away into e succession
Of softer rOunder, lower hills; snow disappsars;
the hne between the Mountains and the Plans IS
no longer straight and sharply Defined and the still
waters Of the Pl4n have for some miles an alkaline
appearance, beside being very scarce in Summer.
The Cherokee trail pluDges into the MOuntn0s on
the north side Of and very ear to Poudre;
westward-DoDe of any sort-but meet few
in wagons making for Boulder City or the Gregory
Djgeipgs Since We crossed Clear Creek, on which
there is here q decent fringe of Cottonwood, we
had seen but the merest shred OF Small Cotton
woods and some shrub Willow at wide intervals
along the larger water-cOurses; but the Pine still
sparsely covered the face of the Rocky Mountains.
Cachele Poudre has quite fair belt of Cottonwood;
thenceforib there is scarcely a cord of wood To
township for the next fifty or sixty miles; and the
Pine is no longer visible on the hills pear u.s. be-
cause they expose little rock, and hence are swept
by the annual fires. The high prairie on either
side is thiDly, poorly graFsed being of moderate
frilty at best, often fu of pebbles OF the average
size of goose egg, and apparently doomed to str
ility by drouth This region, though inferior in
,o and less smooth in surface, is not dssni ar i'll
its topography to Lombardy, and like it will 10
time be subjected TO Systematic irrigation, should
the Gold Mines prove rich and extensive. Some OF
the streams crossed by our road might easily De so
damned at their egress frOmahe mountains as to
irrgate miles in width TO the South Platte, forty or
fifty miles distant; and, at the prices which Vege-
tables must always command here should the Gold
Mines prove inexbaustibe, the enterprise would
pay well was told at Cache-le-POudre that en-
coursgiDg signs of gold had been obtained on that
stream, though it had only begun to be prospected
We we're up and away betimes, still over thiny
grassed badly watered prairie, rather level IN its
general outlines, but badly cut by steePbanked
water-cOursts, now dry. Some shsll,w ponds are
r,nad baro m thp wet but the last of
them had Just dried up. We drove fifteen miles,
and stopped for breakfast on feeble tributary OF
Csche-le PouJIe, named Box Elder, from small
tree which | fret observed here, and which IL
poorer stuff, if possible, than Cottonwood. This
is the only tributary which JOINS the Cache-le-
Poudre before its egress from the Mountains. All
the streams OF this region are largest where they
emerge from the Mountains unless reinforced
below by other streams having like origin; the
thirsty prairie contributes nothing, but begins to
drink them up from the time they strike it. The
smaller streams are thus utterly absorbed in the
course of five To ten miles unless they happen
sooner to be lost in some larger creek. Drouth,
throughout each Summer, is the memorable and
desolating tyrant of the Plains.
Rising from the valley Of Box Elder, We passed
| over divide, and were soon winding our way
among the Buttcs, or irregular loosely aggreg ied
hills, which form prominent feature OF the next
seventy or eighty miles, and which | must Try to
give some idea Of
The soil of this region like that of the Plains
generaly is mainly clay. with some sand and gravel
interrixed-the gravel probably washed from the
Mountains Here. though not at distance from
the Mountains. loose water. rounded stones. from