days longer, by some mistake of my commissary, I suppose, for he is not with me to explain, as I left him back at Fort Rice. I therefore had to reduce the bread ration one-third, all other stores, except meat, one-half, so as to make it last me to the river. We camped that night with little or no grass, and but a few holes of muddy rain water. I have not sufficient power of language to describe the country in front of us. It was grand, dismal, and majestic. You can imagine a deep basin, 600 feet deep and twenty-five miles in diameter, filled a number of cones and oven-shaped knolls of all sizes, from twenty feet to several hundred feet high, sometimes by themselves, sometimes piled up into large heaps on top of one another, in all conceivable shapes and confusion. Most of these hills were of a gray clay, but many of a light brick color, of burnt clay; little or no vegetation. Some of the sides of the hills, however, were covered with a few scrub cedars. Viewed in the distance at sunset it looked exactly like the ruins of an ancient city. My Indian guide appeared to be confident of success, and trusting to him, I started next morning, and by dint of hard digging, succeeded by night in reaching the banks of the Little Missouri, about twelve miles. I regret very much some gentleman well acquainted with geology and mineralogy did not accompany the expedition, for we marched through a most wonderful and interesting country. It was covered with pieces of petrified wood, and on the tops of some of the hills we found petrified stumps of trees, the remains of a great forest. In some cases these trees were sixteen to eighteen feet in diameter. Large quantities of iron ore, lava, and impressions in the rocks of leaves of a size and shape not known to any of us. The banks of the Little Missouri are thickly timbered with cottonwood, and the river resembles very much the Missouri, on a small scale. We had now reached the river and the middle of the Bad Lands. Having dug our way down to this point it was no necessary to dig our way out. I therefore ordered out a strong working party, with four companies of cavalry, under charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Pattee, Seventh Iowa Cavalry. I remained in camp to allow the animals to rest and pick up what grass could be found around, there being very little to be found. Some few of the men, however, without orders, took their horses into the timber beyond the pickets, leaving their saddles and arms in camp. A small party of Indians crawled up to them, fired on the, creating a stampede. Most of the men ran away, leaving their horses, and the Indians succeeded in getting a few way, but three or four men having some courage mounted their horses bareback and gave chase, causing the Indians to drop all the horses, which were retaken, save one or two. A company was soon in pursuit, but the Indians escaped through some of the numerous ravines and forests. As we had saddled and hitched up everything at the first alarm, I broke camp and moved up the river three miles in the direction of our route, where the grass was said to be better. By evening the working party under Colonel Pattee returned, having cut three miles of the road. A part of a company, however, by accident had been left behind. They were surrounded by Indians and were near being cut off, but by a hasty retreat they succeeded in getting through the deep gorge, where the road was cut, the Indians firing at them from the tops of the hills. They pursued them to the river and showed themselves on the top of the high bluffs opposite my camp, firing into my camp, but a few shells from Jones' battery soon scattered them, and with the exception of a little picket-firing there was no more trouble that night. I now knew I had come

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