Wild geese were abundant, and numerous tracks of elk were seen.

But we may as well say here that the so-called elk of the Northwest is not the elk of ancient Europe; a more correct and distinctive name for this animal is wapiti, the name given the animal by the Indians.

The European elk more closely resembles the American moose.

Its antlers are flat, low, and palmated like our moose; whereas the antlers of the American elk, so-called, are long, high, and round-shaped with many sharp points or tines.

The mouth of the great Platte River was reached on the twenty-first of July.