CHAPTER XXIII.
Summer Weather of the Prairies .-- Purity of the Atmosphere-- Canadians on the March .-- Sickness in the Camp .-- Big River .-- Vulgar Nomenclature .-- Suggestions About the Original Indian Names .-- Camp of Cheyennes .-- Trade for Horses .-- Character of the Cheyennes .-- Their Horsemanship .-- Historical Anecdotes of the Tribe.
THE course taken by Mr.Hunt was at first to the northwest, but soon turned and kept generally to the southwest, to avoid the country infested by the Blackfeet.

His route took him across some of the tributary streams of the Missouri, and over immense prairies, bounded only by the horizon, and destitute of trees.

It was now the height of summer, and these naked plains would be intolerable to the traveller were it not for the breezes which swept over them during the fervor of the day, bringing with them tempering airs from the distant mountains.
To the prevalence of these breezes, and to the want of all leafy covert, may we also attribute the freedom from those flies and other insects so tormenting to man and beast during the summer months, in the lower plains, which are bordered and interspersed with woodland.
The monotony of these immense landscapes, also, would be as wearisome as that of the ocean, were it not relieved in some degree by the purity and elasticity of the atmosphere, and the beauty of the heavens.

The sky has that delicious blue for which the sky of Italy is renowned; the sun shines with a splendor unobscured by any cloud or vapor, and a starlight night on the prairies is glorious.

This purity and elasticity of atmosphere increases as the traveller approaches the mountains and gradually rises into more elevated prairies.
On the second day of the journey, Mr.Hunt arranged the party into small and convenient messes, distributing among them the camp kettles.