We rode in a straggling string along the low, irregular prairie. The Otoe Indians skirted along the bank of the river. Those of the soldiers, who were not engaged with the teams, reconnoitered the different pools of water, in hopes of coming unawares upon some pensive duck, who might be dozing upon their surfaces. Here and there we observed a broken patch of corn, at the bottom of some ravine, where the washed earth was of so soft a texture as to require but little trouble in cultivation. Occasionally too, we passed a clump of dwarf trees, closely grouped together over the brink of a spring, or run of water. Otherwise the prairie was bare of forest, and covered only with long withered grass. When we had ridden about half the distance, a number of Otoes came scampering up, to tell us that there were about a dozen white cranes, standing upon a sand-bar in the Platte. This incident, trivial as it may seem, created quite an excitement among the troop. Half a dozen loaded rifles were handed from the wagons, and as many soldiers started off followed by a troop of Indians, with their arrows ready fitted to their bows, in case the firearms of the whites should fail. But all this preparation was useless, for when they arrived within about three hundred yards of the bank, one of the birds, who, like an old man, on a cold day, was standing with his head closely snugged up against his breast, and gazing in moralizing mood upon the swift water, suddenly shot out a neck, three feet long, and turned a quick and steady eye upon the approaching hunters. He gazed a moment, then taking a step, and slowly raising his wings until their tips nearly met over his back, he rose from the earth, as if by mere volition, uttering a shrill cry which brought after him, his startled comrades. As they rose, a shower of bullets whistled after them, without disturbing their flight. They slowly mounted in air floating like a snowflake over the silver Platte. For a few moments they lingered over its shining bosom, as if loth to leave their resting place; but after wheeling in several widely extended circles, they soared to an immense height, and then took a steady course to the eastward and were lost to the sight. It was not long before we reached a high bluff in the prairie, from whence we descried the village of the Pawnee Loups, about half a mile distant, but we saw no signs of preparation to receive us. A single Indian alone appeared, galloping at full speed over the prairies. His horse was of a dark cream colour, fierce, and powerful. To his bit was attached a scalp, consisting of the whole upper part of a human head, the hair of which must have been full two feet in length, nearly reaching the ground. The horseman proved to be the Black Chief of the Loups. When he had come within a few yards of us, he sprang from his horse, and reached out the bridle to one of our soldiers to hold.