Page:The first and last journeys of Thoreau - lately discovered among his unpublished journals and manuscripts 2.djvu/52

 the nest, above the white-sandstone cliff, and saw a peculiar cork-barked elm in the woods. The horned lark seen here has a low jangling not peculiar note,—sparrow-like. Dr. Anderson thinks there is a more dwarfish or lower dandelion here, which is native. The prairie is annually burnt over. The St. Paul mission to the Indians was not far south of the Fort. Eighteen or nineteen years ago, the mill was here; now there are five drug stores in Minneapolis. A history of Minnesota has been written.

I saw five great &quot;chicken &quot; snakes killed on the prairie between Minneapolis and Fort Snelling. They also have rattlesnakes here in the woods. The houses on this prairie are half a mile apart; there is little fencing, and that of sawed boards.

The high blackberry is the most important fruit here; the prevailing one is Ribes cynosbati.

The prevailing violet and flower of the prairies is the Viola pedata, or delphinifolia. Common is a blue-flowered Myosotis (stickseed), but bracted; also an Arabis with toothed leaves, somewhat hirsute-like. Note