The Ohio below the Rapids at Louisville--Ascent of the

Mississippi from the mouth of the Ohio to St. Louis.[043]

Our small boat descended over the rapids without injury; and

having taken on board some wood near New Albany, we proceeded on

our voyage, with a pressure of steam equalling one hundred pounds

to the square inch, upon all parts of the engine exposed to its

immediate operation. This enabled us to descend, at the rate of

ten miles per hour. A small island in the Ohio, about twenty-three

miles below the rapids, is called Flint Island, from the great

numbers of fragments of flints, broken arrow points, and various

instruments of stone, heretofore used by the Indians, which are

found there on turning up the soil. This island has probably been

the favourite residence of some tribe, particularly expert in the

manufacture of those rude implements, with which the wants of the

aboriginal Americans were supplied. The stone employed in these

manufactures appears to have been, in most instances, that compact

flint, which occurs in nodular masses, in the secondary limestones.

In one instance we met with a triangular prism, of a very hard and

compact aggregate of felspar, and hornblende, unlike any rock we

have seen in the valley of the Mississippi. This prism was about

five inches long, with faces of about {30} an inch in width, and

was perforated, from end to end, forming a complete tube, with an

orifice about half an inch in diameter, and smoothly polished,

both within and without. We were never able to discover to what use

this implement could have been applied; nor do we recollect to have

met with accounts of any thing analogous to it, except, perhaps,

those "tubes of a very hard stone" mentioned by the Jesuit Venegas,

as used by the natives of California, in their treatment of the

sick.[044] That it may have passed, by means of the intercourse

of various tribes of Indians, from the primitive mountains of

California to the rapids of the Ohio, is not, perhaps, improbable.

Indirect methods of communication may have conveyed the productions

of one part of the continent to another very remote from it. The

savages of the Missouri receive an intoxicating bean from their

neighbours on the south and west; these again must probably procure

it from other tribes inhabiting, or occasionally visiting, the

tropical regions.

In the Philadelphia museum are many Indian pipes of that red

indurated clay, found only (as far as hitherto known) on the Pipe

Stone branch of the Little Sioux river of the Missouri; one of

these, however, was found on the banks of the Rio de la Plata, in

South America: several were found in the territory now called New

England, and in the north-eastern part of the continent.

On the 26th we passed the mouth of the Wabash, and arrived at

Shawaneetown,[045] ten miles below. Near the mouth of the Wabash,

an accident happened to the engine, which rendered it necessary

for us to drift down, until we should arrive at some place where

repairs might be made. Some of the gentlemen of the party

determined to go on shore, and walk to Shawaneetown. In swimming

across a creek, {31} three miles above that place, Lieutenant

Graham dropped his rifle in the water, and having spent some time

in attempts to recover it, did not arrive at Shawaneetown until

after the boat had reached that place.

On the 27th, several of the party went out to hunt in the forests

and swamps, north-west of Shawaneetown. At about four miles'

distance from the Ohio, they arrived at the banks of a small pond,

three miles long, and only three or four hundred yards wide. Here

they killed a turkey; and some small birds. On the bank of the

pond, was found a specimen of the Lake Erie tortoise,[046]

depositing its eggs in the sand, at about twenty yards' distance

from the water. It had made, with its feet, a hole in the sand,

two inches in diameter and four inches in depth, enlarging towards

the bottom to three inches. This species occurs frequently in the

pools and stagnant waters along the Ohio. We first met with it

near the rapids at Louisville. Among other birds, we noticed about

Shawaneetown, the pileated woodpecker, the minute tern, numerous

flocks of the psittacus caroliniensis, two broods of young wood

duck, some gulls, and semipalmated sandpipers. The terns appear to

be attracted hither by great numbers of a species of phryganea,

with which we found the stomachs of some of them filled. The

semipalmated sandpipers were in large flocks, and did not appear

stationary.

We left Shawaneetown at twelve o'clock on the 28th, and stopped

three miles below, to take in wood; then proceeding forward, at

four P. M. we ran aground on a sand bar, seven miles above the

"Cave Inn," or "House of Nature."[047] After much exertion, by

means of anchors and poles, with the aid of the engine, and all

the men, who were under the necessity of jumping into the river,

we at length {32} succeeded in getting her off, and ran down to

the cave, where we lay by for the night.

Early the next morning, we went to visit the cave, of the entrance

to which two views were sketched by Mr. Seymour. It is a

perpendicular fissure, extending about one hundred and sixty feet

into the horizontal limestone cliffs, which here form the north

bank of the river. At times of high water, the Ohio flows in, and

fills the cave nearly to its roof. In this cave, it is said, great

numbers of large bones were some time ago found, but we saw no

remains of any thing of this kind. Impressions and casts of the

shells of submarine animals are seen in the rocks, forming the

sides of the cave, as in all the strata of compact limestone, in

this region. The organic remains here, do not appear to be so

numerous as those of the rocks at the falls, and at Cincinnati;

and are much less distinct, and visible in the fracture; indeed

the fracture generally exhibits to the eye no vestige of organic

remains. It is upon the surface only, and more especially in such

parts of it as are in a certain stage of decomposition, that they

are at all to be distinguished.

As far as we could discover, they consist chiefly of the

caryophyllæ, similar to the radiated species, so common at the

falls of Ohio; of the encrinus, but of this our specimens were not

so perfect as to enable us to determine the analogy. Numerous

other remains were exhibited, but not sufficiently characterized

to be referred to their proper places in the system. The top of

the cliff, into which this fissure opens, is said to be the

favourite haunt of great numbers of birds of prey. This is not

improbable, as many hawks and birds of prey always choose high and

inaccessible cliffs to build their nests in. We saw about the tops

of these rocks, only one pair of hawks, which we took to be of the

red-shouldered species, (falco lineatus,) but a heavy rain, which

commenced soon after we had ascended, prevented {33} us from

procuring a specimen. About the cave, we found some fragments of

pottery, arrow points, and other articles of Indian manufacture.

Near Shawaneetown are extensive salt manufactories, at a place

heretofore called United States' Saline, affording employment and

a source of trade to a part of the inhabitants of that village.

Common salt, with the nitrates of lime, potash, &c. occur in great

plenty, in connexion with the horizontal limestones and sandstones

on the Ohio. Of these we subjoin some account, from the

mineralogical report of Mr. Jessup.[048]

On the 29th of May we passed the mouths of the Cumberland and

Tennessee, the two largest rivers, tributary to the Ohio. At the

mouth of the Cumberland is a little village called Smithland;

where, for a considerable part of the year, such goods are

deposited as are designed for Nashville and other places on the

Cumberland.

The Cumberland and Tennessee rivers are, for many miles, nearly

parallel in direction, and at no great distance apart. Between

them are some low sandstone hills; but, we believe, no lofty range

of mountains, as has been sometimes represented. About these

hills, also, in the low ridges north of the Ohio, we found the

sandstone, which appears to be the basis rock, often overlaid with

extensive beds of a pudding-stone, wherein pebbles of white,

yellow, and variously coloured quartz, are united in a cement

highly tinged by oxide of iron; extensive fields of compact

limestone also occur in the same connexion.

About half way between the mouth of the Cumberland and Tennessee,

near the old deserted settlement originally called Smithland,[049]

are several large catalpa trees. They do not, however, appear to

be native; nor have we here, or elsewhere, been able to discover

any confirmation of the opinion, that this tree is indigenous to

any part of the United States.

It is here called _petalfra_, which, as well as catalpa, {34} the

received appellation, may be a corruption from Catawba, the name

of the tribe by whom, according to the suggestion of Mr. Nuttall,

the tree may have been introduced. Following the directions of the

Pittsburgh navigator,[050] we kept near the left shore, below the

Cave Inn; by which means we again ran our boat aground, on a

sand-bar, where we spent a considerable part of the night in the

most laborious exertions. These were at length crowned with

success; and having the boat once more afloat, we proceeded with

greater caution.

On the 30th, we arrived at a point a little above the mouth of

Cash river, where a town has been laid out, called America.[051] It

is on the north bank of the Ohio, about eleven miles from the

Mississippi, and occupies the first heights on the former, secure

from the inundation of both these rivers (if we except a small

area three and a half miles below, where there are three Indian

mounds, situated on a tract containing about half an acre above

high-water mark). The land on both sides of the Ohio, below this

place, is subject to be overflowed to various depths, from six to

fourteen feet in time of floods; and on the south side, the flat

lands extend four or five miles above, separated from the high

country by lakes and marshes. The aspect of the country, in and

about the town, is rolling or moderately hilly, being the

commencement of the high lands between the two rivers above

mentioned; below it, however, the land is flat, having the

character of the low bottoms of the Ohio. The growth is

principally cotton-wood, sycamore, walnut, hickory, maple, oak,

&c. The soil is first-rate, and well suited to the cultivation of

all products common to a climate of 37 deg. N. lat. From the

extensive flat, or bottom, in its neighbourhood, and the heavy

growth of timber which here generally prevails, it is probable

that the place will be unhealthy, till extensive clearings are

made in its vicinity.

This position may be considered as the head of constant {35}

navigation for the Mississippi. The Mississippi, from New Orleans

to the Ohio, is navigable for boats of the largest size; and

America may be considered as the head of constant as well as heavy

navigation. Ice is seldom to be found in the Mississippi as low

down as the mouth of the Ohio, and never in so large quantities as

to oppose any serious obstruction to the navigation.

The navigation of the Ohio has a serious impediment about four and

a half miles above the town, occasioned by a limestone bar

extending across the river, called the Grand Chain. This bar is

impassable in the lowest stage of the water, and will not admit

boats of any considerable burden, except in the higher stages.

The Mississippi has, in like manner, two bars, called the Big and

Little Chain, which appear to be a continuation of the same range

of rocks as that in the Ohio, extending across the point of land

situated between the two rivers. These bars are situated a little

above the Tyawapatia Bottom, about thirty miles above the mouth of

the Ohio, and in low water have but a moderate depth of water

across them; which, added to the rapidity of the current,

occasions a serious obstacle to the navigation.

Boats suited to the navigation of both rivers above the bars here

specified, should be of inferior size; those for the Mississippi

not exceeding one hundred tons burden, and those for the Ohio from

fifty to seventy-five tons.

Any position on the Mississippi in the neighbourhood of the Ohio

would be objectionable, for the following reasons:--First, The

rapidity of the current, which renders it difficult to find a safe

and commodious landing, there being no rocky-bound shore within

thirty miles above and a far greater distance below the point. The

Iron Banks,[052] seventeen miles below the mouth of the Ohio, have

been thought by some an eligible position for the extensive

business, {36} which, it is admitted by all, must centre in this

neighbourhood. But at this place there is no safe landing; and

besides, the banks are composed of layers of sand and clay

alternating with each other, of an acclivity nearly perpendicular,

and annually wearing away by the current of the river, which sets

strongly against them. These banks are elevated about one hundred

and thirty feet above the common level of the river, and are

insurmountable, except by a circuitous route, leading from the

river a considerable distance above and below them.

Second, There are no positions on the Mississippi, except the Iron

and Chalk Banks, for a great distance below the Ohio, secure from

inundation. The bottom directly opposite the mouth of the Ohio, on

the west side of the Mississippi is elevated a little above high

water; but as it is an alluvial shore, having no permanent

foundation, and the banks often falling in, it affords no

conveniences or security as a place of business.

Third, No places of anchorage for boats of heavy burden are to be

found, except in the main channel of the river, where they would

be exposed to drift-wood, great quantities of which are brought

down in times of freshet; and when borne along with the rapid

current of the river, occasion serious danger to boats lying in

its way.

The town of America is almost entirely exempt from any of these

objections;--although it has not a rocky foundation, (which may be

said of most of the towns on the Ohio,) the current of the river

is so gentle, that no such guard against the undermining and

wasting away of the banks is required. In case of an excessive

flood, or an unusual quantity of floating ice (which may possibly

be apprehended in remarkably cold seasons), the mouth of Cash

river, five miles below the town, is a harbour in which boats may

lie in perfect security.[053]

We would not encourage the idea, that the site {37} now fixed upon

as a town is exclusively the point where business is to be done;

but that the town will eventually extend along on that side of the

river about four miles, to the Big Chain above described.

In view of the great extent of inland navigation centring at this

place, and the incalculable amount of products to be realized, at

no distant period, from the cultivation of the rich vallies and

fertile plains of the west, a great proportion of which must find

a market here, no doubt can be entertained that it will eventually

become a place of as great wealth and importance as almost any in

the United States.

In the afternoon of the 30th we arrived at the mouth of the Ohio.

This beautiful river has a course of one thousand and thirty-three

miles, through a country surpassed in fertility of soil by none in

the United States. Except in high floods, its water is transparent,

its current gentle, and nearly uniform. For more than half of its

course its banks are high, and its bed gravelly. With the exception

of about two miles at the rapids, at Louisville, it has sufficient

depth of water, for a part of the year, to float vessels of 300

tons burthen to Cincinnati. The country which it washes may, with

propriety, be considered under two divisions. The first, extending

from its head at Pittsburgh to the little town of Rockport,[054]

about 150 miles below the falls or rapids at Louisville, is hilly.

This district forms a portion of one of the sides of that great

formation of secondary rocks, which occupies the basin of the

Mississippi and its tributaries. This formation, like others of

the same period, is rough, with small elevations, which are most

considerable on its borders, and diminish in proportion as we

approach nearer its central parts.

Compact limestone, and sandstone of several varieties, are the

rocks which invariably occur along that portion of the Ohio we

are now considering. Sandstone of a light gray or ashen colour,

of a compact {38} texture, an argillaceous cement, and a slaty or

lamellated structure, is the most abundant, and occupies the lowest

points which we have hitherto been able to examine. This rock

frequently contains alternating beds of coal, bituminous shale,

and its accompanying minerals. The beds of compact limestone,

which occur in this region, usually rest upon the sandstone just

mentioned. Considered as a stratum, its distribution is the

reverse of that of the sandstone. It occupies the central and

least elevated portions of the formation; and on the borders where

the sandstone is most abundant, the limestone is of less extent

and of more uncommon occurrence. These remarks are applicable to

the hilly district on the upper portion of the Ohio river. From

Pittsburgh to Cincinnati, the prospect from the river is that

of hills of moderate elevation, sometimes rocky and abrupt, but

often sufficiently gradual in their ascent to admit of cultivation

to their summits. Their character, as to extent, direction, &c.

seems to be determined by the number, direction, and magnitude of

the streams which traverse them. They are the remains of what was

formerly a continuous and nearly horizontal stratum, with a large

deposit of superincumbent soil, which the flowing of water, during

the lapse of ages, has channelled and excavated to its present

form. These hills diminish in altitude as you approach the falls

from above; there they again rise to a height nearly equal to what

they attain at the head of the river, and from thence gradually

diminish, until they disappear, a little above the confluence of

the Ohio and Green[055] rivers. Here commences the low country,

which extends west to the Mississippi. It is characterized by

the great extent of the river alluvion, the increased width and

diminished velocity of the stream. The river banks are low, but

thickly wooded with sycamore, cotton-wood, river maple, the planera

aquatica, cypress, &c. The river hills, which terminate the

alluvial district, {39} are distant and low; and it often happens

that the surface descends on both sides, from the immediate banks

of the river to these hills. Hence, when the waters of the river

are sufficiently swollen to flow over its banks, they inundate

extensive tracts; from which they cannot return to the channel

of the river, and are left stagnant during the summer months,

poisoning the atmosphere with noxious exhalations. Many of these

inundated tracts have a soil of uncommon fertility, which it is

probable will hereafter be recovered from the dominion of the river

by dikes or levees.

The beach or sloping part of the immediate bank of the Ohio,

throughout its whole extent, is of rather gradual ascent, and

covered with timber a considerable distance below high-water mark.

The average rapidity of the current of the Ohio is about two and a

half miles per hour, and the descent of its surface nine inches

per mile, as estimated by Dr. Drake of Cincinnati. The annual

inundations happen in the spring. The range between extreme high

and low water, in the upper part of the river, is more than 60

feet; but below, where it is not confined by high banks, it is

much less.

About the falls of Ohio, the cane, (myegia macrosperma of Persoon,)

begins to be seen, and increases in quantity thence westward

to the Mississippi. The "Cave Inn Rock," or "House of Nature,"

which we have before mentioned, is an immense cavern penetrating

horizontally into a stratum of compact limestone, which forms

the river bank for some distance above Golconda in Illinois.

Its entrance is a large and regular arch, placed immediately on

the brink of the river, and a similar form is preserved in some

degree through its whole extent. The Battery Rock is a high mural

precipice of the same stratum, running in a straight line, and

forming the northern bank of the river which washes its base. The

face of this precipice is smooth and naked, and it is surmounted

{40} by a heavy growth of timber. This limestone is compact,

entirely horizontal in its position, and filled with organic

remains. It is traversed by veins containing sulphuret of lead;

and at several places near Golconda, this is accompanied by fluat

of lime, in beautiful yellow and violet-coloured crystals. Fluat

of lime is also found disseminated in small and irregular masses

throughout the rock. At Golconda, six miles below the cave, a

coarse gray flinty sandstone is found, extending some distance to

the west. This rock forms broad hills on the Kentucky side, between

the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers; where it abounds in iron ore

of several kinds. Perhaps these hills ought to be considered as

a spur from the Cumberland hills. At the mouth of the Tennessee

river, is a locality of the columnar argillaceous oxide of iron,

which rises from the surface in pyramidal and columnar masses,

somewhat resembling the cypress knees.

An extensive tract of land between the Tennessee and Mississippi

rivers, included in the recent purchase from the Cherokees,[056] is

rocky and broken, abounding in ores of iron and lead, and probably

some other minerals. We have seen a specimen of sulphuret of

antimony, in possession of an inhabitant, who being a sort of

alchymist, greatly delighting in mystery, thought it imprudent to

reveal the secret of its particular locality. It is to be hoped,

future and more minute examinations than we had the opportunity of

making, may hereafter detect valuable mineral depositions in this

tract.

The confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, is in latitude 37° 22′

9″ north, according to the observations of Mr. Ellicott, and in

longitude 88° 50′ 42″ west, from Greenwich.[057] The lands about

the junction of these two great rivers are low, consisting of

recent alluvion, and covered with dense forests. At the time of

our journey, the spring floods having subsided in the Ohio, this

quiet and gentle river {41} seemed to be at once swallowed up, and

lost in the rapid and turbulent current of the Mississippi. Floods

of the Mississippi, happening when the Ohio is low, occasion a

reflux of the waters of the latter, perceptible at Fort Massac,

more than thirty miles above. It is also asserted, that the floods

in the Ohio occasion a retardation in the current of the

Mississippi, as far up as the Little Chain, ten miles below Cape

Girardeau.[058] The navigation of the Mississippi above the mouth

of the Ohio, also that of the Ohio, is usually obstructed for a

part of the winter by large masses of floating ice. The boatmen

observe that soon after the ice from the Ohio enters the

Mississippi, it becomes so much heavier by arresting the sands,

always mixed with the waters of that river, that it soon sinks to

the bottom. After ascending the Mississippi about two miles, we

came to an anchor, and went on shore on the eastern side. The

forests here are deep and gloomy, swarming with innumerable

mosquitoes, and the ground overgrown with enormous nettles. There

is no point near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi, from

which a distant prospect can be had. Standing in view of the

junction of these magnificent rivers, meeting almost from opposite

extremities of the continent, and each impressed with the peculiar

character of the regions from which it descends, we seem to

imagine ourselves capable of comprehending at one view all that

vast region between the summits of the Alleghanies and of the

Rocky Mountains, and feel a degree of impatience at finding all

our prospects limited by an inconsiderable extent of low muddy

bottom lands, and the unrelieved, unvaried, gloom of the forest.

Finding it necessary to renew the packing of the piston in the

steam-engine, which operation would require some time, most of the

gentlemen of the {42} party were dispersed on shore in pursuit of

their respective objects, or engaged in hunting. Deer, turkeys,

and beaver are still found in plenty in the low grounds, along

both sides of the Mississippi; but the annoyance of the mosquitoes

and nettles preventing the necessary caution and silence in

approaching the haunts of these animals, our hunting was without

success.

We were gratified to observe many interesting plants, and among

them several of the beautiful family of the orchidæ,[059]

particularly the orchis spectabile, so common in the mountainous

parts of New England.

The progress of our boat against the heavy current of the

Mississippi, was of necessity somewhat slow. Steam-boats in

ascending are kept as near the shore as the depth of water will

admit; and ours often approached so closely as to give such of the

party as wished, an opportunity to jump on shore. On the first of

June, several gentlemen of the party went on shore, six miles

below the settlement of Tyawapatia bottom, and walked up to that

place through the woods. They passed several Indian encampments,

which appeared to have been recently tenanted. Under one of the

wigwams they saw pieces of honey-comb, and several sharpened

sticks, that had been used to roast meat upon: on a small tree

near by was suspended the lower jaw-bone of a bear. Soon after

leaving these they came to another similar camp, where they found

a Shawanee Indian and his squaw, with four children, the youngest

lashed to a piece of board, and leaned against a tree.

The Indian had recently killed a deer, which they purchased of him

for one dollar and fifty cents--one-third more than is usually

paid to white hunters. They afterwards met with another

encampment, where were several families. These Indians have very

little acquaintance with the English language, and appeared

reluctant to use the few words they {43} knew. The squaws wore

great numbers of trinkets, such as silver arm-bands and large

earrings. Some of the boys had pieces of lead tied in various

parts of the hair. They were encamped near the Mississippi, for

the purpose of hunting on the islands. Their village is on Apple

Creek, ten miles from Cape Girardeau.

June 2d. As it was only ten miles to Cape Girardeau, and the

progress of the boat extremely tedious, several of the party,

taking a small supply of provisions, went on shore, intending to

walk to that place.

Above the settlement of Tyawapatia, and near Cape à la Bruche,[060]

is a ledge of rocks, stretching across the Mississippi, in a

direct line, and in low water forming a serious obstacle to the

navigation. These rocks are of limestone, and mark the commencement

of the hilly country on the Mississippi. Here the landscape begins

to have something of the charm of distant perspective. We seem

released from the imprisonment of the deep monotonous forest, and

can occasionally overlook the broad hills of Apple Creek, and the

Au Vaise,[061] or Muddy river of Illinois, diversified with a few

scattered plantations, and some small natural meadows.

About five miles above Cape Girardeau we found the steam-boat

Jefferson, destined for the Missouri. She had been detained some

time waiting for castings which were on board the Western

Engineer. Several other steam-boats, with stores for the troops

about to ascend the Missouri, had entered that river, and were

waiting to be overtaken by the Jefferson and the Calhoun, which

last we had left at the rapids of the Ohio. On the 3d of June we

passed that insular rock in the middle of the Mississippi, called

the Grand Tower.[062] It is about one hundred and fifty feet high,

and two hundred and fifty in diameter. Between it and the right

shore is a {44} channel of about one hundred and fifty yards in

width, with a deep and rapid current.

In the summer of 1673, Father Marquette and M. Joliet descended

the Mississippi, probably as far as the mouth of the Arkansa.

Their narrative contains sufficient evidence that they passed the

mouth of the Missouri, the Grand Tower, the mouth of the Ohio, &c.

As their work may not be easily accessible to many of our readers,

we subjoin, in a note, an interesting passage, in which these

objects are mentioned.[063]

The strata of sandstone containing the extensive beds of coal

which have been explored, about the Muddy river of Illinois, are

here divided transversely by the bed of the Mississippi. The Grand

Tower, the precipice opposite the mouth of the Obrazo,[064]

containing the singular cavity called the Devil's Oven, the

Cornice Rock, and other remarkable cliffs, are monuments

indicating the great extent to which the Mississippi has

channelled its bed in these strata of horizontal sandstone.

The Grand Tower, from its form and situation, strongly suggests

the idea of a work of art. It is not impossible that a bridge may

be constructed here, for which this rock shall serve as a pier.

The shores, on both sides, are of substantial and permanent rocks,

which undoubtedly extend across, forming the bed of the river. It

is probable, however, that the ledge of rocks called the Two

Chains, extending down to Cape à la Bruche, presents greater

facilities for the construction of a bridge than this point, as

the high lands there approach nearer the river, and are less

broken than in the neighbourhood of the Grand Tower. The Ohio

would also admit of a bridge at the chains, which appear to be a

continuation of the range of rocks here mentioned, crossing that

river fifteen miles above its confluence with the Mississippi. We

look forward to the time when these great works will be completed.

{45} Compact and sparry limestones are frequent in this region; but

all the rocks seem to be acted upon with great rapidity by currents

of water. The country on the east side of the Mississippi, back

of Fort Chartres, and about the river St. Mary, is much broken by

sink holes, having the form of a funnel, and occasioned, probably,

by the action of subterraneous streams of water finding their way

through the friable sandstones, which underlay the deep and fertile

soils in those places. We passed in succession the mouths of the

river St. Mary, opposite to which is the fine settlement of the

Bois Broule bottoms; the Ocoa, or Kaskaskia river; the St. Lora,

a handsome stream, from the west; and the Gabaree Creek, on which

stands the old French town of St. Genevieve.[065] The navigation

of the Mississippi, above the mouth of the Ohio, is at all times

difficult. The current is considerably accelerated by the descent

of the river over the rocky traverses which cross its bed. At times

of low water, innumerable sand-bars occur in various parts of the

channel, rendering the navigation extremely precarious.

A little below the mouth of the Kaskaskia, is a creek called the

Saline, entering on the west side. A grant of a tract of land, one

league square, was here made by the Spanish government, in favour

of a Frenchman named Pegreau, the founder of the deserted town

called New Bourbon.[066] The tract included a valuable brine

spring, near the mouth of the creek. The proprietor built a house

near the bank of the Mississippi, where he resided for some time,

and carried on a manufacture of salt; but having occasion to go to

France, he rented his works to a man, who for want of funds, or

for some other reason, failed to keep them in operation. After the

transfer of Louisiana to the United States' Government, this

grant, among others, became an object of speculation; and

advantage being taken of Pegreau's absence, the worthless tenant

was instigated {46} to prosecute his landlord for breach of

contract, and by a legal process recovered damages to the amount

of nine thousand dollars, for the disbursement of which the

property was sold, and fell into the hands of the present

proprietors.

At the mouth of the Kaskaskia river, on the east bank of the

Mississippi, a town has been recently commenced, called Portland.

The high lands approach here to the brink of the river, affording

an elevated and advantageous site. The landing is said to be good;

and there is reason to expect that Portland will soon rival the

old town of Kaskaskia, the present seat of a great portion of the

mercantile business in this part of Illinois.[067]

On the 5th the wind blew from the south-east, and with the aid of

sails, we were enabled to ascend the river with considerable

rapidity. As we were proceeding briskly forward, our boat struck

upon one of those concealed trunks of trees so frequent in the

Mississippi, and soon afterwards we discovered that a leak had

occurred, which made it necessary for us to lie by. By the

constant use of the pumps during the remainder of the day, and the

following night, we were able to prevent the water from gaining

further upon us; and the next day, having discovered the leak, we

raised the stern of the boat, by means of a pair of shears, and

succeeded in repairing the injury.

On the beach, opposite the place where we lay by for these

repairs, was a large flock of pelicans, which remained in sight

for several hours. We had met with some wild geese; and a swan,

which we saw was unable to fly, having at that time cast its

feathers. The yellow-breasted chat, chuck-wills-widow, the falco

haliatus, the kingfisher, bank swallow, and numerous other birds,

occurred.

At the mouth of the Kaskaskia river, on the east side of the

Mississippi, commences the celebrated valley called the American

Bottom, extending along {47} the eastern bank of the river last

mentioned to the Piasa hills, four miles above the mouth of the

Missouri. It is several miles in width, and has a soil of

astonishing fertility, consisting of comparatively recent

depositions from the river. It has all the disadvantages usually

attending tracts of recent river alluvion, the most valuable parts

of it being liable to be swept away by the current of the

Mississippi, and its surface descending from the brink of the

river to the stagnant pools and lagoons, at the outskirts of the

valley. But the inexhaustible fertility of its soil makes amends

for the insalubrity of the air, and the inconveniences of a flat

and marshy situation; and this valley is undoubtedly destined to

become one of the most populous parts of America. We were formerly

shown here a field that had been cultivated, without manure, one

hundred years in succession, and which, when we saw it (in August,

1819) was covered with a very luxuriant growth of corn.

The town of Kaskaskia, the villages of Prairie de Roches, Kahokia,

Prairie du Pont, Harrisonville, and Fort Chartres, are situate in

this tract. Some of them are in a flourishing condition. Fort

Chartres, which was built by the French government, at the expense

of one million and a half of dollars, stood near the bank of the

river, about twenty miles from Kaskaskia. Not long after they were

erected, a part of the works were undermined by the washing of the

river; since which time the whole has been suffered to remain in

ruins, which are now one-fourth of a mile distant from the

river.[068]

The country west of the Mississippi, opposite the American Bottom,

is of a very different character. The high lands approach the

river, presenting abrupt declivities, prominent points, and in

many places perpendicular precipices from one to two hundred {48}

feet high, frowning over the brink of the river. One of the most

remarkable of these is known by the name of the Cornice Rock. It

bounds a narrow arm of the river, which has generally sufficient

water to admit the passage of boats. The rock extends nearly in a

straight line, having a front of about four hundred yards, the

brow of the precipice at some points impending over the channel

through which boats pass. The rock rises above, to the height of

fifty or sixty feet, smoothly rounded by the attrition of the

water, which never rising to the upper part of the precipice,

leaves that to project in the form of a cornice. Though the lands

on the west side of the Mississippi are less fertile than those of

the American Bottom, they are of great value, and have long been

objects of scandalous speculation.

Among a variety of stratagems, practised in this part of the

country to obtain titles to lands, was one which will be best

explained by the following anecdote, related to us by a

respectable citizen of St. Genevieve. Preparatory to taking

possession of Louisiana in 1805, the legislature passed a law,

authorising a claim to one section of land, in favour of any

person who should have actually made _improvements_, in any part

of the same, previous to the year 1804. Commissioners were

appointed to settle all claims of this description; more commonly

known by the name of improvement rights. A person, somewhere in

the county of Cape Girardeau, being desirous of establishing a

claim of this kind to a tract of land, adopted the following

method:--The time having expired for the establishment of a right,

agreeably to the spirit of the law, he took with him two witnesses

to the favourite spot, on which he wished to establish his claim,

and in their presence marked two trees, standing on opposite sides

of a spring; one with the figures 1803, the other 1804, and placed

a stalk of growing corn in the spring. He then brought the

witnesses before the commissioners, who upon their {49}

declaration, that they had seen corn growing at the place

specified, in the spring between 1803 and 1804, admitted the claim

of the applicant, and gave him a title to the land. In the old

district of Cape Girardeau, as in other parts of Louisiana, the

difficulty of establishing indisputable titles to the lands,

arising out of the great number of Spanish grants, pre-emption,

and improvement claims, has greatly retarded the settlement of the

country.[069] Establishments were made here more than one hundred

and fifty years since; yet the features of the country are little

changed, retaining the rudeness and gloominess of the original

forest.[070]

At five o'clock, on the afternoon of the sixth, we passed the

Platteen rock, a perpendicular precipice, not unlike the Cornice

rock, near the mouth of a creek of the same name. Along the base

of this cliff, we found the water three and sometimes four fathoms

deep. In the evening we arrived at Herculaneum, a small village on

the west side of the Mississippi, depending principally upon the

lead mines for its business.[071]

Here are three shot manufactories, all of them built at the

summits of perpendicular precipices; by which means, the expense

of erecting high towers has been avoided. Thirty or forty miles to

the south-west of Herculaneum, commences the region of the lead

mines, which, though not yet satisfactorily explored, is known to

extend for many miles through the hilly country, at the sources of

the Merameg, the St. Francis, and the other small rivers, rising

in the angle between the Mississippi and Missouri, below the mouth

of the latter river.

Soon after the cession of Louisiana to the United States,

particular care was taken to have all claims to land investigated

and registered. Some few {50} may have been omitted, which may be

hereafter revived, but these cannot be numerous. In all the recent

sales of public lands in the western states and territories,

liberal reservations have been made for the encouragement of

learning. We subjoin some particulars, extracted from a

communication of the commissioner of public lands. From this

statement, it will be easy to form an idea of the liberal

provision made by government, for the future support of schools

and colleges. It is probable, similar grants will be made to the

Eastern States.[072]

On the 7th, after taking in wood at Herculaneum, we moved up the

river; but had scarcely passed the mouth of the Merameg,[073] when

we found ourselves unable to stem the heavy current of the

Mississippi, on account of the great quantities of mud that had

accumulated in the boilers, and prevented our raising the

requisite pressure of steam. While we were lying at anchor, to

afford the steam engineer an opportunity to clean the boilers,

some gentlemen of the party returned along shore to the Merameg, a

beautiful river, whose limpid and transparent waters present a

striking contrast to the yellow and turbid Mississippi. They were

fortunate in meeting with many interesting objects, and, among

others, an undescribed mus, which has received, from Mr. Ord, the

name of floridanus.[074] Upon the specimen, which was a male, was

a dilated, glabrous, ventral line, 2-1/4 inches long. This species

is well known in some districts, under the name of large

hairy-tailed rat, and is by no means rare in Florida. It is as

large as the ordinary stature of the Norway rat, and is equally

troublesome. The contents of its stomach were entirely vegetable,

consisting of the green bark of trees, and the young shoots of

plants. Their nests are large, and are composed of a great

quantity of brush. Dr. Baldwin had rarely been able to join in the

excursions on shore. Plants were, however, collected and brought

to him on board the boat, {51} where he spent much of his time in

the examination of such as were interesting or new.[075]

A few rods above our anchoring ground, were two graves, supposed

to be those of Indians. One of them was quite recent, and both

were covered with heaps of loose stones, probably designed as

monuments, and to protect the graves from the ravages of wolves or

other animals. The eighth of June brought us to the small village

of Vide Poche,[076] and the following day to St. Louis, where our

arrival was noticed by a salute from a six-pounder on the bank of

the river, and the discharge of ordnance on board several of the

steam-boats lying in front of the town.

FOOTNOTES:

[043] Observations were made, at Shippingsport, to ascertain the

rate of going of our chronometer, the latitude of the place, and

for other purposes; according to these, the Falls are in 38° 15′

23″ N.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The latitude is 38° 15′ 8″.

[044] Page 108.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ Miguel Venegas, a native of Mexico, was born

in 1680, joined the Jesuit order in 1700, and after several

years' service as professor of Latin, rhetoric, and theology,

went out as a missionary to the Indians. His chief work was,

_Noticia de la California y su Conquista temporal y espiritual

hasta el tiempo presente_ (Madrid, 3 vols., 1757). Its

importance as a contemporary account of the native tribes and

mission stations of California is attested by the fact that

translations were promptly made into English, French, and

Dutch. The English edition is entitled _Natural and Civil

History of California_ (London, 2 vols., 1759).

[045] For historical importance of the Wabash River and origin

of the name, see Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, note

107; for sketch of the site of Shawneetown, see _ibid._, note

108.--ED.

[046] Testudo geographica of Leseuer.--JAMES.

[047] Usually called Cave-in-Rock. For additional facts relative

to its history, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note

180.--ED.

[048] _Nitrate of Potash._--This salt occurs in most of the

caves in the western states and territories. It is found in

efflorescences and incrustations frequently combined with

nitrate of lime. Its colour is grayish or yellowish white. The

manufacture of nitre, in the numerous caves in Kentucky, is

conducted as follows: The earths containing the nitrates of lime

and potash are lixiviated; the lixivium is afterwards passed

through the ashes of wood, by the alkali of which the nitrate of

lime is decomposed. If the earths, after having been lixiviated,

are replaced in the caves, they again become impregnated with

the same salts.

One bushel of earth commonly yields from one to four pounds of

nitre. The process by which nature supplies the consumption of

this important article has not yet been discovered.

_Muriate of Soda._--In the United States, common salt has been

usually found in solution combined with the sulphates of lime,

magnesia, and soda, and with sulphuretted hydrogen gas. The

springs yielding the greatest quantity of salt, are those of

the Kenhawa, and Little Sandy rivers, the United States'

Salines near Shawaneetown, Illinois, Boon's Saline, near

Franklin, Missouri, and Lockhart's on the Le Mine river.

The Kenhawa salt-works supply about thirty thousand bushels of

salt per annum. The rocks about these springs belong to the

secondary formation, and are limestone, variegated sandstone,

and bituminous shale: we were informed that two hundred and

fifty gallons of this water yield one bushel of salt. At

the Salines of the Little Sandy, ten thousand bushels are

manufactured yearly. The waters, like those of the Kenhawa,

hold in solution muriate and sulphate of soda, sulphate of

lime, and probably a small portion of sulphate of magnesia.

Limestone and sandstone are the only rocks to be met with in the

neighbourhood. The United States' salines, near Shawaneetown,

produce at present about a hundred and thirty thousand bushels

of salt per annum; they formerly yielded more than two hundred

thousand in the same time. There are now seven furnaces in

operation: the water is procured from three wells, two of which

are rented by Major I. Taylor. At these works the salt water

formerly issued from the earth at the surface. A well of sixteen

feet deep brought the workmen to a spring, which now discharges

sixteen gallons of water per minute. Two hundred and fifty

gallons yield fifty pounds of salt. About one thousand yards

to the east of this well is a basin, or hollow, one hundred

and thirty-five feet in diameter. The soil in and about it is

intimately blended with fragments of earthen ware.

In the middle of this basin a well has been sunk, which

affords a more concentrated brine than that before mentioned;

one hundred and ten gallons yielding fifty pounds of salt.

In digging this well, the first fourteen feet was through a

light earth mixed with ashes and fragments of earthen ware:

the remaining fourteen through a bed of clay, deeply coloured

with oxyde of iron, and containing fragments of pottery. The

clay has something the appearance of having been subjected to

the action of fire. At the eastern side of the basin appears

to have been a drain for the purpose of conveying away the

superabundant water. In this drain, about four feet below the

surface of the earth, is a layer of charcoal about six inches

deep. The stones in the vicinity appear as if they had been

burnt. Four miles west of this point, a well has been sunk

sixty feet through the following beds.

First—— twenty feet of tenacious blue clay, at the bottom of

which they came to a small spring of salt water.

Second—— another bed of clay, of a similar character,

twenty-five feet thick.

Third—— a bed of quicksand, about ten feet deep; in which

they met with a large vein of salt water.

Bones of the mammoth, and other animals, were found both in

the clay and sand. The original reservation at these salines

comprised ninety-two thousand one hundred and sixty acres of

woodland, and was transferred from the United States to the

state of Illinois, at the time of the admission of the latter

into the union. The rents amount to ten thousand dollars per

annum.

_Nitrate of Lime_ is found in the calcareous caverns of

Kentucky, accompanying nitrate of potash, with which it is

intimately blended in the earth, on the floors of the caves:

it is also sometimes found in delicate accicular crystals,

shooting up from the walls and floors of the caverns.--JAMES.

[049] Smithland is now the seat of Livingston County. The

deserted settlement three miles below the mouth of Cumberland

River was laid out about 1800 by one Coxe; upon the failure of

his plans, the site was converted into a farm.--ED.

[050] See Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note 43.--ED.

[051] The correct name of this stream is Cache River. The French

explorers applied the term "cache" (hiding-place) to many

streams, probably because of articles hidden there by them. This

particular stream is about thirty miles long, being navigable

for small boats about a third of the distance.

The town of America was laid off in 1818, with the expectation

that it would attain considerable size. For two or three years

it grew rapidly; then low water uncovered a long bar which

excluded steamers from the landing, whereupon the town declined

and practically disappeared, the site now being occupied by but

one or two small dwellings.--ED.

[052] For a description of the Iron Banks, see Nuttall's

_Journal_, in our volume xiii, note 54.--ED.

[053] Although the range from extreme high to extreme low water

amounts to sixty feet perpendicular, in many parts of the Ohio,

it does not exceed twenty feet at this place, owing to the width

to which the Ohio spreads in this neighbourhood, when the river

is high. This may be considered a circumstance much in favour

of the place, when compared with the disadvantages most other

positions on the Ohio labour under, from inundation in high

water, and the difficulty of unlading in low.--JAMES.

[054] Rockport is the seat of Spencer County, Indiana, one

hundred and forty miles below Louisville, measured on the

river's course.--ED.

[055] Green River enters the Ohio from the Kentucky side,

thirty-five miles below Rockport.--ED.

[056] On Cherokee purchase, see Cuming's _Tour_, in volume iv,

this series, note 190.--ED.

[057] Latitude 36° 59′ 47.99″; longitude, 89° 9′ 31.2″.--ED.

[058] Schultz's Travels, vol. 2. p. 92.--JAMES.

[059] The cymbidium hiemale of Willdenow, which has been placed

by Mr. Nuttall under the genus corallorhiza of Haller, occurs in

the fertile soils of the Mississippi, with two radical leaves,

as described by the early authors. Mr. N.'s amended description

is therefore only applicable to the plant as it occurs in the

eastern states, where it is commonly found to have but a single

leaf.--JAMES.

[060] Tyawapatia (Tywappity, Tiwappaty) Bottom was the

name formerly applied to the flood plain on the Missouri side,

in the present Scott County. It extended from the mouth of the

Ohio to Commerce, near the site of which was the settlement

referred to. Americans began to enter the bottom as early as

1798, and in 1823 the town of Commerce was laid out on the

site of a trading post already twenty years old.

The name Cape à la Bruche is probably a corruption of Cape à

la Broche (spit-like). The point was also called Cape La Croix

(The Cross), which name alone survives. It is about six miles

below Cape Girardeau, on the same side of the river.--ED.

[061] The name Au Vaise is a corruption of Rivière au

Vase (Muddy River); the present name is Big Muddy. It enters

the Mississippi from the northeast, at the northwest corner of

Union County, Illinois, and boats ascend forty or fifty

miles.--ED.

[062] Opposite the town of the same name, in Jackson County,

Illinois.--ED.

[063] They left the Illinois about the middle of June. Of

the rocky cliffs below the confluence of that river, Father

Marquette speaks as follows: "Among the rocks I have mentioned,

we found one very high and steep, and saw two monsters painted

upon it, which are so hideous that we were frightened at first

sight, and the boldest savages dare not fix their eyes upon

them. They are drawn as big as a calf, with two horns like a

wild-goat. Their looks are terrible, though their face has

something of human figure in it. Their eyes are red, their

beard is like that of a tiger, and their body is covered with

scales. Their tail is so long that it goes over their heads,

and then turns between their fore-legs under the belly, ending

like a fish-tail. There are but three colours, viz. red,

green, and black; but those monsters are so well drawn that I

cannot believe the savages did it; and the rock whereon they

are painted is so steep that it is a wonder to me how it was

possible to draw those figures: but to know to what purpose

they were made is as great a mystery. Whatever it be, our best

painters would hardly do better.

"As we fell down the river, following the gentle stream of the

waters, and discoursing upon those monsters, we heard a great

noise of waters, and saw several small pieces of timber, and

small floating islands, which were huddled down the river

_Pekitanoni_. The waters of this stream (the Missouri) are so

muddy, because of the violence of its stream, that it is

impossible to drink of it; and they spoil the clearness of the

Mississippi, and make its navigation very dangerous in this

place. This river runs from the north-west; and I hope to

discover, in following its channel to its source, some other

river that discharges itself into the _Mar Marvejo_, or the

_Caliphornian Gulf_.

"About twenty leagues lower than the Pekitanoni, we met another

river, called the Ouabouskigon; but before we arrived there,

we passed through a most formidable place to the savages, who

believe that a _manito_ or devil resides in that place, to

deliver such as are so bold as to come near it. This terrible

_manito_ proves to be nothing but some rocks in a turning of

the river, about thirty feet high, against which the stream

runs with great violence." This is probably the Grand Tower.

"The river _Ouabouskigon_ (Ohio) comes from the eastward. The

_Chuoanous_ (Shawneese) inhabit its banks; and are so numerous,

that I have been informed there are thirty-eight villages of

that nation situated on this river."--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ James dates the start too early, for by

Marquette's account, it was near the end of June ("sur la fin

de Juin"); nor is James's version quite accurate. Compare the

French of Marquette's account in _Jesuit Relations_, lix, p. 138.

[064] Spelled also Brazos and Brazeau--a Perry County (Missouri)

tributary of the Mississippi.--ED.

[065] The Bois Broulé (Burnt Wood) Bottoms lie chiefly in Perry

County, Missouri. The tract is about eighteen miles long and

from four to six wide.

For Kaskaskia River and settlement, see André Michaux's

_Travels_, in our volume iii, note 132.

For Ste. Geneviève, see Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, note

174.--ED.

[066] Among the nobles who fled from France during the

Revolution was the father of Charles Dehault Delassus, last

governor of Upper Louisiana under Spanish domination. The

elder Delassus came to Ste. Geneviève, and was placed in

command of a post established for him on a bluff overlooking

the river, two or three miles below the town; this post was

named New Bourbon (La Nouvelle Bourbon), in honor of the

fallen French dynasty. The town which grew up around it was

still in existence in 1812.--ED.

[067] Portland was one of many towns laid out along the

Mississippi by speculators who hoped that important cities

would arise on the sites chosen. This particular venture was

undertaken by a company organized in Cincinnati in 1819; but

inhabitants failed to come, and the buildings erected by the

promoters fell into ruins. The site was near the present town

of Chester; an Illinois state penitentiary now stands on the

spot.--ED.

[068] It is stated by Mr. Schultz that Fort Chartres, which

was originally built one-fourth of a mile from the river, was

undermined in 1808. Vol. 2, p. 37.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ For Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, Cahokia, and

Fort Chartres, see André Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume iii,

notes 132, 133, 135, 136.

Prairie du Pont, one mile south of Cahokia, grew up about

a water-mill built in 1754 on a creek of that name, by

missionaries of St. Sulpice.

Harrisonville dates from the era of American domination. It

was laid out in 1808, and named for William Henry Harrison,

the governor of Indiana Territory, which then included

Illinois. It was, in early days, the county town.

[069] Ample information on the subject of land titles,

is contained in Stoddart's Sketches of Louisiana, pages

243-267.--JAMES.

[070] The statement here is not accurate. Marquette's

descent of the Mississippi was just one hundred and fifty

years earlier, and the French settlements in Illinois date

from the beginning of the eighteenth century; while Ste.

Geneviève, the first in Missouri, was not established before

1732.--ED.

[071] Herculaneum, laid out in 1808, was another of the now

extinct river towns. It was thirty miles below St. Louis, and

was at one time seat of Jefferson County.--ED.

[072] A _township_ is a square, whose sides (limited by true

meridians and parallels to the equator) are each 6 miles in

length: area 36 square miles, or _sections_, each containing 640

acres. Each township contains 23,040 acres. A _quarter-section_

is a square whose sides (bounded by meridians and parallels),

are each half a mile, and contain 160 acres. The corners of

each section are distinctly marked by the United States'

deputy-surveyors. The _sections_ are numbered from 1 to 36,

beginning at the N. E. corner of the township, and going from

right to left, to the N. W. corner; and then returning from left

to right to the east boundary of the township, and so on.

The act of February 22. 1817, authorizes the sale, in _half

quarter_ sections, or (80 acres) of the sections 2, 5, 20, 23,

30, 33, of each township. The subdivision of the quarter

section is made by true meridians.

The _section_ No. 16. in every township, is by law reserved

for the support of schools; the S. E. corner of that section

is the centre of each township. More than 60 million acres of

United States' land, have already been surveyed:--1/36 of 60

millions is 1,666,666 acres, reserved by law for the support

of schools. The section No. 16. will unquestionably be

reserved in all future surveys and disposals of public lands.

For colleges and seminaries of a higher grade, thirteen whole

townships have already been granted by the United States to

Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, &c. Thirteen townships are equal to

299,520 acres.

By section 2. of the act of April 18. 1806, relative to

Tennessee, 200,000 acres are in that state reserved for

colleges and academies.

The reservations for schools, colleges, &c. are--

Section No. 16. 1,666,666

Thirteen townships 299,520

Reservation in Tennessee 200,000

---------

2,166,186 acres;

which, at the minimum price established previous to the year

1820, of two dollars per acre, is $4,332,372.

The area of the whole state of Ohio (the eldest of the states

north of the Ohio) is about 25 millions of acres; of this

about 14,400 had been surveyed anterior to the late cessions,

which embrace the N. W. part of that state: 1/36 of 14,400,000

is 400,000.

The free spirit of Ohio, united with signal industry and

economy, has already given to section 16. in the surveyed

portion of the state, a value of at least four dollars per

acre, or of 1,600,000 dollars. There are instances, in which

section 16. in Ohio, is worth from twenty to thirty dollars per

acre.--_National Intelligencer of November 10. 1819._--JAMES.

[073] The Meramec River (the name is a corruption of an Indian

word meaning "Catfish") forms part of the boundary between

Jefferson and St. Louis counties, Missouri. It flows from the

southwest, its chief sources lying in Dent County, and is

navigable for steamboats for almost a hundred miles.--ED.

[074] _Genus Mus. L.--M. Floridanus, Ord, Say._ _Body_ robust;

_back_ plumbeous; sides, sacrum, and origin of the tail,

ferrugineous-yellowish; _fur_ plumbeous near its base; all

beneath white; _tail_ hairy, above brown, as long as the body;

_head_ plumbeous, intermixed with gray, gradually attenuated to

the nose; _ears_ large, prominent, patulous, obtusely rounded,

naked or furnished with obsolete sparse hairs behind, and on the

margin within; _eyes_ moderately prominent; _whiskers_, some

black, and some white bristles, elongated, longest surpassing

the tips of the ears, arranged in six longitudinal series,

superior labia, and those of the angles of the mouth, folded

into the mouth, and hairy within; _legs_ subequal, robust;

anterior legs with a few white projecting setæ near the foot

behind; _feet_ white; _toes_ annulate beneath, with impressed

lines, intermediate ones equal, exterior ones equal; shorter

thumb minute; _palm_ with five tuberculous prominences, of

which the anterior ones are placed triangularly, and the others

transversely; _nails_ concealed by the hairs; _posterior feet_,

inner toe shortest, 2d, 3d, and 4th subequal, the third slightly

longest, all beneath annulated; _nails_ concealed by the hairs;

_palm_ with six tubercles, of which the three posterior ones

are distant from each other. Entire length, from nose to tip of

tail, sixteen inches nearly; _tail_ seven inches, _ear_ rather

more than 9/10 of an inch long, greatest breadth one inch. From

tip of nose to anterior canthus of the eye, 1/20 inches. Length

of the eye nearly 2/5.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ George Ord, a Philadelphia scientist and

writer, was known especially for his work in ornithology. He

was at one time a vice president of the American Philosophical

Society, and from 1851-58 was president of the Academy of

Natural Sciences at Philadelphia.

[075] Near the mouth of the Merameg were collected the

Rudbeckia _hirta_, and R. purpurea, a small white flowering

species of Houstonia, the Galium tinctorium Smyrnium aureum, a

phlox, a new species of potentilla, a conyza, the trifolium

reflexum, a beautiful aira, the campunula perfoliata,

diospyros virginiana, rhus glabra, and many others. _Dr.

Baldwin's MS. Notes._--JAMES.

[076] Vide Poche (Empty Pocket), more properly Carondelet, now

included in St. Louis, was at this time five miles south of the

original city. It is of about the same age.--ED.

{52} CHAPTER III

Tumuli and Indian Graves about St. Louis, and on the Merameg--

Mouth of the Missouri--Charboniere--Journey by land from St.

Charles, to Loutre Island.

Saint Louis, formerly called Pain Court,[077] was founded by Pierre

La Clade [Laclède] and his associates in 1764, eighty-four years

after the establishment of Fort Creve-cœur, on the Illinois river.

Until a recent period, it was occupied almost exclusively by people

of French extraction, who maintained a lucrative traffic with the

Indians. The history, and present condition of this important town,

are too well known to be dwelt upon in this place. Its population

has been rapidly augmented within a few years, by the immigration

of numerous families, and its wealth and business extended by the

accession of enterprising merchants and mechanics from the Eastern

States. As the town advances in importance and magnitude, the

manners and customs of the people of the United States, are taking

the place of those of the French and Spaniards, whose numbers are

proportionably diminishing. As this place seems destined to be the

depôt for such articles of merchandize, as are to be sent from

New Orleans to the upper rivers, it is unfortunate, that no good

harbour offers for the protection of boats against the impetuosity

of the current, and from the danger occasioned by floating ice.

In this respect, the site of a projected town, a few miles below,

has a decided advantage over Saint Louis, as it possesses a good

harbour. It was selected many years since, by some Canadian

Frenchmen, who formed a settlement there.[078]

The horizontal strata of limestone which underlay the town of

Saint Louis and the surrounding country, {53} have strongly

attracted the attention of the curious, on account of having been

found, in one or two instances, to contain distinct impressions of

the human foot. There is now in the possession of Mr. Rapp,[079] of

the Society of the Harmonites, a stone, which has upon its surface

marks that appear to have been formed by the naked feet of some

human being, who was standing upon it while in a plastic state;

also an irregular line, apparently traced by a stick or wand,

held in the hand of the same person. This stone was taken from the

slope of the immediate bank of the Mississippi below the range of

the periodical floods. To us there seems nothing inexplicable or

difficult to understand in its appearance.

Nothing is more probable, than that impressions of human feet made

upon that thin stratum of mud, which was deposited on the shelvings

of the rocks, and left naked by the retiring of the waters, may,

by the induration of the mud, have been preserved, and at length

have acquired the appearance of an impression made immediately

upon the limestone. This supposition will be somewhat confirmed,

if we examine the mud and slime deposited by the water of the

Mississippi, which will be found to consist of such an intimate

mixture of clay and lime, as under favourable circumstances would

very readily become indurated. We are not confident that the

impressions above mentioned have originated in the manner here

supposed, but we cannot by any means adopt the opinion of some, who

have considered them as contemporaneous to those casts of submarine

animals, which occupy so great a part of the body of the limestone.

We have no hesitation in saying, that whatever those impressions

maybe, if they were produced, as they appear to have been by the

agency of human feet, they belong to a period far more recent, than

that of the deposition of the limestone on whose surface they are

found.

The country about St. Louis, like that in the rear {54} of Fort

Chartres, and indeed like the horizontal limestone country

generally, abounds in sink holes sometimes of great depth. These

are very numerous, from five to seven miles back of the town.

They are in the form of vast funnels, having at the surface a

diameter of from twenty to fifty yards. Mr. Say descended into one

of these, for the purpose of ascertaining the medium temperature

below the surface of the earth. This sink opens at the bottom of a

deep ravine. It has two apertures near each other, through which

water is admitted, and each large enough to afford passage to the

body of a man. Within are two chambers from six to twelve feet in

breadth, and thirty-five feet long. At the bottom of the second

chamber is a pool of water rather difficult of access. In this

apartment the mercury stood at 60° fah.: in a shady part of the

ravine about twenty-five feet below the general surface at 75°.

The grassy plains to the west of St. Louis are ornamented with

many beautifully flowering herbaceous plants. Among those

collected there, Dr. Baldwin observed the aristolochia Sipho,

cypripedium spectabile,[080] lilium catesbeiana, bartsia coccinea,

triosteum perfoliatum, cistus canadensis, clematis viorna, and the

tradescantia virginica. The borders of this plain begin to be

overrun with a humble growth of black jack and the witch

hazel,[081] it abounds in rivulets, and some excellent springs of

water, near one of which was found a new and beautiful species of

viburnum. On the western borders of this prairie are some fine

farms. It is here that Mr. John Bradbury,[082] so long and so

advantageously known as a botanist, and by his travels into the

interior of America, is preparing to erect his habitation. This

amiable gentleman lost no opportunity during our stay at St. Louis

to make our residence there agreeable to us. Near the site

selected for his house is a mineral spring, whose {55} waters are

strongly impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas. Cattle and

horses, which range here throughout the season, prefer the waters

of this spring to those of the creek in whose bed it rises, and

may be seen daily coming in great numbers, from distant parts of

the prairie, to drink of it.

Tumuli, and other remains of the labours of nations of Indians

that inhabited this region many ages since, are remarkably

numerous about St. Louis. Those tumuli immediately northward of

the town, and within a short distance of it, are twenty-seven in

number, of various forms and magnitudes, arranged nearly in a line

from north to south. The common form is an oblong square, and they

all stand on the second bank of the river. The statement given

below of their forms, magnitudes, and relative positions, is the

result of actual admeasurement taken with care, and with as much

accuracy as their present indefinite boundaries, together with the

dense growth of underwood, covering their surface, and tending to

beguile and obstruct the vision of the observer, will admit.

It seems probable these piles of earth were raised as cemeteries,

or they may have supported altars for religious ceremonies. We

cannot conceive any useful purpose to which they can have been

applicable in war, unless as elevated stations from which to

observe the motions of an approaching enemy; but for this purpose

a single mound would have been sufficient, and the place chosen

would probably have been different.

Nothing like a ditch, or an embankment, is to be seen about any

part of these works.[083]

Indian graves are extremely numerous about St. Louis, though none

are found in the immediate vicinity of the town: they are most

frequent on the hills about the Merameg and on the north side of

the Missouri. On the 12th June, Mr. Say and Mr. Peale, accompanied

by one man, descended the Mississippi,{56} in a small boat to the

mouth of the Merameg, and ascended the latter river about fifteen

miles, to a place where great numbers of graves have been

explored, and have been represented to contain the bones of a

diminutive race of men. Most of these graves are found near the

bank of the Merameg. They do not rise above the general surface,

but their presence is ascertained by the vertical stones which

enclose them, and project a little at either end of the grave.

When the included earth, and the numerous horizontal flat stones

are removed, we find the sides neatly constructed of long flat

stones, vertically implanted and adapted to each other, edge to

edge, so as to form a continuous wall. The graves are usually

three or four feet, though sometimes six feet in length. The bones

they contained appeared to have been deposited after having been

separated from the flesh, and from each other, according to the

custom of some tribes of Indians at the present day.

In the first grave opened by Mr. Say were found the fragments of

an earthen pot, and the bones of an infantine skull; the second

contained what appeared to be the remains of a middle aged man, of

the ordinary stature, laid at full length; the bones much

confused and broken. An inhabitant residing here informed them,

that many similar graves had been found along the summits of most

of the neighbouring hills. In one of these he had found two pieces

of earthenware, one having nearly the form of a porter-bottle; the

other with a wide mouth; but this grave contained no bones. After

spending a night at this place, they crossed the river to the town

of Lilliput, (one of the projected towns here has received this

name,) the place so often mentioned as the locality of the graves

of a pigmy race. Appearances here are in general similar to those

already described. One head that had been dug up was that of an

old person, in whom the teeth had been lost, and the alveolæ {57}

obliterated, leaving the sharp edge of the jaw-bone. From this the

neighbouring settlers had inferred the existence of a race of men

without teeth, having their jaws like those of the turtle. Having

satisfied themselves that all the bones found here were those of

men of the common size, Mr. Say and Mr. Peale "sold their skiff,

shouldered their guns, bones, spade, &c. and bent their weary

steps towards St. Louis, (distant sixteen miles,) where they

arrived at eleven o'clock P. M., having had ample time, by the

way, to indulge sundry reflections on that quality of the mind,

either imbibed in the nursery or generated by evil communications,

which incites to the love of the marvellous, and, by hyperbole,

casts the veil of falsehood over the charming features of simple

nature."

These graves evidently contain the relics of a more modern people

than those who erected the mounds.

On the summit of one of the large hillocks, near St. Louis, (No.

27. described in note 83) are several of these graves: we opened

five of them, but in one only were we fortunate in finding any

thing interesting, and all that this contained was a solitary

tooth of a species of rat, together with the vertebræ and ribs of

a serpent of moderate size, and in good preservation; but whether

the animal had been buried by the natives, or had perished there,

after having found admittance through some hole, we could not

determine. If they were buried by the Indians, they are probably

the bones of a species of crotalus, as it is known that many

Indians of the present day have a sort of veneration for animals

of that genus. The circumstance of the discovery of these bones

renders it somewhat probable, that rattlesnakes were formerly

worshipped by the natives of America, and their remains, like

those of the Ibis of Egypt, religiously entombed after death.

Whilst we were at Cincinnati, Dr. Drake exhibited {58} to us, in

his cabinet of natural history, two large marine shells, that had

been dug out of ancient Indian tumuli in that vicinity. These

shells were each cut longitudinally, and the larger half of each

only remained. From this circumstance it seems probable that they

had been used by the aborigines as drinking cups; or, consecrated

to superstition, they may have been regarded as sacred utensils,

and either used in connection with the rites of sacrifice, or in

making libations to their deities; they may, however, like the

cymbium of the Archipelago, have served a more useful and salutary

purpose in bathing.

One of these specimens seems to be a _Cassis cornutus_, of

authors, or great conch shell, though it is proper to observe,

that of the three revolving bands of tubercles, characteristic of

that species, the inferior one in this specimen is double. In

length it is about nine inches and a quarter, and in breadth seven

inches.

The other specimen is a heterostrophe shell of the genus _Fulgur_

of Montfort; and, as far as we can judge, in every respect the

same with those which are, at the present day, found on the coast

of Georgia and East Florida, known to naturalists under the name

of _F. perversus_, though it is certainly much larger than any of

the recent specimens we have seen; its length being nine inches,

and breadth six and a half.

Several different countries have been mentioned by authors as the

habitation of the _cornutus_; according to Rumphius, it inhabits

Amboyna, the straits of Malacca, and the shores of the island of

Boeton; Humphreys says it is brought from the East Indies and

China; Linnæus believed it to inhabit the coasts of America; but

Bruguiere, a more recent author, informs us that Linnæus was

probably mistaken in the habitation of this shell, and states it

to be a native of the Asiatic ocean.

The _cornutus_ becomes of some importance in the question relative

to the Asiatic origin of the American {59} Indians. All the

authorities to which we have been able to refer, correspond in

assigning the shores of Asia, or those of the islands which lie

near that continent, as the native territory of this great species

of conch, with the sole exception of Linnæus; but as no other

author has discovered it on the coasts of this continent, we must

believe with Bruguiere, that it is only to be found in the Asiatic

ocean.

The circumstance then of this shell being discovered in one of the

ancient Indian tumuli, affords, at least, an evidence that an

intercourse formerly existed between the Indians of North America

and those of Asia; and leads us to believe that even a limited

commerce was carried on between them, as it undoubtedly was with

the Atlantic coast, from which the Fulgur was obtained.

But although this isolated fact does not yield a positive proof of

the long asserted migration of the ancestors of the present race

of American Indians from Asia to this country, yet, when taken in

combination with other evidence, which has been collected by

various authors, with so much industry, it will be regarded as

highly corroborative of that popular belief.[084]

In the prairies of Illinois, opposite St. Louis, are numbers of

large mounds. We counted seventy-five in the course of a walk of

about five miles, which brought us to the hill a few years since

occupied by the monks of La Trappe.[085] This enormous mound lies

nearly from north to south, but it is so overgrown with bushes and

weeds, interlaced with briers and vines, that we were unable to

obtain an accurate account of its dimensions.

The survey of these productions of human industry, these monuments

without inscription, commemorating the existence of a people once

numerous and powerful, but no longer known or remembered, never

fails, though often repeated, to produce an impression of sadness.

As we stand upon these {60} mouldering piles, many of them now

nearly obliterated, we cannot but compare their aspect of decay

with the freshness of the wide field of nature, which we see

reviving around us; their insignificance, with the majestic and

imperishable features of the landscape. We feel the insignificance

and the want of permanence in every thing human; we are reminded

of what has been so often said of the pyramids of Egypt, and may

with equal propriety be applied to all the works of men, "these

monuments must perish, but the grass that grows between their

disjointed fragments shall be renewed from year to year."[086]

June 21st. After completing our arrangements at St. Louis, we left

that place at noon, and at 10 o'clock on the following day,

entered the mouth of the Missouri. From St. Louis upward to the

Missouri, the water of the Mississippi, for a part of the year, is

observed to be clear and of a greenish colour on the Illinois

side, while it is turbid and yellow along the western bank. But at

the time of our ascent every part of the Mississippi appeared

equally turbid, its waters soon becoming blended with the heavy

flood of the Missouri.

The Missouri being now swollen by the spring floods, which had

subsided in the Mississippi, entered that river with such

impetuosity, as apparently to displace almost the whole body of

the waters in its channel. We had occasion to observe that the

water of the Missouri passes under that of the Mississippi, rising

and becoming mingled with it on the opposite shore, so that a

portion of the clear, green waters of the latter river run for

some distance in the middle of the channel, and along the surface

of the Missouri waters, rendered perhaps specifically heavier by

the great quantities of earthy matter mingled with them. The

waters of the Missouri are so charged with mud and sand as to be

absolutely opake, and of a clay {61} colour; while those of the

Mississippi being comparatively clear, and having a somewhat

olivaceous tint, afford an opportunity of tracing their respective

courses, after their junction in the same channel. At some stages

of water they run side by side, and in a great measure unmingled

as far as Herculaneum, forty-eight miles below their confluence.

We had the pleasure to find, notwithstanding the furnace was

supplied with wood of an indifferent quality, that the force of

our steam-engine was sufficient to propel the boat against the

current of the Missouri, without recourse to the aid of the

_cordelle_,[087] which we had expected to find necessary.

We were somewhat surprised to see here a flock of black-headed

terns. It is remarkable that these birds, whose ordinary range is

in the immediate vicinity of the sea-coast, should ascend this

river to so great a distance. They are not seen on the Delaware as

high as Philadelphia, unless driven up by storms.

In ascending from the mouth of the Missouri to Bellefontain, a

distance of four miles, our boat grounded twice on the point of the

same sand-bar, and considerable time was consumed in efforts to

get her afloat. A military post was established at Bellefontain,

under the direction of the government of the United States, by

General Wilkinson, in 1803; but the soil on which his works were

erected has disappeared, the place being now occupied by the

bed of the river. A few fruit trees only, which stood in the end

of his garden, are yet standing, but are now on the brink of the

river. The first bank is here ten or twelve feet high, rising

perpendicularly from the water. Near its base are the trunks of

several trees with one end imbedded, and the other projecting

horizontally over the surface of the water, affording an evidence

of the recent deposition of the soil of the low plains, and

an admonition of the uncertainty of tenure, on the first bank

of the river. One of these projecting trunks is still in good

preservation. It is {62} about three feet in diameter, and from

its direction, must pass immediately under the roots of two

large trees, now occupying the surface of the soil.[088] Similar

appearances are frequent along the Mississippi and Missouri, and

furnish abundant evidence that these rivers are constantly changing

their bed, and, from the great rapidity of the stream, as well as

from the appearances presented, we must suppose these changes are

not very slowly produced; but their range is confined to the valley

within the second banks, which are here raised about seventy feet.

On this second bank, in the rear of the site of the former works,

the buildings belonging to the present military establishment have

been erected. They were commenced in 1810. The houses are of one

story, constructed of logs, based upon masonry, and united in the

form of a hollow square. At the foot of the second bank rises a

fine spring of water, which has given name to the place. Cold Water

creek, a very small stream not navigable, discharges itself a few

hundred yards above; in times of high water its mouth might afford

harbour to small boats. Before the recent change in the bed of the

Missouri, this creek entered higher up than at present, and then

afforded a good harbour for boats of all sizes. The sixth regiment

were encamped here at the time of our arrival, waiting for the

contractor's steam-boats, three of which we had passed at the mouth

of the river.[089]

Here we found it necessary to adjust a tube to the boilers of our

steam-engine, in order to form a passage, through which the mud

might be blown out: the method heretofore adopted, of taking off

one end for the purpose of admitting a man to clean them, proving

too tedious when it was found necessary to repeat the operation

daily. The expedient of the tube succeeded to our entire

satisfaction.

Dr. Baldwin found here a plant, which he considered as forming a

new genus, approaching astragalus; {63} also the new species of

rose, pointed out by Mr. Bradbury, and by him called Rosa

mutabilis. This last is a very beautiful species, rising sometimes

to the height of eight or ten feet. The linden tree[090] attains

great magnitude in the low grounds of the Missouri; its flowers

were now fully expanded.

In ascending from Bellefontain to Charboniere, where we came to an

anchor, on the evening of the 24th, we were opposed by a very

strong current, and much impeded by sand-bars. On the upper ends

of these sand-bars are many large rafts of drift wood; these are

also frequent along the right hand shore. In several places we

observed portions of the bank in the act of falling or sliding

into the river. By this operation, numerous trees, commonly

cotton-woods and willows, are overturned into the water.

The forests, on the low grounds immediately in the vicinity of the

Missouri, are remarkably dense; but in many instances, the young

willows and poplars (which are the first and almost the only trees

that spring up on the lands left naked by the river) have not

attained half their ordinary dimensions, before, by another change

in the direction of the current, they are undermined, and

precipitated down, to be borne away by the river. The growth of

the cotton-tree is very rapid, that of the salix angustata, the

most common of the willows found here, is more tardy, as it never

attains to great size. The seeds of both these trees are produced

in the greatest profusion, and ripened early in the summer, and

being furnished by nature with an apparatus to ensure their wide

dissemination, they have extended themselves and taken root in the

fertile lands along all the ramifications of the Mississippi,

prevailing almost to the exclusion of other trees.

{64} Charboniere[091] is on the right bank of the Missouri. This

name was given it by the boatmen and the earliest settlers, on

account of several narrow beds of coal, which appear a few feet

from the water's edge, at the base of a high cliff of soft

sandstone. The smell of sulphur is very perceptible along the bank

of the river, occasioned doubtless by the decomposition of

pyrites, in the exposed parts of the coal beds. Some small masses

of sulphate of lime also occur, and have probably derived their

origin from the same source.

At St. Charles we were joined by Maj. O'Fallon, agent for Indian

affairs in Missouri, and his interpreter, Mr. John Dougherty, who

had travelled by land from St. Louis.[092] When Lewis and Clark

ascended the Missouri, the town of St. Charles was said to contain

one hundred houses, the inhabitants deriving their support

principally from the Indian trade. This source having in a great

measure failed, on account of the disappearance of the aborigines,

before the rapid advances of the white population, the town

remained in a somewhat declining condition for several years; but

as the surrounding country was soon occupied by an agricultural

population, a more permanent though less lucrative exchange is

taking the place of the Indian trade. Accordingly within two or

three years, many substantial brick buildings had been added, and

several were now in progress: we could enumerate, however, only

about one hundred houses. There are two brick kilns, a tanyard,

and several stores.[093]

A mile or two below St. Charles, are many trunks of trees

projecting from the bank, like those mentioned at Bellefontain. In

the face of the banks are usually great numbers of the holes made

by the bank-swallow for its nest, and the birds themselves are

frequently seen.

At St. Charles, arrangements were made for the purpose of

transporting baggage for such of the gentlemen {65} of the party

as should choose to ascend the Missouri by land, that they might

have the better opportunities for investigating the natural

history of the country. Messrs. Say, Jessup, Peale, and Seymour,

having provided themselves with a horse and pack-saddle, on which

they fastened their blankets, a tent, and some provisions,

accompanied by one man, left St. Charles at 7 o'clock on the

morning of the 26th, intending to keep nearly an equal pace with

the steam-boat, in order to rejoin it as occasion might require.

Dr. Baldwin, still confined by debility and lameness, was

compelled to forego the pleasure of accompanying them.

The Western Engineer proceeded on her voyage, soon after the

departure of Mr. Say and his detachment. Having grounded several

times in the course of the day, and contending all the way against

a heavy current, she proceeded but a few miles. We passed some

rocky cliffs; but in general the immediate banks of the river

presented the same appearance as below, consisting of a recent

alluvium. After we had anchored at evening, Dr. Baldwin was able

to walk a short distance on shore, but returned much fatigued by

his exertions.[094]

On the morning of the 27th, after having taken in a small supply

of indifferent fuel, we crossed over to the right-hand side of the

river, and took on board one of the party, who had left the boat

at an early hour, to visit a friend residing a short distance from

the river. At evening we came to anchor half a mile below Point

Labidee,[095] a high bluff, where observations for latitude were

taken. Here we were detained a day making some necessary repairs.

A fine field of wheat, which appeared to be ripe, extended down to

the brink of the river opposite the spot where we lay. This

belonged to the plantation of a farmer, recently from Virginia.

From him we obtained a plentiful supply of milk, and some bacon

hams. A portion of the bank had lately fallen into {66} the river,

and with it a part of the wheat field, and the dwelling house and

other buildings seemed destined soon to follow.

The shore here was lined with the common elder, (sambucus

canadensis) in full bloom, and the cleared fields were yellow

with the flowers of the common mullein. This plant, supposed to

have been originally introduced from Europe, follows closely the

footsteps of the whites. The liatris pycnostachia, here called

"pine of the prairies," which was now in full bloom, has a

roundish tuberous root, of a warm somewhat balsamic taste, and is

used by the Indians and others for the cure of gonnorrhœa.

The Indian interpreter, Mr. Dougherty, also showed us some

branches of a shrub, which he said was much used among the natives

in the cure of lues venerea. They make a decoction of the root,

which they continue to drink for some time. It is called "blue

wood" by the French, and is the symphoria racemosa of Pursh,

common to the maritime states, the banks of the St. Lawrence, and

the Missouri. It is here rather taller, and the branches less

flexuous than in the eastern states.[096]

Without meeting any remarkable occurrences, we moved on from day

to day, encountering numerous obstacles in the navigation of the

river, and being occasionally delayed by the failure of some part

of the steam-engine, till on the 2d of July, we arrived at Loutre

Island, where we found Mr. Say and his companions.

After leaving the steam-boat at St. Charles, on the 25th of June,

this party had travelled over a somewhat hilly country, covered

with open oak woods for about ten miles, to a small creek, called

the Darden,[097] entering the Mississippi a few miles above the

Illinois. This stream they crossed three miles from the Missouri,

having in their walk suffered greatly {67} from thirst. At

evening they tied their pack-horse to a bush; and as they

returned, after being absent a few minutes for water, the animal

took fright, and breaking loose, disencumbered himself of his

pack, and set off on a gallop to return to St. Charles; and it was

not without great exertion that he was overtaken and brought back.

They then pitched their tent, and were so fortunate as to find a

house at the distance of half a mile. This belonged to a family

from Carolina, and exhibited great appearance of neatness and

comfort, but the owner was found particularly deficient in

hospitality. He refused to sell or to give any refreshments for

the use of the party, and even granted them some water with

apparent reluctance, marching haughtily about his piazza, while

some person was annoying his family by playing wretchedly on a

flute. Mr. Say and the gentlemen of his party had on the fatigue

dress of common soldiers, to which they probably owed the coldness

of their reception. We are, however, glad to be able, from much

experience, to say that there are few houses in the lately settled

parts of the United States, where common soldiers would have met

such a reception as was accorded by this Mr. N. to the gentlemen

of the party. Want of hospitality is rarely the fault of the

inhabitants of the remote settlements. Being refused refreshments,

they returned to their camp, and with the addition of a hawk which

they had killed, made a supper from the contents of their pack.

On the 27th they crossed the Perogue,[098] about nineteen miles

from St. Charles; and after a fatiguing march of several miles,

were entertained at the house of a very worthy man, who supplied

them with whatever his place afforded. From too long fasting, and

from the effect of exposure and fatigue, Mr. Say and others became

somewhat unwell; and on their account, the party remained at the

house of their friendly host till evening, when they walked four

{68} miles to a place called Fort Kennedy. They purchased a ham,

and a loaf of corn bread of Mr. Kennedy, paying ten cents per

pound for the ham, and twenty-five cents for all the bread, milk,

and corn, consumed during their stay.[099]

The next morning, having travelled about seven miles, they halted

for breakfast; and having fettered their horse, dismissed him to

feed; but when sought for the purpose of continuing their journey,

he could not be found. Two travellers at length arrived, and

informed them that the horse had been seen at about six miles'

distance, on the way towards St. Charles: a horse was therefore

hired, and a person returned in pursuit; but he was not to be

found, having proceeded on his journey previously to the arrival

of the messenger.

The prairie flies (a species of tabanus,) are exceedingly

troublesome to horses and cattle, insomuch that people who cross

these grassy plains usually travel very early in the morning, and

again at evening, resting greater part of the day; some, indeed,

journey only by night. If they travel at all in the day, they have

the precaution to defend the horse, by a covering thrown loosely

over him. The tabani appear about the 10th of June, and are seen

in immense numbers, until about the 10th of August, when they

disappear. Near the farm houses we observed, that cattle, when

attacked by them, ran violently among the bushes, to rid

themselves of their persecutors.--Mosquitoes were not numerous.

As they were fearful of being unable to overtake the steam-boat on

the Missouri, if they made a longer delay to prosecute the search

for their horse, it was determined to abandon him altogether,

rather than return to St. Charles, whither he had doubtless gone;

accordingly, on the 29th of June, they made a division of their

baggage, and each one shouldering his respective portion,

proceeded towards the margin of Loutre Prairie. When they arrived

here, they determined {69} to take the most direct route towards

the Missouri, as it seemed folly for them to attempt, in the

drought and heat, which then prevailed, to cross the extensive

plains of Loutre and the Grand Prairie with their heavy burthens.

They therefore followed a path leading nearly south, along a naked

ridge; where they travelled twelve miles, without finding water,

and arrived at Loutre Island in the evening. They were all the day

tormented with excessive thirst; and being unaccustomed to

travelling on foot, they were much fatigued, and several became

lame. The soil of the extensive prairies which they passed was not

very good; but mixed at the surface with so much vegetable matter,

accumulated by the successive growth and decomposition of the

yearly products, as to give it the aspect of fertility.[100]

On the south side of Loutre Prairie a well has been sunk

sixty-five feet, without obtaining water; on the north water is

readily found, by digging to a moderate depth. Loutre Prairie is

twenty-three, and Grand Prairie is twenty-five miles in length: on

the borders of each are some scattering settlements.

Near Loutre Island are several forts, as they are called by the

inhabitants, built by the settlers during the late war, and

designed to afford protection against the attacks of the

aborigines, chiefly the Kickapoos, and Saukees, who were most

feared in this quarter. They are simply strong log-houses, with a

projecting upper story, and with loop-holes for musketry.

It was within a few miles of this place, that a company of mounted

rangers, commanded by Captain Calloway, were attacked by the

Indians. The assault commenced as the rangers were entering a

narrow defile, near the confluence of the Prairie Forks of Loutre

Creek. Several men were killed at the first fire, and Captain

Calloway received in his body a ball that had passed through his

watch. So furious was the onset, that there was no time for

reloading their pieces after they had discharged them. {70}

Captain Calloway threw his gun into the creek, that it might not

add to the booty of the Indians; and though mortally wounded, drew

his knife, and killed two of the assailants; but seeing no

prospect of success he ordered a retreat, hoping thereby to save

the lives of some of his men. He was the last to leave the ground;

when springing into the creek he received a shot in his head, and

expired immediately.[101]

Loutre Island is something more than nine miles long, and about

one mile wide, and is the residence of several families. Between

it and the main land is an isthmus, which is left naked at times

of low water. Loutre Creek enters at the lower end of the island.

It is not navigable. Mr. Talbot, formerly from Kentucky, has been

resident here for nine years. His farm is in a high state of

cultivation, and furnishes abundant supplies of poultry, eggs,

potatoes, and the numerous products of the kitchen garden, of

which he sent a handsome present on board our boat. He informed us

that peach-trees succeed well in the most fertile parts of the

island.[102]

The first dwellings constructed by the white settlers are nearly

similar in every part of the United States. Superior wealth and

industry are indicated by the number and magnitude of corn-cribs,

smoke-houses, and similar appurtenances; but on the Missouri, we

rarely meet with any thing occupying the place of the barn in the

northern states. The dwellings of people who have emigrated from

Virginia, or any of the more southern states, have usually the

form of double cabins, or two distinct houses, each containing a

single room, and connected to each other by a roof; the

intermediate space, which is often equal in area to one of the

cabins, being left open at the sides, and having the naked earth

for a floor, affords a cool and airy retreat, where the family

will usually be found in the heat of the day. The roof is composed

of from three to five logs, laid longitudinally, {71} and

extending from end to end of the building; on these are laid the

shingles, four or five feet in length; over these are three or

four heavy logs, called weight poles, secured at their ends by

withes, and by their weight supplying the place of nails.

They have corn-mills, consisting of a large horizontal wooden

wheel, moved by a horse, and having a band passed round its

periphery to communicate motion to the stone. These are called

band-mills, and are the most simple and economical of those in

which the power of horses is employed. The solitary planter, who

has chosen his place remote from the habitation of any other

family, has sometimes a mill of a more primitive character, called

a hand-mill, probably differing little from those used among the

ancient Egyptians. It consists of two stones; and while one person

causes the uppermost to revolve horizontally upon the disk of the

other, a second, who is usually a child or a woman, introduces the

corn a few grains at a time, through a perforation in the upper

stone. Some are content with the still ruder apparatus, consisting

of an excavation in the top of a stump; into which the corn is

thrown, and brayed with a pestle. This is the method in use among

many of the agricultural Indians.

A large species of lampyris is common on the lower part of the

Missouri. It is readily distinguished from the smaller species,

the common fire-fly, by its mode of coruscating. It emits from

three to seven or eight flashes, in rapid succession, then ceases;

but shortly after renews its brilliancy. This species appears

early in May. We saw many of them in returning by night from the

Merameg to St. Louis; but before our arrival at Loutre Island they

had disappeared, and were succeeded by great numbers of the

lampyris pyralis, whose coruscations are inferior in quantity of

light, and appear singly.

The black walnut attains, in the Missouri bottoms, {72} its

greatest magnitude. Of one, which grew near Loutre Island, there

had been made two hundred fence-rails, eleven feet in length, and

from four to six inches in thickness. A cotton-tree, in the same

neighbourhood, produced thirty thousand shingles, as we were

informed by a credible witness.

FOOTNOTES:

[077] The name Pain Court (Short of Bread), and the similar

appellations of Carondelet (_Vide Poche_--Empty Pocket),

and of Ste. Geneviève (_Misère_--Poverty), are said to have

originated in the good-natured raillery between the French of

the several settlements. They probably point also to the want

often experienced by a trading people who neglected agriculture.

For further facts relative to the early history of St. Louis,

see Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, note 134, and André

Michaux's _Travels_, in our volume iii, note 138.--ED.

[078] The lack of a good harbor at St. Louis has occasioned

vast trouble and expense. The encroachment of the river on the

Illinois side caused sand-bars to form along the city water

front, and for many years it seemed likely that the town would

eventually be left high and dry. Efforts at improvement were

begun in 1833, ox-teams and plows being used to loosen the sand

for high water to remove. Both city and federal governments have

since made many improvements, the river at that point requiring

almost continuous care.--ED.

[079] George Rapp, the founder of the Harmonites, was born in

Würtemberg in 1770. The sect endeavored to revive the practices

of the primitive Christian church, communism and celibacy being

among its tenets. After founding Harmony, Pennsylvania, in 1803,

and New Harmony, Indiana, in 1815, the community settled at

Harmony, Pennsylvania, where Rapp died in 1847.--ED.

[080] C. parviflorum.--JAMES.

[081] Hamamelis virginica, and quercus nigra.--JAMES.

[082] Bradbury's _Travels_ are reprinted as volume v of our

series. See preface of that volume for biographical sketch.--ED.

[083] What we have called base in the following statement is in

reality the length of a line passing over the top of the mound,

from the termination of the base each side.

The numbers refer to a draft. The heights are estimated, with

the exception of two.

No. 2. A square with a hollow way, gradually sloping to the top;

or, in other words, a hollow square open behind.

feet.

Base 50

Height 5

Distance N. from the Spanish bastion 259

No. 3. An oblong square.

feet.

Longitudinal base 114

Transverse base 50

Length at top 80

Perpendicular height 4

Distance from No. 2. N. 115

No. 4. An oblong square.

feet.

Longitudinal base 84

top 45

Perpendicular height 4

Distance N. 251

Nos. 2. 3. and 4. are each about 33

ordinary steps from the edge of the

second bank of the river.

No. 5. An oblong square.

feet.

Longitudinal base 81

top 35

Perpendicular height 4

Distance W. 155

No. 6. Different in form from the

others. It is called the _Falling

Garden_, and consists of three stages,

all of equal length, and of the same

parallelogramic form: the superior

stage, like the five succeeding mounds,

is bounded on the east by the edge of

the second bank of the river: the second

and third stages are in succession on

the declivity of the bank, each being

horizontal; and are connected with each

other, and with the first, by an

abruptly oblique descent.

feet.

Longitudinal base 114

top 88

Transverse base of first stage 30

height of first stage 5

Declivity to the second stage 34

Transverse surface of second stage 51

Declivity to the third stage 30

Transverse surface of third stage 87

Declivity to the natural slope 19

feet.

No. 7. Like the three succeeding ones,

conical.

Distance northward 95

Base 83

Top 34

Height 4-1/2

No. 8. Distance about N. 94

Base 98

Top 31

Height 5

No. 9. Distance about N. 70

Base 114

Top 56

Height 16

No. 10. Distance about N. 74

Base 91

Top 34

Height 8 or 10

No. 11. Nearly square, with a large area

on the top (a brick house is erected at

the S.W. corner). The eastern side

appears to range with the preceding

mounds.

Distance 158

Base 179

Top 107

Height W. side, say 5

Height S. 11

Height E. 15 or 20

No. 12. Nearly square, westerly a little

N. from No. 7. and distant from it 30

Base 129

Top 50

Height 10

No. 13. A parallelogram, placed

transversely with respect to the group.

feet.

Distance 30

Distance from No. 5. N. 10 W. 350

Longitudinal base 214

top 134

Transverse base 188

top 97

Height 12

No. 14. A convex mound, W. 55

Base 95

Height 5 or 6

No. 15. Together with the three

succeeding ones, more or less square.

feet.

Distance N.W. 117

Base 70

Height 4

No. 16. Distance N. 10 E. 103

Base 124

No. 17. Distance N. 78

Base 82

No. 18. Distance, N.N.E. 118

Base 77

The mounds from 14. to 18. inclusive,

are so arranged as to describe a curve,

which, when continued, terminates at the

larger mounds, Nos. 15. and 19. No. 19.

A large quadrangular mound, placed

transversely, and with No. 13., ranging

in a line nearly parallel to the

principal series (from 2. to 11.)

feet.

Distance N.N.W. from No. 13. 484

Distance E.N.E. from No. 18. 70

Base 187

Top 68

(By measurement) Height 23

No. 20. A small barrow, perhaps two feet

high, and of proportionably rather large

base, say 15 or 20 feet.

No. 21. A mound similar to the

preceding, same height. West of No. 16.,

base 25 feet.

No. 22. Quadrangular.

feet.

Distance West from No. 16. 319

Base 73

No. 23. A mound of considerable

regularity; but, owing to the

thickness of the bushes, we cannot at

present satisfy ourselves of its being

artificial, though from its

corresponding with No. 25. we suppose

it to be so.

No. 24. Appears to be an irregular mound

10 or 12 feet high, and 145 feet base.

No. 25. Distant N. 10 E. 114 feet; and

following this course 132 feet, we

arrive at an elevation on its margin,

as is also the case with No. 24., and

which we have numbered 26.

No. 26. Of which the base is 89 feet,

and height 10 or 12.--It is distant

W.N.W. from No. 26., 538 feet.

No. 27. Is the largest mound, of an

elongated-oval form, with a large step

on the eastern side.

feet.

Distance N. from No. 26. 1463

Longitudinal base 319

top 136

Transverse base 158

top 11

Step transversely 79

Height by measurement 34

At the distance of a mile to the westward, is said to be another

large mound.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ These mounds have been effaced by the growth

of the city. The map of them prepared by Long's party was not

published until 1861; it will be found on page 387 of the

Smithsonian Institution _Report_ for that year.

[084] The uncertainty with which the shell mentioned was classed

as _Cassis cornutus_ renders its identification in terms of

modern nomenclature practically impossible; such identification

could be accurately made only by examination of the same

specimen. The value of the argument relative to the origin of

the Indians is, therefore, not easy to estimate.--ED.

[085] From this fact it derived the name "Monk's Mound." The

Trappist establishment was made in 1808, but was soon afterwards

abandoned. The mound is one of the largest in the United

States--the area of the base is six acres, that of the top two;

the height is ninety-one feet.--ED.

[086] Maturin.-JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1816) was a Dublin

dramatist and novelist. In his writings passages of undoubted

eloquence were strangely mingled with extravagance and bombast.

The incoherence of his plots and the inconsistency of his

characters led many who recognized his genius to believe him mad.

[087] The cordelle was a rope, often several hundred yards

long, by means of which men towed boats up rapid streams. When

the current was especially strong, the end of the cordelle was

attached to a tree and a windlass used.--ED.

[088] In a section of forty feet perpendicular, of the alluvion

of the Mississippi, near New Madrid, Mr. Shultz found seven

hundred and ninety-eight layers, indicating an equal number of

inundations, in the time of their deposition. Supposing these

inundations to have happened yearly, we have an easy method

of forming an estimate of the rapidity of the elevation of

the bed of the Mississippi. These layers were found to vary

in thickness, from one-fourth of an inch to three inches. See

Shultz's _Travels_, vol. ii. p. 90.--JAMES.

[089] Bellefontaine, or Fort Bellefontaine (old Fort Charles

the Prince), was occupied by troops until 1826. See Thwaites,

_Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, v, pp.

392, 393, note 2. The site of the newer works mentioned in the

text is now uncertain. An island opposite the mouth of Cold

Water Creek was the camp of Lewis and Clark the first night

after beginning the ascent of the Missouri (May 14, 1804).--ED.

[090] Tilia Americana. The Podalyria alba, anemone virginiana,

polygala incarnata (prairies) anagallis arvensis, lathyrus

decaphyllus, ranunculus fluviatalis, carex multiflora, &c. were

collected at Bellefontain. _Dr. Baldwin's MS. Notes._--JAMES.

[091] The correct orthography of the word is Charbonnière, which

means "carrying coals."--ED.

[092] This was Benjamin O'Fallon, whose mother was the youngest

sister of George Rogers and William Clark; his father, Dr. James

O'Fallon, was a Revolutionary character and prominent Kentucky

pioneer. A brother, John O'Fallon, was in the middle of the

century, one of the most prominent citizens of St. Louis.

John Dougherty was later for many years agent for the Oto,

Pawnee, and Omaha tribes.--ED.

[093] For St. Charles, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume

v, note 9.--ED.

[094] The vegetable productions at this place were, the populus

deltoides, occupying the narrow margin of the river (not here

preceded by the salix angustata, as is generally the case in

recent alluvial grounds on the Ohio and Mississippi); the

amorpha fruticosa,[A] and platanus occidentalis, next follow.

The margin of the bluff produces the quercus rubra, juglans

pubescens, carpinus Americana, (around the latter, we observed

the celastrus scandens entwined and in fruit,) and on higher

grounds, the laurus sassafras and juniperus Virginianus. Of

herbaceous plants, the only one in flower was the rudbeckia

fulgida. The higher parts of the hills were in many places

thickly covered with species of elymus and andropogon, the

summits being usually quite naked, and consisting of horizontal

masses of ferruginous coloured sandstone. _Baldwin._--JAMES.

[A] This beautiful flowering shrub occupies the low lands of

Georgia, on the sea coast, but is not confined to the margin of

rivers, as appears to be the case on the Missouri.

[095] On Point L'Abbadie, see Bradbury's _Travels_, comprising

our volume v, note 13.--ED.

[096] Baldwin.--JAMES.

[097] Dardenne Creek flows northeast across St. Charles County

to the Mississippi, as do nearly all the watercourses of this

county. It and the township of the same name are so called from

one of the early settlers.--ED.

[098] Perruque (Wig) Creek is said to commemorate the adventure

of a Frenchman whose wig became entangled in the branches of a

tree while he was crossing the stream.--ED.

[099] Thomas Kennedy, a Revolutionary veteran from Virginia

came to Warren County, Missouri, early in 1808. His stockade

and blockhouse, built for protection against the Indians during

the War of 1812-15, stood a mile and a half southeast of Wright

City.--ED.

[100] The course of the party had been northwest through St.

Clair and Warren counties, and thence south by west to the

river. Loutre Island is on the boundary between Warren and

Montgomery counties.--ED.

[101] This affair took place March 7, 1815. Captain James

Callaway was the grandson of Daniel Boone. His company consisted

besides himself of a lieutenant and fourteen men.--ED.

[102] Loutre (Otter) Island was the site of the first

settlements in Montgomery County, which probably date back

to 1798. There were two Talbots among the early arrivals,

Christopher and Hale. Among their neighbors were the Thorps,

Ashcrafts, Coles, Pattons, and Coopers--there were two or three

families of each, most of them being from Kentucky. The father

of "Kit" Carson was another member of the community.--ED.

{73} CHAPTER IV