volume iv, note 180.--ED.

[51] For sketch of Fort Massac, see André Michaux’s _Travels_, volume iii of our series, note 139.--ED.

[52] On the Shawnee, see Weiser’s _Journal_, in our volume i, note 13.--ED.

[53] See _ibid._, note 33, for the Cherokee; for the Osage, see Bradbury’s _Travels_, our volume v, notes 22, 107.--ED.

{43} CHAPTER IV

Embark amidst the ice of the Mississippi--Run aground on Wolf’s island in attempting to land--relieved from this situation--but find ourselves again involved in it, and are imposed upon by the extortion of a neighbouring voyager--Pass the Iron banks--Cypress--Solitude of the country--New Madrid--Oscillations of the earth still frequent--Point Pleasant--Vestiges of the great earthquake--The Little Prairie settlement almost destroyed by it--The Canadian reach--A dangerous and difficult pass of the river--The first Chicasaw Bluffs--Additional danger and uncertainty of the navigation--Stratification of the Bluff--A dangerous accident--The second Chicasaw Bluffs--Observations on their stratification.

19th.] This morning, after breakfast, our more than usually timid neighbours and ourselves ventured into the floating ice of the Mississippi, which we soon found to be less formidable than we had imagined, though still not without some danger of drifting imperceptibly or unavoidably upon some sunken tree, of which there are no small abundance throughout the bed of the Mississippi. Carried upon these by the rapid current, our boats might be staved or entirely overturned, accidents which not infrequently happen to those who give way to negligence or incaution.

About half an hour before sun-set, our company came to alongside a breaking sand-bar, where lay also two other boats; governed by their example we attempted to land, but floated by the current to a distance below, and here, unfortunately, attempting to make a landing, and trusting too confidently to the lightness of our boat, we were instantly carried upon a shallow and miry bar. I was sensible of the dilemma {44} into which we had fallen, and lost no time to plunge into the water, though at the point of freezing, attempting, but in vain, to float off the boat by a lever. The effort was beyond my strength, and after remaining in the water nearly an hour, I had reluctantly to submit to our situation. At length, two boatmen offered their assistance, for the consideration of five dollars, with which I complied, and in a few moments we again floated. They took us in the dark about 100 yards further down, and there made a landing. I still felt suspicious of our situation, notwithstanding their assurances of safety: and at day-light, we found ourselves (in consequence of the rapid falling of the river) as far as ever grounded upon the bar; to obviate which, all our strength and ingenuity availed nothing. The boatmen also, who had assisted us the preceding night, and put us off our guard by false assurances, now passed us with indifference, and denied us the assistance which they had promised. We immediately commenced unloading, and had proceeded pretty far in our labour, when we were visited by the owner of a neighbouring boat, who, pretending to commiserate our situation, offered to assist us gratuitously; and hearing how we had been cheated out of five dollars, expressed his dislike at any boatman having acted with such want of fellow-feeling. We had scarcely time to breakfast, before our yankees arrived with two skiffs; and one of them now assured us that we should never be able to get off until the rise of the river; though, as appeared in the sequel, merely with the friendly view of putting a good price upon his services. The other, instead of the gratuitous assistance which he had offered, made a tender of his services at three dollars. At length, like genuine Arabs, they demanded the value of eight dollars, with which I was reluctantly obliged to comply. After about ten minutes further unloading, a lever placed under the bow, set us readily afloat {45} in one minute; so much had these kind gentlemen deceived us, as to our real situation. They now also refused to fulfil the bargain of assisting us to reload, until brought to some sense of duty by remonstrance.--I shall not indeed soon forget Wolf’s island, and its harbour of sharpers.

20th.] The day was far advanced when we got off, and after floating 10 miles we moored for the night, taking care to have deep water.

The land appears low and uninhabited on every side, except at the Iron-banks[54] (called Mine au Fer by the French) we passed yesterday, and which are cliffs of friable and argillaceous earth, the upper bed being ferruginous, beneath which occurs a very conspicuously-coloured band of pink clay about 12 inches thick, and below are white beds of the same material, improperly considered chalk.

The Cyprus (_Cupressus disticha_) which continues some distance along the Ohio above its estuary, is here much more common, and always indicates the presence of annual inundation and consequent swamps and lagoons, but we do not yet meet with the long moss (_Tillandsia usneoides_), a plant so characteristic of the prevalence of unhealthy humidity in the atmosphere.

21st.] We commenced our voyage at the dawn of day, and continued to float along without interruption. The river here appears truly magnificent, though generally bordered by the most gloomy solitudes, in which there are now no visible traces of the abode of man. It is indeed a sublime contrast to the busy hum of a city, and not altogether destitute of interest. In the course of the day we passed a number of capacious islands, but all as they ever were from their creation, and most of them even without names, the property of any one who will assume the possession; but they are in general, I suspect, annually submerged by inundation.

{46} This evening we were 10 miles above New Madrid, and moored opposite to one of the islands which had been convulsed by the earthquake of 1811.

22d.] We commenced our voyage early, and arrived before noon at New Madrid.[55] We found both sides of the river unusually lined with sunken logs, some stationary and others in motion, and we narrowly avoided several of considerable magnitude.

New Madrid is an insignificant French hamlet, containing little more than about 20 log houses and stores miserably supplied, the goods of which are retailed at exorbitant prices: for example, 18 cents per pound for lead, which costs seven cents at Herculaneum; salt five dollars per bushel; sugar 31¼ cents per pound; whiskey one dollar 25 cents per gallon; apples 25 cents per dozen; corn 50 cents per bushel; fresh butter 37½ cents per pound; eggs the same per dozen; pork six dollars per hundred; beef five dollars. Still the neighbouring land appears to be of a good quality, but people have been discouraged from settling in consequence of the earthquakes, which, besides the memorable one of 1811, are very frequently experienced, two or three oscillations being sometimes felt in a day. The United States, in order to compensate those who suffered in their property by the catastrophe, granted to the settlers an equivalent of land in other parts of the Territory.

The site of the town, as we learn from La Vega, the historian of Soto, bears unequivocal marks of an aboriginal station; still presenting the remains of some low mounds, which, as usual, abound with fragments of earthen ware.[56]

23d.] We proceeded about six miles, and came to at another small French hamlet called Point Pleasant. {47} Here I saw the Catalpa (_Catalpa cordifolia_) in the forests, apparently indigenous, for the first time in my life, though still contiguous to habitations.

This place and several islands below were greatly convulsed by the earthquake, and have in consequence been abandoned. I was shown a considerable chasm still far from being filled up, from whence the water of the river, as they say, rushed in an elevated column. The land is here of a superior quality, but flat, and no high grounds have made their appearance since we passed the Iron-Banks, no rock is any where to be seen; the banks of the river are deep and friable; islands and sand-bars, at this stage of the river connected with the land, are almost innumerable. In the midst of so much plenty provided by nature, the Canadian squatters[57] are here, as elsewhere, in miserable circumstances. They raise no wheat, and scarcely enough of maize for their support. Superfine flour sold here at 11 dollars per barrel.

The dresses of the men consist of blanket capeaus, buckskin pantaloons, and mockasins.

25th.] Christmas-day. We left Point Pleasant,[58] and floated along without encountering any material obstacle, except glancing against an enormous moving log (or sawyer), which for the moment threw us into terror. Indeed the submerged trees become more and more numerous.

In the evening we arrived at the remains of the settlement called the Little Prairie, where there is now only a single house, all the rest, together with their foundations, having been swept away by the river, soon after the convulsion of the earthquake, in consequence (as the inhabitants say, and as they also affirm in New Madrid) of the land having sunk 10 feet or more below its former level.[59]

{48} 26th.] After continuing about 10 miles below the Little Prairie, we were detained for the remainder of the day by the commencement of a storm, which towards evening increased to violence, and continued so throughout the night. I felt under some apprehension that we should break our cable, and so be cast away upon some of the many snags and sawyers which obstruct the river.

27th.] Towards noon, the north-west wind moderating, we continued as usual, and proceeded about 12 miles through a portion of the river filled with islands and trunks of trees. No habitations whatever appeared since we left the Little Prairie.

28th.] Proceeded a few miles, to the head of the 25th island, as marked in the Pittsburgh Navigator,[60] and remained about four hours, waiting the abatement of the wind, which did not permit us to proceed in safety. Our company did not appear inclined to advance towards the Canadian reach until the following morning; but not wishing to spend any time unnecessarily, we continued about five miles further.

29th.] Proceeding at day-break, we looked with apprehension for the dangers described by the Navigator, but passed along with so little difficulty as almost to doubt our actual situation. A few miles below, however, we observed the river contracted within a narrow space by a spreading sand-bar (or island), and planted almost across with large and dangerous trunks, some with the tops, and others with the roots uppermost, in a perpendicular posture. The water broke upon them with a noise which I had heard distinctly for two miles, like the cascade of a mill-race, in consequence of the velocity of the current; with all our caution to avoid them, the boat grazed on one, which was almost entirely submerged, and we received a terrific jar. All day we had experienced uninterrupted rain, but it was now pouring down in torrents. About two o’clock in the afternoon, as soon {49} as the fog had cleared away, we perceived ourselves again moving towards the field of danger. I counted, in the space of a minute, about 100 huge trees fixed in all postures, nearly across the whole river, so as scarcely to leave room for a passage. We proceeded towards a bank of willows on the Louisiana side, thinking to land for the night, in consequence of the unremitting and drenching rain, but found it impracticable, by reason of the rapid current. At length we descended to water which had the appearance of an eddy, and here I was strongly urged to land, in which attempt the boat would, in all probability, have been sunk amidst a host of snags and half-concealed trunks which lined the shore. With all our exertions in rowing off, we but narrowly escaped from being drawn into the impassable channel of a sand island which spread out into the river, presenting a portion of water resembling a sunken forest. The only course which we had left appeared no less a labyrinth of danger, so horribly filled with black and gigantic trunks of trees, along which the current foamed with terrific velocity--Scylla on one hand, and more than one Charybdis on the other. Fortunately, however, our voyage was not destined to end here, and, after an hour’s drenching amidst torrents of rain, we at length obtained a landing place about 10 miles above the first Chicasaw Bluffs.[61] On the point of one of these bars at Flour island, we observed the wreck of two large flat boats which we supposed might have been lost during the earthquake. Nothing still appeared on every hand but houseless solitude, and gloomy silence, the inundation precluding the possibility of settlement.

30th.] We proceeded as soon as the dense fog this morning would permit, but could not ascertain our situation any longer by the vague trifling of the Navigator,{50} and after proceeding some distance at the beck of the current, came in sight of Flour island. Here the Navigator says, “the channel is on the right side, but some prefer the left,” but the very sight of the right-hand channel was to me sufficient, and finding the main body of the river carrying us to the left, I felt satisfied to go farther round rather than venture through such a horrid pass, which indeed resembled a submerged forest, and through which no flat boat, I should suppose, could ever proceed with safety, however deep might be the water. That we had got a passable channel to the left, I was fully satisfied on perceiving the intersection of the first Chicasaw Bluffs or hills, all the high lands of the Mississippi being uniformly washed at their base by a deep and rapid current. Here we landed for a few moments, to survey those hills, the only ones we had seen since leaving the Iron banks. The ascent was steep, and the elevation between 2 and 300 feet above the level of the river. These banks appeared to consist of a stratified, ferruginous, and bluish sandy clay, probably a disintegrated sandstone, which it perfectly resembled to the eye, though altogether friable to the touch. In some places, lower down the river, we observed masses of ferruginous conglomerate blackened by the atmosphere, the pebbles chiefly hornstone, and some of them quartz. The _debris_ of which this conglomerate consists is entirely adventitious, or unconnected with the existing rocks, which form the basis of this ancient deposit.

At this place, we saw the first cabin since our departure from the Little Prairie. On approaching the 34th island from the mouth of the Ohio, which presents itself rounding, and nearly in the middle of the river, we had at first determined to take the left-hand side, set down by the Navigator as the channel, but finding ourselves to float very slowly, we rowed a little, and then submitted to the current. It was soon {51} observable, that we drifted towards the right-hand channel, though much the narrowest, and my companion advised that we should keep the left, especially as it was the nearest, and as the wind accompanied by rain blew strongly up the river. However, on finding still that the current drew to the right, even against the wind, and having arrived at the commencement of the bar of the island, I determined, at all events, to keep to the right. At length, after considerable labour, we landed at a neighbouring cabin, and were informed that the left channel had not in places more than 12 inches of water, being nearly dry, and almost destitute of current. Here, again, we made a fortunate escape. We also learnt, that not more than two days ago, a flat boat was sunk by the snags, which filled the right-hand channel of Flour island.

At this place, we met with two or three families of hunters, with whom were living some individuals of the Shawnees and Delawares. They had lately caught an unusual abundance of beaver in the neighbourhood, and were anxious to barter it for whiskey, though scarcely possessed either of bread or vegetables. Amongst their furs, I also saw a few skins of the musk-rat, (_Arctomys monax_, L.) which are never met with further to the south.

31st.] We continued our voyage as usual at daylight, and floating with a brisk current down the right side of the 34th island, had nearly cleared ourselves of a host of snags and sawyers, when at last, puzzled on which side of one of these terrific objects to steer, we unfortunately struck it with considerable force, and the young man who accompanied us (the son of Mr. G.), an amiable youth of 16, was precipitated headlong into the river, together with the steering oar, which was suddenly jerked off by the snag; our boat was at the same instant careened over so far, as at first to appear overturning, but I instantly had the satisfaction to see that she was free, had received no {52} injury, and that Edwin on this emergency could swim, and, though much alarmed, had come within our reach, and got safely on board. As to our steering oar it remained across the snag, and was now become a sawyer; working horizontally upon the back of the black and fearful trunk which had so justly thrown us into consternation.

The wind springing up against us, we came to under the second Chicasaw Bluff, and had time to examine and contemplate these romantic cliffs, now doubly interesting after such a monotonous and cheerless prospect of solitary brakes and enswamped forests. This fasçade, or perpendicular section, precisely of the same materials and consistence as that of the Iron banks above, continues, I think, uninterruptedly for near two miles, and is about 150 feet high. The uppermost bed (all of them as nearly horizontal as may be), 12 to 20 feet thick, commencing immediately below the present vegetable loam, consists of a yellowish, homogeneous, now friable, sandy, and argillaceous earth, which is succeeded by a thinner and more ferruginous bed; below occurs a layer or band of _pink_-red clay, now and then variegated with white specks, and, though constant in its appearance and relative position, no where exceeding 18 inches in thickness; below again occur ferruginous earths and clays more or less sandy, then a bed of a brownish-black colour, and about 18 inches in thickness, which, on examination, I found to be lignite, or wood-coal, containing less bitumen than usual, and so distinctly derived from the vegetable kingdom, exhibiting even the cross grain of the wood, as to remove all doubts of its origin. To the taste it was sensibly acid, and smelt in burning like turf. Beneath this coal, and in connection with it, occurs a friable bed of dark-coloured argillaceous and sandy earth, in which I could very distinctly perceive blackened impressions of leaves of an oak, like the red oak and the willow oak, with {53} _Equisetum hiemale_ or Shave-rush, and other vegetable remains, not much unlike the black beds of leaves which occur along the banks of the Ohio, but much more intermingled with earth. In this bed also occur masses or nodules of a hard and very fine-grained light gray sandstone, bordering almost upon hornstone, likewise charged with vegetable remains, resembling charred wood, together with leaves of oaks and of other forest trees. Nearly on a level with the present low stage of the river, there was a second bed of this coal, more interrupted than the first in its continuity, though constant in its locality, no less in some places (like basins) than 8, 12 or 15 feet in thickness. Below, clays again succeeded, and terminated the visible stratification.

In two or three places, I observed that the mud, which was very deep, had been boiling up into circular masses like fumeroles, and have no doubt, but that the decomposition of this vast bed of lignite or wood-coal, situated near the level of the river, and filled with pyrites, has been the active agent in producing the earthquakes, which have of late years agitated this country. The deposition of vast rafts of timber, thus accidentally brought together by the floods of the river, are continually, even before our eyes, as I may say, accumulating stores of matter, which, in after ages, will, no doubt, exert a baneful influence over the devoted soil, beneath which they are silently interred! How much has the vegetable kingdom to do with the destiny of man! The time, though slowly, is perhaps surely approaching, which will witness something like volcanic eruptions on the banks of the Mississippi. The inhabitants frequently, and almost daily, experience slight oscillations of the earth: I have even witnessed them myself while descending the river.

FOOTNOTES:

[54] The bluffs called Iron Banks are on the Kentucky side of the river, about twenty miles below the mouth of the Ohio. They are eighty to a hundred and twenty feet in height. From their brownish color, the early explorers supposed them to contain rich deposits of iron, whence the name; but the amount of the metal is negligible.--ED.

[55] For New Madrid, see Cuming’s _Tour_, our volume iv, note 185.--ED.

[56] See the Appendix, and the account of De Soto’s incursion.

In the immediate vicinity of the town I met with _Bœbera glandulosa_, _Erigeron (Cænotus) divaricatum_, _Verbena stricta_, _V. Aubletia_, _Croton capitatum_, and _Helenium quadridentatum_. On the banks of the river _Oxydenia attenuata_ and the _Capraria multifida_ of Michaux.--NUTTALL.

[57] Such as cultivate unappropriated land without any species of title.--NUTTALL.

[58] Point Pleasant is on the Missouri side of the river, ten miles below New Madrid, and eighty below the mouth of the Ohio. This place should not be confused with the site of the battle of Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha.--ED.

[59] For a historical account of this country, once thickly inhabited by the natives, see the abridged relation of its discovery, and pretended conquest, by Ferdinand de Soto, in the APPENDIX.--NUTTALL.

[60] For comment on the _Pittsburgh Navigator_, see Cuming’s _Tour_, in our volume iv, note 43.--ED.

[61] Called by the first French settlers the Cliffs of Prud’homme.--NUTTALL.

{54} CHAPTER V

Pass the third Chicasaw Bluff--Dangers of the navigation, and solitude of the country--The fourth Bluff of the Chicasaws--Lignite prevalent--Chicasaw Indians--St. Francis river--depopulation of the neighbouring country--Trees of the alluvial forest--Destruction of the Big Prairie settlement--Scrub grass--Difficulties of the navigation--Changes of the soil, produced by the agency of the river--A visit from three of the Arkansa Indians--A dense fog over the river; the cause of it--Arrival near the mouth of the Arkansa and White river.

January 1st, 1819.] We proceeded slowly, in consequence of adverse wind; and at length, came in sight of the third Chicasaw Bluff,[62] quite similar in appearance and conformation with that of the second above described. The 35th island of the Navigator intervened betwixt us and the cliff, there being no water to the left of it; the channel at this stage of the river, was completely choked up by a bed of sand.

We came to for the night on a sand-bar, opposite the centre of the island, resembling an Arabian desert, and scattered in every direction with lignite or bovey coal, washed probably from the basis of the Bluffs. The shore of the island was horribly strewed with the wreck of the alluvial forest, brought down by the overwhelming current of the river at its highest stage, and thrown confusedly together in vast piles.

In the course of the day, we stopped awhile at a Shawnee camp, and bartered for some venison and wild honey, which they had in plenty. The honey, according to the Indian mode, was contained in the skin of a deer taken off by the aperture of the neck, {55} thus answering, though very rudely, the purpose of a bottle.

On the 2d, we passed the “Devil’s Race-ground,” as it has been very formidably termed, but observed no obstructions in the river equal to that at Plumb point, where we saw the wrecked boats. We observe, however, every day, wrecks of flat boats, drifted along the shores. We continued to the lower end of the “Devil’s Elbow,” and again found the difficulty greatly exaggerated. The whole surrounding country still continues a desolate wilderness, abandoned to inundation, presenting impenetrable cane brakes and gloomy forests: none of the trees, however, attain that enormous magnitude, which they so frequently present along the borders of the Ohio. This appearance may perhaps be attributed, in part, to the perpetual revolutions of the soil, occasioned by the overwhelming force and inundations of the river.

A dog lost in the forest, and perishing with hunger, came up to the bank of the river, yelling most piteously; but would not enter our skiff, which was sent for it, and continued to follow us for some distance, but the danger of the shore, and the rapidity of the current, rendered our endeavours to assist the miserable animal perfectly useless, and, after some time, he fell back, stopped and yelled, till he reluctantly disappeared.

3d.] We proceeded only a few miles in consequence of the wind, and came to at the point of a sand-bar, seven miles above the fourth Bluff. Here we observed a flat-boat lying aground, and dry upon the bar, for want of precaution in landing during the falling state of the river.

4th.] This morning we descended to the fourth Chicasaw Bluffs,[63] and, after endeavouring in vain to proceed, were obliged to desist for the wind, and come to under fort Pickering.[64] The strata are here again similar to those of the second Bluffs, even the {56} seam of pink clay occurs, and near the level of the river we likewise perceive the lignite in a bed of about six feet thickness; but not probably continuous. Along the shore we saw masses which looked precisely like burnt logs, but all this coal, at length, blazes in the fire, and gives out, as usual, a smoke partaking of the odour of coal and turf.

We found a store here for the supply of the Indians and the settlers of the neighbourhood, besides that of the United States. The advance upon articles sold to the natives is very exorbitant: for example, a coarse Indian duffell blanket four dollars, whiskey, well watered, which is sold almost without restraint, in spite of the law, two dollars per gallon, and every thing else in the same proportion. Yet the Indians get no more than 25 cents for a ham of venison, a goose, or a large turkey.

On visiting a neighbouring encampment of the Chicasaws, we found many of them in a state of intoxication. They are generally well dressed, extravagantly ornamented, and, from the fairness of many of their complexions, and agreeable features, appear to have profited by their intercourse with the whites. Several of them possessed some knowledge of English, and a considerable number are making advances towards civilization. General Jackson purchased from them a tract of land, said to be of more than 300 miles extent, and bounded by Wolf river, a small stream which enters the Mississippi at the commencement of the Bluffs.[65] On the river lands I here first noticed the occurrence of _Brunichia_, _Quercus lyrata_, and _Carya aquatica_ (_Juglans_, MICH.)

On the 5th we passed President island, of considerable magnitude, contiguous to which there is a rapid current. The left channel was now choked up with sand at its entrance. Here we again observed a settlement of two or three families. In the evening we came to alongside a sand-bar or willow island, at {57} least so in high water, though now connected with the land by a dry sand-bar, like many other of the transient islands noticed in the Navigator. We, at length, began to observe a rise in the bed of the river.

6th.] To-day we saw a few widely-scattered log-cabins along the bank,[66] and came within 14 miles of the mouth of St. Francis.

7th.] We proceeded by the left channel of St. Francis island, and found it very shallow and difficult, abounding with snags and bars, upon one of which lay a flat-boat aground, which had been detained here 12 days. We endeavoured to make a landing at the uppermost house of the settlement, near the mouth of the St. Francis, but found the water much too rapid; we succeeded, however, in eddy water half a mile below, but found a considerable difficulty in ascending the broken bank.

I made some enquiries respecting the Arkansa, 95 miles from hence. The Osages[67] bear a very bad character with these hunting farmers, of whom we saw but two individuals, and one inhabited house, excepting that we had first endeavoured to make. This settlement appears to be nearly abandoned, and very undeservedly. I walked out two or three miles into the woods, and found the land considerably elevated above the reach of inundation, and of a good quality. Nearly opposite island 60, a few miles below, we were informed of the existence of hills within a quarter of a mile of the river.

How many ages may yet elapse before these luxuriant wilds of the Mississippi can enumerate a population equal to the Tartarian deserts! At present all is irksome silence and gloomy solitude, such as to inspire the mind with horror.

I was greatly disappointed to meet with such a similarity in the vegetation, to that of the middle and northern states. The higher lands produce black ash, elm (_Ulmus americana_), hickory, walnut, maple, {58} hackberry (_Celtis integrifolia_, no other species), honey-locust, coffee-bean, &c. On the river lands, as usual, grows platanus or buttonwood, upon the seeds of which flocks of screaming parrots were greedily feeding,[68] also enormous cotton-wood trees (_Populus angulisans_), commonly called yellow poplar, some of them more than six feet in diameter, and occasionally festooned with the largest vines which I had ever beheld. Here grew also the holly (_Ilex opaca_), _A plectrum hiemale_, (_Ophrys hyemale_, LIN.), _Botrychium obliquum_, and _Fumaria aurea_. Nearly all the trees throughout this country possessing a smooth bark, are loaded with misletoe (_Viscum verticillatum_).

8th.] About a mile below the place where we spent the last night, is the settlement called the Big Prairie, consisting of three or four log-cabins, and two families, but in a state of abandonment since the shock of the earthquake, which the inhabitants assert to have produced a depression of the ordinary level, that exposed the settlement to inundation; and, in fact, by a sudden encroachment of the river, which carried off the land for more than a quarter of a mile in breadth, all the habitations, except the two now surviving, were swept into the river. About a mile and a half below commences the 60th island of the Navigator; the right channel was now choked up with sand at its outlet. A little distance below we landed at a store to purchase some necessaries. Considerable tracts of good and elevated land, once numerously peopled by the natives, appear in this quarter, over which the conspicuous devastations of a hurricane now added horror to solitude.

The scrub-grass or rushes, as they are called here (_Equisetum hiemale_), from about 50 to 60 miles above, to this place, appear along the banks in vast fields, and, together with the cane, which is evergreen, {59} are considered the most important, and, indeed, the only winter fodder for all kinds of cattle. The cane is unquestionably saccharine and nutritious, but the scrub-grass produces an unfavourable action on the stomach, and scours the cattle so as to debilitate and destroy them if its use be long continued.

We proceeded, without any accident worthy of remark, about six miles, below the “Little Round island,” noticed in the Navigator, which from its uncommon aspect affords a pretty good local object for the boatmen. While passing the island we were accosted by some, to us, suspicious characters, mimicking distress to draw us to land, but in vain. We had been well assured of the existence of gangs of pirates occasionally occupying these solitudes.

9th.] We continued, as usual, soon after day-break, and were about to stop by reason of the wind, when it unexpectedly abated, so far as to prevent us, and we proceeded to the _Three Islands_, as they ought to be called for the sake of distinction, and which are not intelligible as the 62d and 63d of the Navigator. These islands lie nearly parallel, and present themselves at the commencement of a left hand bend in the river. Two of them which first appear are small willow islands, with adjoining sand-bars. The channel of the first was now dry; that of the second smooth, but apparently shallow. The principal insulated forest is crescent-formed like Flour island, or deeply and circularly indented on the right-hand side. We had proceeded past the two willow islands nearly to the principal one, when we perceived, unexpectedly, that the greater part of the river was pouring along with headlong velocity between the main and second willow island. To the left, the channel round the third island appeared broad and shallow, indeed nearly deserted by the river. We now entered the torrent almost too late for precaution, which, towards the main island, the side to which we had been inadvertently {60} drawn, was planted full of black and fearful logs. It was only with the utmost exertion that we saved ourselves (by rowing out towards the bar) from the fate of some unfortunate boatmen, which presented itself to us with more than usual horror. This was a large flat-boat, which hung upon the trunk of an implanted tree, by which it had been perforated and instantly sunk.

We passed islands 64 and 65, and came to the shore in the bend opposite the middle of 66, which appeared to be about three miles in length. From New Madrid to this place the river appears singularly meandering, sweeping along in vast elliptic curves, some of them from six to eight miles round, and constantly presenting themselves in opposite directions. The principal current pressing against the centre of the bend, at the rate of about five miles per hour, gradually diminishes in force as it approaches the extremity of the curve. Having attained the point or promontory, the current proceeds with accumulating velocity to the opposite bank, leaving, consequently, to the eddy water, an extensive deposition in the form of a vast bed of sand, nearly destitute of vegetation, but flanked commonly by an island or peninsula of willows. These beds of sand, for the most part of the year under water, are what the boatmen term bars. The river, as it sweeps along the curve, according to its force and magnitude, produces excavations in the banks; which, consisting of friable materials, are perpetually washing away and leaving broken and perpendicular ledges, often lined with fallen trees, so as to be very dangerous to the approach of boats, which would be dashed to pieces by the velocity of the current. These slips in the banks are almost perpetual, and by the undermining of eddies often remarkable in their extent. To-day we witnessed two horrid sinkings of the bank, by each of which not less than an acre of land had fallen in a day or two {61} ago, with all the trees and cane upon them, down to the present level of the river, a depth of 30 or 40 feet perpendicular. These masses now formed projecting points, upon which the floating drift was arrested, and over which the current broke along with more than ordinary velocity. Just after passing one of these foaming drifts, we narrowly escaped being drawn into a corresponding eddy and vortex that rushed up the stream, with a fearful violence, and from which we should not have been easily extricated. I now sufficiently saw the reason why the flat-boats were always kept out from the shore, and towards the bars which occupy the opposite side of the river.

The encroachments in the centre of the curves of the meanders, proceeding to a certain extent, at length break through and form islands, in time the islands also disappear, and so the river continually augmenting its uncontroulable dominion over the friable soil, alternately fills up one channel, and more deeply excavates or forms another, in proportion to the caprice of the current.

In regard to landing, eddy or silent water is constantly to be found beyond the point of the bends or curves of the river. The bars are also generally safe, when sufficiently high, and the water deep. In such situations, the counter current, though inconsiderable, affords also a singular facility to vessels which are ascending.

A rude cabin, which we passed to-day, was the only habitation we had seen for 30 miles.

This evening we were visited by three young men, a boy, and a squaw of the Osarks, a band of the Quapaws[69] or Arkansa Indians. Their aspect was agreeable, their features aquiline, and their complexion comparatively fair; my first impression was that they somewhat resembled the Osages. Their errand was whiskey, and I regretted that it was not possible to satisfy them without it. They drank healths in {62} their own language, and one of them could mumble out a little bad English. They informed me, partly by signs, that their company was about five or six families or fires, as they intimated, out on a hunting excursion. I was sorry to find that they were beggars, and that one of them proved himself to be a thief.

10th.] This morning we left the 66th island, opposite the middle of which we came to last evening, but found our situation hazardous from the sliding in of the bank around, and which might easily have involved us in difficulty. By the time we had proceeded about a mile and a half along the bend or right hand channel of 67 and 68, which lie opposite to each other, a fog sprung up, so very dense as to render our situation amidst almost unseen obstacles extremely dangerous. We had no alternative but rowing over to the bar of the island on our left, in which attempt we at length succeeded, not, however, without a risk of grounding. Here we lay until towards evening, when we proceeded to the termination of the 68th island, and made an indifferent landing. On exposing the thermometer to the air, it rose and remained at 62°. In the water it fell to 42°; the difference being 20°, which readily accounted for the dense fog that exclusively enveloped the river. This coldness of the water was no doubt occasioned by the thawing of ice in the upper part of the river, or some of its more considerable tributary streams, in consequence of which, the vapours of the moist and warm air were perpetually precipitated over it. The air, of unequal temperature, now and then felt extremely warm.

On the 11th we were again detained by the fog and heavy rain, but turned out about 10 o’clock. After proceeding opposite the commencement of the 69th island we stopped in consequence of the fog. Here, on ascending the bank, I found the woods almost impenetrably laced with green briars (_Smilax_), {63} supple-jacks (_Œnoplia volubilis_), and the _Brunichia_, and for the first time recognised the short-podded honey-locust (_Gleditscia brachycarpa_), a distinct species, intermediate with the common kind (_G. triacanthos_), and the one-seeded locust (_G. monosperma_), differing from _G. triacanthos_ in the persisting fasciculated legumes, as well as in their shortness and want of pulp.

We proceeded a few miles further amidst torrents of rain, and were again obliged to land in consequence of the fog. Here we met with two hunters, who informed us of the existence of a considerable settlement on the banks of White River.[70]

The wind springing up in the evening from the northwest, the thermometer fell to 52°, and the water to 40°, from which time the dense fog that had exclusively enveloped the river began to disperse, and in the night we had a storm.

12th.] Coming along the bend of the 71st island, we struck upon an enormous planter, or immoveable log, but again escaped without accident. About noon we landed at Mr. M’Lane’s,[71] a house of entertainment. Here I was advised to proceed with my small cargo and flat-boat to the port of Osark, on the Arkansa, by the bayou,[72] which communicates between the White and Arkansa rivers, in both of which it was now conjectured there was back-water from the Mississippi. Concluding upon this measure, I hired a man at five dollars to assist me, and parted here with Mr. G---- and son, who soon, to my satisfaction, got a further passage on board a flat-boat. The idea of so soon arriving on the ground which I more immediately intended to explore, did not fail to inspire me with hope and satisfaction.

FOOTNOTES:

[62] For historical sketch of site of the third bluff, see Cuming’s _Tour_, our volume iv, note 188.--ED.

[63] For sketch, see _ibid._, note 189.--ED.

[64] For note on Fort Pickering, see _ibid._, note 192.--ED.

[65] For brief statement regarding the purchase, see _ibid._, note 190.--ED.

[66] There is no record of a compact or permanent settlement at this date near the mouth of the St. Francis. There were scattered settlers as early as 1800, for John Patterson was born in that year not far above Helena.--ED.

[67] For the Osage Indians, see _ante_, note 53.--ED.

[68] Their most favourite food in the autumn is the seeds of the cuckold bur (_Xanthium strumarium_).--NUTTALL.

[69] For the Quapaw, see _post_, note 84.--ED.

[70] Local historians mention an early settlement at Crockett’s Bluff, on White River, which may be the one here referred to.--_Ed._

[71] We find nothing positive relative to this individual; but it is interesting to note that Arkansas County was represented in the upper house of the territorial legislature in 1821 by Neil McLane, who may have been the same man.--ED.

[72] This bayou, sometimes called “White River Cut Off,” was the common route from the Mississippi to the Arkansas, for travellers from the North.--ED.

{64} CHAPTER VI

Proceed up White river for the Arkansa--Suspicious conduct of one of the boatmen--Pass through the connecting bayou, and proceed up the Arkansa; its navigation; soil and surrounding scenery--A small French settlement--Extraordinary mildness of the season--Mounds--Changes in the alluvial lands produced by the agency of the river--Land speculators--Vegetation of the alluvial lands--The town or Post of Arkansas--Enormous land claims--Difficulty of navigating against the current--The Great Prairie--First settlement on the Arkansa; its present state--Agricultural advantages arising from the mildness of the climate--Storax--Aboriginal remains--The Quapaws or Arkansas--Their traditions and character.

13th.] To-day I was detained at Mr. M’Lane’s, waiting the drunken whim of the Yankee, whom necessity had obliged me to hire. In the course of a few hours he had shifted from two bargains. At first, I was to give him five dollars for his assistance, and in case that should prove inadequate, I had agreed to hire an additional hand on the Arkansa. Now he wished to have the boat for bringing her completely to the Port, and next he wanted 10 dollars!

I endeavoured to amuse myself in the neighbourhood, by a ramble through the adjoining cane-brake. Here I found abundance of the _Celtis integrifolia_ (entire-leaved nettle tree) and the common and one-seeded honey-locust; also _Forrestiera acuminata_ of Poiret (_Borya acuminata_, WILD.). The day was as mild and warm as the month of May, and the _Senecio laciniata_, so common along the banks of the Mississippi, already showed signs of flowering.

14th.] To-day we proceeded up White river with {65} considerable difficulty, and hard labour, the Mississippi not being sufficiently high to produce any eddy. The course which we made, in the two miles that we ascended, was west by north. I now found the boatman whom I had hired, one of the most worthless and drunken scoundrels imaginable; he could not be prevailed upon to do anything but steer, while myself and the other man I had hired, were obliged to keep constantly to the oar, or the cordelle (tow-rope). In the evening we left the boat without any guard, intending to repair to it in the morning from Mr. M’Lane’s, where we returned again this evening, being only three miles distant across the forest. Here I discovered that the Yankee intended to proceed to the boat in our absence and rob me, pretending some business to the mouth of the Arkansa, for which he must depart by moon-light. Unknown to him, however, and accompanied by a young man whom I had hired in his place, we repaired to the boat, waiting under arms the approach of the thief, but unable to obtain a boat, he had relinquished the attempt, and saved himself from chastisement.

In the neighbouring woods I was shewn a scandent leguminous shrub, so extremely tenacious as to afford a good substitute for ropes, and commonly employed as a boat’s cable. A knot can be tied of it with ease. On examination I found it to be the plant which I have called _Wisteria speciosa_ (_Glycine frutescens._ WILLD.) the Carolina kidney-bean tree.[73]

15th.] We continued with hard labour ascending White river to the bayou, said to enter seven miles up that stream. The latter proceeds from the bayou, in a direction of west to north-west, the bayou or cut-off continuing to the southwest. In this distance, there are no settlements, the land being overflowed by the back water of the Mississippi. We passed nearly {66} through the bayou, in which there are four points of land and a half; the current carrying us almost three miles an hour towards the Arkansa, which it entered nearly at right angles, with a rapid current, and a channel filled with snags. The length of the bayou appears to be about eight or nine miles.

16th.] Leaving the bayou, we entered the Arkansa, which was very low, but still red and muddy from the freshets of the Canadian. Most of the larger streams which enter into it from the south, are charged with red and turbid water, while those of the north are clear. Every where I observed the chocolate or reddish brown clay of the salt formation, deposited by the southern freshets. The Arkansa had here a very gentle current, and was scarcely more than 200 yards wide, with its meanders on a small scale, similar to those of the Mississippi. In consequence of the unrestrained dominion of the inundation, no settlements yet appeared in this quarter. We proceeded chiefly by means of the cordelle, but at a very tedious and tiresome rate, for, after the utmost exertion, with our unwieldy boat, we were this evening only six and a half miles above the outlet of the bayou.

17th.] We found the labour of towing our boat exceedingly tiresome, in consequence of the sudden falling of the river, produced by a corresponding ebb of the Mississippi. With painful exertions, and after wading more than three hours in the river, we passed only two bars in the course of the day.

18th.] To-day we towed along two bars, much more considerable than any preceding bends, but had the disappointment to spend the night only a single mile below Madame Gordon’s, the place of our destination with the boat, and only 16 miles above the bayou, by which we entered the Arkansa. This house is the first which is met with in ascending the river. Nearly opposite to the foot of the last bar {67} but one which we passed, a vast pile of drift wood marks the outlet of a bayou, which is open in high water, and communicates with the Mississippi.

The three last bends of the river, like the four first, tending by half circles to the north-west, are each about two and three miles in circuit. As in the Mississippi, the current sets with the greatest force against the centre of the curves; the banks of which are nearly perpendicular, and subject to a perpetual state of dislocation. In such situations we frequently see brakes of cane; while, on the opposite side, a naked beach of sand, thinly strewed with succulent and maritime plants, considerably wider than the river, appears to imitate the aridity of a desert, though contrasted at a little distance by skirting groves of willows and poplars.

No other kind of soil appears than a friable loam, and the beds of red clay, which so strongly tinge the water at particular periods of inundation. The sand of the river appears to be in perpetual motion, drifting along at the beck of the current; its instability is indeed often dangerous to the cattle that happen to venture into the river, either to drink or traverse the stream.

The land, although neglected, appears in several places, below Madame Gordon’s, high enough to be susceptible of cultivation, and secure from inundation, at least for some distance from the immediate bank of the river.

No change, that I can remark, yet exists in the vegetation, and the scenery is almost destitute of every thing which is agreeable to human nature; nothing yet appears but one vast trackless wilderness of trees, a dead solemnity, where the human voice is never heard to echo, where not even ruins of the humblest kind recal its history to mind, or prove the past dominion of man. All is rude nature as it sprang into {68} existence, still preserving its primeval type, its unreclaimed exuberance.

19th.] This morning we had extremely hard labour, to tow the only mile which remained of our tiresome voyage. I was obliged to plunge into the water up to the waist, and there work for some time, to disengage the boat from a hidden log upon which it was held; the men I had employed, being this morning scarcely willing to wet their feet, although I had to pay them exorbitant wages.

A mile and a half from Madame Gordon’s, there was a settlement, consisting of four or five French families, situated upon an elevated tract of fertile land, which is occasionally insulated by the overflowings of the White and Arkansa rivers.

20th.] To-day, and indeed for more than a week past, the weather, except being cloudy, has felt to me like May; towards mid-day, the thermometer rose to 67°. The birds had commenced their melodies; and on the high and open bank of the river near to Madame Gordon’s, I had already the gratification of finding flowers of the same natural family as many of the early plants of Europe; the Cruciferæ; but to me they were doubly interesting, as the first fruits of a harvest never before reaped by any botanist.

In the afternoon, I walked about a mile from the river to the house of Monsieur Tenass, an honest and industrious farmer. The crop of cotton, and of corn, here the last summer was, I understand, very indifferent, for want of rain. The first sold here, at five to six dollars per hundred weight, in the seed; and flour at 10 dollars per barrel.

The climate is said to be too warm for apples, but quite suitable for peaches. The land on which this gentleman and his neighbours resided, in tolerable independence, is very considerably elevated and open, bearing a resemblance to the lands about the Chicasaw {69} Bluffs, and at first view, I thought I discovered a considerable hill, but it was, in fact, an enormous mound, not less than 40 feet high, situated towards the centre of a circle of other lesser mounds, and elevated platforms of earth. The usual vestiges of earthenware, and weapons of hornstone flint, are here also met with, scattered over the surrounding soil.

In any other direction from this settlement, the lands are totally overflowed in freshets as far as the Mississippi. On this side of the Arkansa, the floods cover the whole intermediate space to White river, a distance of 30 miles. Within this tract, cultivation can never take place without recourse to the same industry, which has redeemed Holland from the ocean. The singular caprice of the river, as it accidentally seeks its way to the sea, meandering through its alluvial valley, is truly remarkable. The variation of its channel is almost incredible, and the action which it exercises over the destiny of the soil, can scarcely be conceived. After pursuing a given course for many ages, and slowly encroaching, it has, at length, in many instances cut through an isthmus, and thus abandoned perhaps a course of six or eight miles, in which the water stagnating, at length becomes totally insulated, and thus presents a lagoon or lake. One of these insulated channels, termed a lake, commences about two miles from hence, and approaches within four miles of the Arkansas or the Post of Osark, affording a much nearer communication than the present course of the river.

Towards evening, two keel boats came in sight, one of which was deeply loaded with whiskey and flour; the other, a small boat fitted out by a general Calamees and his brother, two elderly men out on a land speculation, who intended to ascend the river as far as the Cadron,[74] which is 300 miles from hence by water, or to the Fort,[75] which is 350 miles further. I perceived that they noted down every particular which {70} came to their knowledge, but appeared to be illiterate men, and of course, I found them incapable of appreciating the value of science. On application, they merely condescended to offer me a passage, provided I would find my own provision, and work as a boat-man. Such was the encouragement, which I at length wrung from these generous speculators; not, I dare say, exploring the Missouri territory with the same philanthropic views as the generous Birkbeck.

21 st.] About 12 o’clock, the thermometer was again at 67°. In the course of the forenoon, I took a solitary ramble down the bank of the river, and found along its shelving border, where the sun obtained free access, abundance of the _Mimosa glandulosa_ of Michaux; also _Polypremum procumbens_, _Diodia virginica_, _Verbena nodiflora_, LIN. _Eclipta erecta_, MICH. _Poa stricta_, _Panicum capilaceum_, _Poa reptans_ as usual in vast profusion, and _Capraria multifida_. The trees and shrubs are chiefly the Pecan, (_Carya olivœformis_) _C. aquatica_; the black walnut, (_Juglans nigra_), but very rare; _Fraxinus quadrangulata_, _Liquidamber_ and _Platanus_, but rarely large or full grown; also _Celtis integrifolia_; the swamp oak (_Quercus aquatica_), nearly sempervirent, the red oak (_Q. rubra_), the scarlet oak (_Q. coccinea_), Spanish oak (_Q. falcata_), _Populus angulisans_, the cotton wood, of greater magnitude than any other tree in this country, with the wood yellowish, like that of the Tulip tree, answering the purpose of fence rails, and being tolerably durable. The smaller white poplar (_P. monilifera_), never so large as the preceding, commonly growing in groves like the willows, and presenting a bark which is white and even. Different kinds of honey locust, as the common species _Gleditscia triacanthos_, the one-seeded _G. monosperma_, and the short podded _G. brachyloba_. There is no sugar-maple, as I understand, nearer than the upper parts of the St. Francis and White river.

{71} The alluvial soil is here sandy and light; by no means luxuriant, except on the very margin of the river. We no where see such enormous trees as those which so frequently occur along the banks of the Ohio; this, however, may in part be occasioned by the instability of the soil, from whence they are occasionally swept at no very distant intervals. The tulip tree (_Lyriodendron tulipifera_), which attains the acme of its perfection and magnitude in Kentucky, is not met with on the banks of the Arkansa.

In consequence of the many saline streams which fall into this river, its waters are frequently found to be almost impotable.

22d.] The path, which I this morning pursued to the Post, now town of Arkansas, passed through remarkably contrasted situations and soil. After leaving the small circumscribed and elevated portion of settled lands already noticed, and over which were scattered a number of aboriginal mounds, I entered upon an oak swamp, which, by the marks on the trees, appeared to be usually inundated, in the course of the summer, four to six feet by the back water of the river. The species are principally _Quercus lyrata_, _Q. macrocarpa_ (the over-cup oak); _Q. phellos_ (the willow oak); _Q. falcata_ (the Spanish oak); and _Q. palustris_ (the swamp oak); with some red and scarlet, as well as black and post oak on the knolls, or more elevated parts. In this swamp, I also observed the _Nyssa aquatica_, _N. pubescens_ (Ogechee lime, the fruit being prepared as a conserve), as well as _N. biflora_, and _Gleditscia monosperma_. After crossing this horrid morass, a delightful tract of high ground again occurs, over which the floods had never yet prevailed; here the fields of the French settlers were already of a vivid green, and the birds were singing from every bush, more particularly the red bird (_Loxia cardinalis_), and the blue sparrow (_Motacilla sialis_). The ground appeared perfectly whitened with {72} the _Alyssum bidentatum_. The _Viola bicolor_, the _Myosurus minimus_ of Europe, (probably introduced by the French settlers) and the _Houstonia serpyllifolia_ of Michaux, (_H. patens_ of Mr. Elliott) with bright blue flowers, were also already in bloom. After emerging out of the swamp, in which I found it necessary to wade about ankle deep, a prairie came in view, with scattering houses spreading over a narrow and elevated tract for about three miles parallel to the bend of the river.

On arriving, I waited on Monsieur Bougie,[76] one of the earliest settlers and principal inhabitants of the place, to whom I was introduced by letter. I soon found in him a gentleman, though disguised at this time in the garb of a Canadian boatman. He treated me with great politeness and respect, and, from the first interview, appeared to take a generous and active interest in my favour. Monsieur B. was by birth a Canadian, and, though 70 years of age, possessed almost the vigour and agility of youth. This settlement owes much to his enterprise and industry.

The town, or rather settlement of the Post of Arkansas,[77] was somewhat dispersed over a prairie, nearly as elevated as that of the Chicasaw Bluffs, and containing in all between 30 and 40 houses. The merchants, then transacting nearly all the business of the Arkansa and White river, were Messrs. Braham and Drope, Mr. Lewis, and Monsieur Notrebe,[78] who kept well-assorted stores of merchandize, supplied chiefly from New Orleans, with the exception of some heavy articles of domestic manufacture obtained from Pittsburgh. Mr. Drope, to whom I was also introduced by letter, received me with politeness, and I could not but now for awhile consider myself as once more introduced into the circle of civilization.

The improvement and settlement of this place proceeded slowly, owing, in some measure, as I am informed, to the uncertain titles of the neighbouring {73} lands. Several enormous Spanish grants remained still undecided; that of Messrs. Winters, of Natchez, called for no less than one million of acres, but the congress of the United States, inclined to put in force a kind of agrarian law against such monopolizers, had laid them, as I was told, under the stipulation of settling upon this immense tract a certain number of families.[79]

The cotton produced in this neighbourhood, of a quality no way inferior to that of Red river, obtained this year from six to six and a half dollars per cwt. in the seed, and there were now two gins established for its preparation, though, like every thing else, in this infant settlement of the poor and improvident, but little attention beyond that of absolute necessity, was as yet paid to any branch of agriculture. Nature has here done so much, and man so little, that we are yet totally unable to appreciate the value and resources of the soil. Amongst other kinds of grain, rice has been tried on a small scale, and found to answer every expectation. The price of this grain, brought from New Orleans, was no less than 25 to 37½ cents per lb. by retail. Under the influence of a climate mild as the south of Europe, and a soil equal to that of Kentucky, wealth will ere long flow, no doubt, to the banks of the Arkansa.

I again made application to the land speculators, trying to prevail upon them on any terms, to take up my baggage, as far as the Cadron, which would have enabled me immediately to proceed on my journey, across the great prairie, but they remained inexorable.

23d.] To-day, I returned to Madame Gordon’s, which, though only six miles distant by land, is not less than 15 by water. I was now obliged more deeply to wade through the enswamped forests, which surround the habitable prairie lands, in consequence of the late rain. In these ponds, I am told, the Proteus {74} or Syren is occasionally met with. There are also alligators, though by no means numerous.

24th.] This morning I again proceeded up the river with my flat boat, by the assistance of two French boatmen, full of talk, and, at first, but indifferently inclined to work; we succeeded, however, by night, to get to the third of the five sand-bars or bends, which intervene between this place and the village of Arkansas. The following day in the evening, after a good deal of hard labour and wading, on my part, and that of the negro in my employ, we arrived at Monsieur Bougie’s, and the next day I parted with a sort of regret from the boat, which, with all its difficulties, had afforded me, through the most inclement season of the year, no inconsiderable degree of comfort and convenience.

On the 26th, I proceeded with my baggage and property to the village in Monsieur Bougie’s perogue, accompanied by one boatman. Near to the town, we grounded on the inner side of a recent, and still augmenting bar, and, after falling a little back, we crossed over, but here the current would not permit us to advance with the oars. The shore was high, and the water too deep for poles, so that we had again to attempt the side we had left; here, in drifting with velocity again on the bar, our fickle boat or canoe was so near overturning, notwithstanding our exertions, that, for a moment I considered every thing as lost; getting out, however, into the water, we with some difficulty set the perogue afloat, and for safety dragged her along, up to our waists in water. The sand was here so moveable, as to bury our feet at every step. We at length succeeded, and came to shore, under a bank 100 feet high, without any kind of practicable landing for merchandise, that of last year being now choked up with moving sand.

In the meanest garb of a working boat-man, and {75} unattended by a single slave, I was no doubt considered, as I had probably been by the land speculators, one of the canaille, and I neither claimed nor expected attention; my thoughts centered upon other objects, and all pride of appearance I willingly sacrificed to promote with frugality and industry the objects of my mission.

An insignificant village, containing three stores, destitute even of a hatter, a shoe-maker, and a taylor, and containing about 20 houses, after an existence of near a century, scarcely deserved geographical notice, and will never probably flatter the industry of the French emigrants, whose habits, at least those of the Canadians, are generally opposed to improvement and regular industry. During my stay, I took up my residence with Dr. M’Kay, and found in him an intelligent and agreeable companion; but such is the nationality of these ignorant people, that French quackery has hitherto been preferred to the advice of a regular physician. Blanket capeaus, mocassins, and overalls of the same materials, are here, as in Canada, the prevailing dress; and men and women commonly wear a handkerchief on the head in place of hats and bonnets.

28th.] This morning I accompanied the doctor to shoot wild geese, as they passed to a neighbouring lake, about two miles in the rear of the town. Here a vast prairie opens to view, like a shorn desert, but well covered with grass and herbaceous plants. Over this vast plain, which proceeds a little to the west of north, computed to be not less than 30 leagues in length, by 10 to 15 in breadth, passes the road to the Cadron, and the settlements of Red river.

Among other plants already in flower in these natural meadows, we saw abundance of a new and fragrant species of _Allium_ with greenish-white flowers, and destitute of the characteristic odour of the genus in common with _A. fragrans_, to which it is allied. {76} The _Houstonia serpyllifolia_ and _Claytonia caroliniana_ were also in full bloom at this early season.

_February 3d._] This afternoon I walked to Mr. Mosely’s, six miles distant by land, and 15 by water. The prairie, in consequence of the late rains, appeared almost one continued sheet of water. I observed springing up, the _Eryngium aquaticum_, occasionally employed as a medicine by the inhabitants, acting as a diuretic, and in larger doses proving almost emetic. Crossing the prairie, which is bordered with settlements, we entered the alluvial forest, containing oak, hickory, box, elder (_Acer negundo_), elm, &c. nearer the river cotton-wood appears as usual. I saw here a prickly-ash (_Zanthoxylion Clava Herculis_), the size of an ordinary ash, but the same species as that of the southern states, and the bark proving equally efficacious for allaying the tooth-ache.

The first attempt at settlement on the banks of the Arkansa, was begun a few miles below the bayou which communicates with White river. An extraordinary inundation occasioned the removal of the garrison to the borders of the lagoon near madame Gordon’s, and, again disturbed by an overflow, they at length chose the present site of Arkansas. The first band of hunters who attempted to reside here, were, it is said, obliged to remove, in consequence of the swarms of rats, with which they found the country infested. These animals, which are native, differ specifically from the European species, are much larger, and commit the most serious depredations.[80]

{77} The poverty of the land in the immediate vicinity of this place, will probably operate as a perpetual barrier to its extension. The encroachments of the river upon the precipitous and friable bank in front of the town, and the enlargement of the ravines by which it is intersected, renders the site altogether precarious, and prevents the practicability of any thing like a convenient landing for merchandise. During the period of high water, however, the adjoining bayou, or channel of communication with a neighbouring lake, affords this convenience.

The love of amusements, here, as in most of the French colonies, is carried to extravagance, particularly gambling, and dancing parties or balls. But the sum of general industry is, as yet, totally insufficient for the support of any thing like a town.

The houses, commonly surrounded with open galleries, destitute of glass windows, and perforated with numerous doors, are well enough suited for a summer shelter, but totally destitute of comfort in the winter. Without mechanics, domestic conveniences and articles of dress were badly supplied at the most expensive rate. Provision produced in the country, such as beef and pork, did not exceed six cents per pound; but potatoes, onions, apples, flour, spirits, wine, and almost every other necessary article of diet, were imported at an enormous price, into a country which ought to possess every article of the kind for exportation to New Orleans. Such is the evil which may always be anticipated by forcing a town, like a garrison, into being, previous to the existence of necessary {78} supplies. With a little industry, surely every person in possession of slaves might have, at least, a kitchen garden! but these Canadian descendants, so long nurtured amidst savages, have become strangers to civilized comforts and regular industry. They must, however, in time give way to the introduction of more enterprising inhabitants.

The enormous claim of Messrs. Winters, containing about a million of acres of this territory, and which will yet probably for some time remain undetermined, proves a considerable bar to the progress of the settlement. Besides a great portion of the neighbouring prairie, it embraces much of the finest land on the northern border of the river, and continues for near one hundred miles along its bank.

The great prairie of which we have already spoken, said to be 90 miles in length, contains an invaluable body of land, and, where sufficiently drained, which is pretty generally the case, except during the rains of winter, would produce most species of grain in abundance. As a pasture it is truly inexhaustible, though in the hottest months of summer occasionally deprived of water.

The cattle throughout this country are generally left to provide for themselves, and suffered to range at large, excepting such as are in domestic use. That they may not become entirely irreclaimable, they are now and then enticed to come up to the fold by a handful of salt, or a few ears of corn. No hay is provided for fodder, nor does it indeed appear necessary, except to assist in fattening for the stall, but this piece of economy, like almost every thing else which might promise comfort, is neglected, and the cattle are killed just as they are hunted up from the prairie or the cane-brake. It is from the prevalence of the cane, and the shave-rush (_Equisetum hiemale_), that the cattle are kept in tolerable condition, and often even fat, through the severest part of the winter. Indeed, at {79} this early, but perhaps uncommonly advanced season of the year (not yet the middle of February), there was already a few inches of green herbage, and only one night during this month have I seen any ice. The thermometer, towards noon, rises to 70°, and the peach and plum-trees, almost equally naturalized, have nearly finished blooming. The fig, however, unprotected by the shelter of a wall, though sufficiently vigorous, appears every year to die down nearly to the ground. Grapes succeed so as to promise wine, but without the advantage of cellars it soon becomes subjected to the acetous fermentation.

The sweet gum tree (_Liquidambar styraciflua_), which produces no resin in the northern states, where it is equally indigenous, here, as in Mexico and the Levant, exudes the odoriferous Storax of the shops.

As to the breed of domestic animals, no selection of those commonly raised has yet been attended to, nor any foreign ones introduced from parallel climates, so as to afford us any idea of the resources and conveniences which might here be brought into existence. The horned cattle increase and fatten without any labour or attention, more than the trouble of occasionally ascertaining their existence in the wilderness through which they are at liberty to roam without limit. It is in consequence of this unrestrained liberty, and the advantage of a perpetual supply of food, that the horse has become already naturalized in the southern parts of this territory, and the adjoining province of Spain. By this means, however, the domestic breed has been, in some respects considerably deteriorated; the horses of this country are rather small, though very hardy, and capable of subsisting entirely upon cane or grass, even when subjected to the hardest labour. They were commonly sold from 30 to 50 and 100 dollars a piece, though paid for in the depreciated currency of the country, bearing a discount of from 10 to 20 per cent.

{80} The singular temperature and general mildness of this climate, which may be presumed from a cursory inspection of its flora and agriculture, and then again the occurrence of considerable frosts in the winter, are circumstances which justly excite astonishment when we survey the same parallels of latitude in the transatlantic regions. Here, in the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, in that of Sidon, and even south of Candia and Cyprus, with its groves of myrtle, near to the latitude of Madeira, and in that of the empire of Morocco, we find the fig annually levelled to the ground by frosts. Not even the low palmetto (_Sabal minor_) indigenous, consequently no prospect of naturalizing the date, so common in the same parallels of Africa; no olive, nor any well-grounded prospect of its success; wines, for which Madeira has so long been celebrated (at least any of superior quality), appear also proscribed from this part of America. No evergreens of any description, except the holly, appear throughout the dreary forests. The north-western winds, sweeping over the arctic deserts of eternal winter, have extended the temperature of northern Europe over all the regions of the United States, nearly to the very limits of the tropic. The climate of Arkansas, scarcely elevated more than 5 or 600 feet above the level of the sea, is not more ardent and less temperate than that of the south of France.

* * * * *

For several miles in and round the town, the accumulation of low mounds or Indian graves, scattered with those fragments of pots, which were either interred or left on the graves with offers of food, by the affectionate friends of the deceased, mark the ancient residence of the natives. In one of the tumuli, on the bank towards the bayou, intersected by the falling away of the earth, a pot of this kind, still employed by the Chicasaws and other natives for boiling their victuals, had fallen out of the grave, and did not appear {81} to be of very ancient interment. Whether these monuments had been the slow accumulation of natural and casual mortality, or the sad remains of some overwhelming destruction, was now impossible to determine. From the ashes of fires, and fragments of charcoal, besides the accompaniment of many indestructible weapons, utensils, and pots broken into fragments by force, I suspect that these mounds are merely incidental, arising from the demolition of the circular dwelling in which the deceased had been interred, a custom which was formerly practised by the Natchez, Cherokees, and other of the natives. Indeed, the sacrifices and offerings which the Indians formerly made to the manes of the deceased father, were sometimes almost ruinous to his family, though no longer blackened by the immolation of human victims. Father Charlevoix[81] relates, that stopping, as he descended the Mississippi, at a village of Ouyapes (or Wyapes), the same with the Quapaws (or, as they call themselves, O-guah-pas), then living near the confluence of White river with the Mississippi, he found them in great distress from the ravages of the small-pox. Their burying-place appeared “like a forest of poles and posts newly set up, and on which there hung all manner of things: there is every thing which the savages use.” The men and women both continued lamenting throughout the night, and repeating without ceasing, “_Nihahani_, as the Illinois do, and in the same tone.” A mother weeping over the grave of her son, poured upon it a great quantity of Sagamitty (or hominy). Another kindled a fire near one of the tombs,[82] probably for the purpose of sacrificing food, as I have seen practised by the Pawnee-Rikasrees[83] of the Missouri.

The aborigines of this territory, now commonly called Arkansas or Quapaws and Osarks, do not at this time number more than about 200 warriors.[84] They {82} were first discovered about the year 1685, by Chevalier de Tonti.[85] From what source Father Charlevoix ascertains that they were very numerous in the time of Ferdinand de Soto, I am unable to learn. In the abridged relation of this expedition by Purchas,[86] cannot possibly discover any thing relating to them. The people of Quigaute must have occupied a country not far from the Arkansa, and are said by La Vega[87] to have been numerous and powerful, but that they were the same people as the Arkansas or O-guah-pas, seems by no means probable. From their own tradition it does not appear that they were visited by the whites previous to the arrival of La Salle; they say, that many years had elapsed before they had any interview with the whites, whom they had only heard of from their neighbours.

In a council held with the Quapaws some years ago, concerning the boundaries of the lands which they claimed, a very old chieftain related to the agent, that at a very remote period his nation had descended the Mississippi, and after having proceeded in one body to the entrance of a large and muddy river (the Missouri), they had there divided, one party continuing down the Mississippi, and the other up the miry river. The descending band were checked in their progress by the Kaskaskias,[88] whose opposition they at length subdued. In their further descent they were harassed by the Chicasaws and Choctaws, and waged war with them for some considerable time, but, at length, overcoming all opposition, they obtained the banks of the Arkansa, where they have remained ever since. Some of them, reverting apparently to the period of creation, say, that they originally emerged out of the water, but made many long and circuitous journeys upon that element, previous to their arrival on the banks of this river.

As their language scarcely differs from that of the Osages, Kanzas, Mahas, and Poncas of the Missouri, it is presumable that these sprung from the band {83} which ascended the Missouri. They say, they remained separated from a knowledge of each other for many years, until mutually discovered on a hunting party, taking each other at first for enemies, till assured to the contrary by both uttering the same language.

They bear an unexceptionally mild character, both amongst the French and Americans, having always abstained, as they say, from offering any injury to the whites. Indeed, to do them justice, and to prove that this opinion concerning them is no modern prejudice, I cannot do less than quote the testimony of Du Pratz,[89] made about a century ago. Speaking of the Arkansa territory, he adds, “I am so prepossessed in favour of this country, that I persuade myself the beauty of the climate has a great influence on the character of the inhabitants, who are at the same time very gentle, and very brave. They have ever had an inviolable friendship for the French, uninfluenced thereto, either by fear or views of interest; and live with them as brethren, rather than as neighbours.”[90] They say, that in consequence of their mildness and love of peace, they have been overlooked by the Americans; that they are ready enough to conciliate by presents those who are in danger of becoming their enemies, but neglect those who are their unchangeable friends.

The complexion of the Quapaws, like that of the Choctaws and Creeks, is dark, and destitute of any thing like the cupreous tinge. The symmetry of their features, mostly aquiline, often amounts to beauty, but they are not to be compared in this respect to the Osages, at least those of them which now remain. Charlevoix says, “The Akansas (as he calls them) are reckoned to be the tallest and best shaped of all the savages of this continent, and they are called, by way of distinction, _the fine men_.” I question, however, whether this epithet is not similar to that of the {84} Illinois, and the Llenilenape, or “original and genuine men,” as it is translated, of the Delawares.[91] The name of Akansa or Arkansa, if ever generally assumed by the natives of this territory, is now, I am persuaded, scarcely ever employed; they generally call themselves O-guah-pa or Osark, from which last epithet, in all probability, has been derived the name of the river and its people; indeed, I have heard old French residents in this country, term it Riviere des Arks or d’Osark.

They employ artificial means to eradicate that pubescence from their bodies, which is, indeed, naturally scanty. The angle of the eye is usually elongated, but never turned up exteriorly, as it is said, in common with the Tartars, by Humboldt, to be the case with the Mexicans.

Although they may be said to be taciturn, compared with Frenchmen, their passions are not difficult to excite.

As hunters, they are industrious, but pay little attention to agriculture; and pleased by intercourse with the whites, they are not unwilling to engage as boatmen and hunters.

About a century ago, father Charlevoix describes the Arkansas as occupying four villages; that which he visited was situated on the bank of the Mississippi, in a little meadow, which was (in 1819) M’Lane’s landing, the only contiguous spot free from inundation. The people called Akansas by this author, were then made up of the confederated remnants of ruined tribes. The villages which he visited, called themselves Ouyapes, evidently the O-guah-pa. On the Arkansa, six miles from the landing, there was a second village, consisting of the Torimas and Topingas. Six miles higher were the Sothouis, and a little further was the village of the Kappas;[92] these are again the same people as the Quapaws or O-guah-pas.

{85} In the time of Du Pratz, the Arkansas had all retired up the river of this name, and were living about twelve miles from the entrance of White river. They were still said to be pretty considerable in numbers, and had been joined by the Kappas, the Michigamias,[93] and a part of the Illinois. He likewise remarks, that they were no less distinguished as warriors than hunters, and that they had succeeded in intimidating the restless and warlike Chicasaws.[94] Indeed, the valour and the friendship of the Arkansas is still gratefully remembered by the Canadians and their descendants, and it is much to be regretted that they are making such evident approaches towards total destruction. The brave manner in which they opposed the Chicasaws, has long ensured them the quiet possession of their present country. Among the most extraordinary actions which they performed against those perfidious Indians, is the story which has been related to me by major Lewismore Vaugin,[95] one of the most respectable residents in this territory. The Chicasaws, instead of standing their ground, were retreating before the Quapaws, whom they had descried at a distance, in consequence of the want of ammunition. The latter understanding the occasion, were determined to obviate the excuse, whether real or pretended, and desired the Chicasaws to land on an adjoining sand-beach of the Mississippi, giving them the unexpected promise of supplying them with powder for the contest. The chief of the Quapaws then ordered all his men to empty their powder-horns into a blanket, after which, he divided the whole with a spoon, and gave the half to the Chicasaws. They then proceeded to the combat, which terminated in the killing of 10 Chicasaws, and the loss of five prisoners, with the death of a single Quapaw.

I am informed, that it is a custom of the Quapaws, after firing the first volley, to throw aside their guns, and make a charge with their tomahawks.

{86} The treacherous Osages, to whom they are naturally allied by the ties of consanguinity, at one period claimed the assistance of the Quapaws, with the secret intention of betraying them to destruction. Arriving near the scene of action, and discovering, as was said, the encampment of the supposed enemy, the Osages parted from their friends, under pretence of ambuscading the enemy. Their conduct, however guarded, had not, it seems, been sufficient to remove the suspicions of the wary leader of the Quapaws, who now concerted measures of security. The Quapaws made their fires as usual, but secretly left them, in order to watch the motions of the Osages, who, as it had been suspected, crept up to their encampment in the dead of night, and fired a volley near the fires, not doubting but they had destroyed those who had seemingly confided in their friendship. But at this instant, the Quapaws, sufficiently prepared, arose from their concealment, and exercised a just chastisement on the traitors.

The social regulations, as well as the superstitions and ideas of the supernatural entertained by the Quapaws, are no way materially distinct from those which are practised by their eastern and northern neighbours. The most simple testimonies of attachment, without the aid of solemn vows, are thought sufficient to complete a conjugal felicity, which, where all are equal, in wealth and property, can only be instigated through the desire of personal gratification or mutual attachment, and can but seldom be attended with that coldness and disgust, which is but too common, where this sacred tie is knit by avarice. Neither is this contract controlled by any unnatural and overruling policy. The obligation to decorum and the essential ties of society are not abandoned by the Indian, in consequence of his being freed from that perpetual restraint, which appears to have been requisite in civilized society. The father can recall his daughter from {87} the habitation of one who has rendered himself odious to his child. The husband can abandon the wife who has made herself obnoxious to his house and family. They are only united by the bonds of mutual esteem and reciprocal friendship; they will, of course, endeavour to deserve it of each other, as affording a gratification to themselves, no less than to their parents and relatives.

As the marriage is never ostentatious, or strictly ceremonious, so its disavowal, when not induced by any thing flagrant, is not a matter to alarm the repose of society. The male children go with the father, the females attend upon the mother. Children, however begotten, are dear to a society ever on the brink of extermination.

That any ceremonies, more than the celebration of a frugal and sober feast, are constantly practised by any of the natives of this country, is much more than can be satisfactorily proved. Among the Quapaws, I have been informed, that the husband, on the consummation of his marriage, presents his wife with the leg of a deer, and she, in return, offers him an ear of maize, both of which are so many symbols of that provision against the calls of necessity, which they are mutually accustomed to provide.[96]

The young and unmarried women of the Quapaws, according to a custom equally prevalent among many other tribes of Indians, wear their hair braided up into two parts, brought round to either ear in a cylindric form, and decorated with beads, wampum, or silver. After marriage these locks are all unfolded, the decorations laid aside for her daughters, and her hair, brought together behind in a single lock, becomes no longer an assiduous object of ornament. According to the History of the Costume of all Nations, this manner of braiding the hair appears to have been equally prevalent among the women of {88} Siberia, Tartary, Turkey, and China. As an expression of the greatest grief and misfortune, anciently practised by many other nations of the world, I have, amongst the aborigines of the Missouri, not unfrequently seen both men and women shave away their hair. It is not, however, I believe, practised by the Indians of the Mississippi, nor among the Quapaws and Osages.

The ideas of supernatural agency, entertained by the Arkansas, are very similar to those which prevail among the natives of the Missouri. Every family, for example, chooses its _penates_, or guardian spirit, from among those various objects of creation which are remarkable for their sagacity, their utility, or power. Some will perhaps choose a snake, a buffaloe, an owl, or a raven; and many of them venerate the eagle to that degree, that if one of those birds should happen to be killed during any expedition, the whole party immediately return home. The large feathers of the war-eagle, which they consider talismanic, are sometimes distributed throughout the nation, as sacred presents, which are expected to act as sovereign charms to those who wear them.

The cure of diseases, though sometimes attempted with rational applications, is not unfrequently sought, among the Quapaws, and many other natives of the continent, in charms and jugglery.

As to the future state, in which they are firm believers, their ideas are merely deduced from what they see around them. Their heaven for hunters is at least as rational as that of some of our own fanatics.

For some considerable time after the interment of a warrior and hunter, his grave is frequented with provision, which, if still remaining, after a reasonable lapse of time, is considered as a sure presage that the deceased has arrived at a bountiful hunting ground, and needs no further supply from the earth.

The Quapaws, though no greater proficients in music than the rest of the Indians, have, however, {89} songs appropriated to love, to death, and to battle, but which are merely so many simultaneous effusions of the heart, accompanied by rude and characteristic airs and dances.

It is hardly necessary to detail the dress of the Arkansas, which scarcely, to my view, in any respect, differs from that of the Delawares, Shawnees, or Chipeways. Its component parts are, as usual, mocasins for the feet; leggings which cover the leg and thigh; a breech-cloth; an overall or hunting shirt, seamed up, and slipped over the head; all of which articles are made of leather, softly dressed by means of fat and oily substances, and often rendered more durable by the smoke with which they are purposely imbued. The ears and nose are adorned with pendents, and the men, as among many other Indian tribes, and after the manner of the Chinese, carefully cut away the hair of the head, except a lock on the crown, which is plaited and ornamented with rings, wampum, and feathers. Many of them, in imitation of the Canadian French, wear handkerchiefs around their heads, but in the manner of a turban. Some have also acquired the habit of wearing printed calicoe shirts next to the skin.

The younger Indians, as I am informed, notwithstanding the neglect of renewing their dress, are so partial to cleanliness of the skin, that they practice bathing both winter and summer.[97]

FOOTNOTES:

[73] The name of _Thyrsanthus_, given by Mr. Elliott, has been already employed for another genus.--NUTTALL.

[74] See _post_, note 133.--ED.

[75] Fort Smith. See chapter viii.--ED.

[76] Probably Charles Bogy, as the name is given by later writers. He was a native of Kaskaskia, Illinois, who came to Arkansas Post with the federal troops which took possession in 1804.--ED.

[77] For a brief history of Arkansas Post, see Cuming’s Tour, volume iv of our series, note 195.--ED.

[78] Of these merchants, Lewis may be the Eli I. Lewis who was clerk of Arkansas County from 1821–29. Local histories mention none of the others save the Frenchman, Frederick Noteribe. He took part in the French Revolution and was an army officer during the consulate, but left France when Napoleon became emperor. Coming to Arkansas about 1815 or 1818, he became a wealthy planter, being considered in the forties the most prominent man in the county. He died of cholera in 1849, at New Orleans.--ED.

[79] The loose system pursued by the Spanish in making land grants caused much trouble after jurisdiction passed to the United States. In 1804 President Jefferson appointed commissioners to examine land titles in the newly-acquired territory, and considerable legislation resulted. Most of these large grants were finally invalidated (1847–48), on the ground of indefiniteness; among them, the Winter grant referred to in the text. This grant was made (1797) to Elisha, William, and Gabriel Winter, William Russell, and Joseph Stillwell. Other large grants in the same region were made to Captain Don Joseph Vallière, on White River (1793); Don Carlos de Villemont, commandant of the post (1795); and Baron de Bastrop (1799).--ED.

[80] A much earlier settlement was made by Chevalier de Tonti, who, in 1685, proceeding from the fort of the Illinois, recently established, down to the mouth of the Mississippi, in order to second the unfortunate La Salle, and not finding him, ascended the river in order to return to his post. In his way he entered the Arkansa, and proceeded up to the village of that nation, with whom he made an alliance, and left 10 of his people, at their earnest request, to settle among them. This small party, occasionally augmented by the Canadians who descended the river, keeping on peaceable terms with the natives, and intermarrying amongst them, continually maintained their ground, though rather by adopting the manners of the Indians, and becoming hunters, than by any regular industry or attention to the arts and conveniences of civilized life. Families of this mixed race are now scattered along the banks of the Arkansa, to the extremity of the present Quapaw reservation.

Had the unfortunate grant of Mr. Law been carried into effect, which proposed to settle at, and round the present village of Arkansas, 9000 Germans from the Palatinate, we should now probably have witnessed an extensive and flourishing colony, in place of a wilderness, still struggling with all the privations of savage life.--NUTTALL.

[81] Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix (1682–1761) was admitted to the Jesuit order in 1698. In 1720 he went to Canada, ascended the St. Lawrence, crossed Illinois, and descended the Mississippi. Passing by the Gulf to St. Domingo, he returned to France in December, 1722, and as a result of his tour wrote an authoritative history of New France.--ED.

[82] Charlevoix’s Historical Journal, p. 307, London Edition.--NUTTALL.

[83] The Arikara. See Bradbury’s _Travels_, our volume v, note 76.--ED.

[84] The Quapaw belong to the Siouan family; the Omaha, Ponca, Osage, and Kansa being their nearest kindred. In prehistoric time, the Siouan stock dwelt east of the Mississippi. The five tribes mentioned constituted one nation, which dwelt near the Ohio River; the Illinois called them Arkansa. When, in the course of their migration westward, the Siouan tribes separated, at the mouth of the Ohio, those who turned down the Mississippi became known as the Quapaw, meaning “the down-stream people.” The rest, who went up the river, received the name Omaha, “those going against the current.” See Dorsey, “Migrations of Siouan Tribes,” in _The American Naturalist_, xx, p. 211.

Notwithstanding Nuttall’s account, the Quapaw are doubtless the same Indians whom De Soto encountered in this region. It is surprising that our author does not think of identifying them with the “Capaha” of La Vega. He may have been misled by the name “Pacaha,” which he takes (see Appendix) from the “Gentleman of Elvas” and Biedma (see _post_, note 87). The seat of the Quapaw in De Soto’s time is variously placed, by modern students, on the Red, White, St. Francis, and Mississippi rivers; but it is agreed that, roughly speaking, their territory was the lower Arkansas valley. In the early days of French exploration, they were still partly east of the Mississippi.

The Quapaw lands were purchased by treaties in 1818 and 1824 (see _post_ note 102), and the tribe was removed during the winter of 1825–26 to a reservation in the extreme northeast corner of Indian Territory. At that time it numbered 158 men, 123 women, and 174 children; the present population is about 275, and the tribe is practically civilized.--ED.

[85] Henri de Tonty (Italian form, Tonti) was the son of an Italian refugee at Paris. The father was the originator of the form of life insurance known from the inventor as tontine. In 1678 Henri sailed from Rochelle with La Salle, and with him (1682) descended the Mississippi. After this expedition, Tonty returned to the Illinois and was there engaged in the fur-trade until 1702. In 1686, hearing of La Salle’s ill-fated attempt to found a colony on the Texas coast, he sought in vain to find him with a relief party. (See Cuming’s _Tour_, volume iv of our series, note 195.) In 1702 he joined D’Iberville in lower Louisiana, and his subsequent career is unknown. Tonty having lost a hand by the explosion of a grenade in the Sicilian wars, wore in place of the lost member a metal hand covered with a glove, which on several occasions he used to good purpose on disorderly Indians, gaining their regard as great “medicine.”

Nuttall is in error in assigning the first visit of Tonty to the Quapaw to the year 1685. La Salle and his followers ascended the Arkansas in March, 1682, and in the open space in the midst of the Quapaw village raised a cross bearing the arms of France, taking formal possession of the country in the name of their king. The official report of this occurrence was dated March 13–14, 1682. See document in Margry, _Découvertes et Établissements des Français_ (Paris, 1877), ii, p. 181. For a secondary account, see Parkman, _La Salle_ (Boston, 1892), index. In 1686, as Tonty ascended the Mississippi after his vain search for La Salle, he visited the Arkansas village and left six men to hold a post. Nuttall seems to have confused the two visits.--ED.

[86] Samuel Purchas, born in Essex about 1575, attempted to continue the work of Hakluyt, and collected numerous MSS. in addition to those left to him by the latter. Several editions of _Hakluytus Posthumus; or Purchas, his pilgrimes_, were published in London, the best being that of 1626. The abstracts of the journals printed are imperfect, for Purchas in his editorial work was neither accurate nor judicious. Most of the material is now accessible in better editions; but Purchas’s collection still has value for the student, because it contains some accounts not recorded elsewhere. Volumes iii and iv deal with America; the account of De Soto’s explorations is in volume iv.--ED.

[87] Garcilaso Inca de la Vega, born at Cuzco about 1540, was the son of a member of an illustrious Spanish family and on his mother’s side was of the Peruvian blood royal. His history of Peru is the chief original ancient authority, and includes a narrative of De Soto’s explorations, based, it is said, on the account given him by a soldier who took part in the expedition. It is one of the three important sources of our information regarding De Soto’s wanderings. The others are, the narrative by the “Gentleman of Elvas,” who was a Portuguese adventurer in De Soto’s company, and that of Biedma, a Spanish factor on the expedition. For a critical discussion of the value of these sources, see Hakluyt Society _Publications_, ix, introduction; this volume contains Hakluyt’s translation of the account of the “Gentleman of Elvas” (London, 1851).--ED.

[88] On the Kaskaskia Indians, see André Michaux’s _Travels_, in our