volume vi of our series, note 3.--ED.

[153] Hay Cabin Creek and Blue Water are now known respectively as the Little Blue River and Big Blue River (or Creek; not to be confounded with the Big Blue of Kansas). Both debouche in Jackson County, Missouri. The Warreruza is the modern Wakarusa (the meaning of which is variously given as "thigh deep" and "river of big weeds"), which flows across Shawnee and Douglas counties, Kansas, to the northeast corner of the latter. Full Creek (or River) is the present Upper Mill Creek, another southern tributary of the Kansas, the mouth of which is in northeastern Wabaunsee County, by a direct line about fifty miles above the confluence of the Wakarusa. Pike's chart of 1806, which Say's party possessed, shows Hay Cabin Creek, Blue Water, Warreruza, and Full River successively, south of the Missouri and Kansas. There are several other creeks, however, between the Blue Water and Warreruza which Pike does not show, and the Warreruza is a larger stream than his chart indicates. Say's party apparently mistook one of the small streams for the Warreruza, and, upon reaching the latter, mistook it in turn for Full Creek. They could hardly have traced the course of Full Creek from the lower Warreruza, where they must have been on August eleventh. This error explains their doubt, while encamped on the Kansas on August sixteenth, whether they were above or below the Indian village, which is plainly shown on Pike's chart as situated at the mouth of Blue Earth (Big Blue) River.--ED.

[154] When Say's party reached the Kansas, they had crossed Johnson and Douglas counties, following the high prairie country which lies from six to fifteen miles south of the river. The camp on the thirteenth was probably not far from Lecompton; by the sixteenth, they must have been near Topeka.

Big Blue River (Blue Earth on the map), at the mouth of which the Kansa village stood, rises in Nebraska, flows through Marshall County, Kansas, and forms the boundary between Riley and Pottawatomie counties. Near the confluence, a westward bend of the Big Blue forms a peninsula about two miles long and half a mile wide, which was the site of the village. A few years ago the exact locations of the lodges were still indicated by circular ridges and depressions, from which a map of the village was prepared (see Kansas Historical Society _Transactions_, 1881, p. 288). The site was partially abandoned in 1830, and three villages constructed near Topeka; these in turn were abandoned when the territory which contained them was ceded to the United States in 1846.--ED.

[155] The Vermillion is a Pottawatomie County stream about twenty miles east of the Big Blue.--ED.

[156] Pike, p. 144.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The reference is to _An Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi and through the Western Parts of Louisiana_, etc. (Philadelphia, 1810). Pike mediated a peace treaty between the Kansa and Osage, at the Pawnee village on Republican River, September 28, 1806.

{122} CHAPTER VII

Further Account of the Konza Nation--Robbery of Mr. Say's Detachment by a War-Party of Pawnees--Arrival at the Platte.

The Konza warriors, like those of some others of the Missouri tribes on their departure on a war excursion, sometimes make vows, binding themselves never to return until they have performed some feat which they mention, such as killing an enemy, striking an enemy's dead body, or stealing a horse. An instance lately occurred of a warrior who had been long absent under a vow of this sort, and finding it impossible to meet an enemy, and being in a starving condition, he returned to his own village by night, with the determination of accomplishing his vow, by killing and scalping the first person he should meet. This person happened to be the warrior's own mother, but the darkness of the night prevented the discovery until he had accomplished his bloody purpose.

On the 23d of August, Mr. Say's party began to prepare for leaving the Konza village, where they had been treated with much hospitality. They purchased a number of articles for their use on the journey they proposed to take, such as jerked bison meat, pounded maize, bison fat put up like sausages, mockasins, leggings, spoons made of the horn of the bison, two large wooden dishes, &c. They received also an addition to their cavalcade of two horses, one belonging to Major O'Fallon, and another which they procured from a Frenchman residing in the village.

A Pawnee prisoner, an interesting young man, {123} was brought to them, who said he was desirous to accompany them to his nation, but at the same time was afraid his people would not recognize him, and would kill him for a Konza. He was promised protection, but at the same time it was remarked to him, that if he should attempt to steal the horses of the party on the way, they would certainly pursue him and take his scalp.

On the 24th, says Mr. Say, having been detained until afternoon in searching for our horses, we departed, accompanied by several Indians, who intended to pass the night with us and to return to the village the following morning.

Our path led along the margin of Blue Earth Creek, a stream of the width of twenty-five yards, and greatest depth of three feet, which discharges into the river a mile or two above the Konza village. The soil supports but a thin growth of grass, and the timber is far from abundant, consisting principally of different sorts of oak, confined to the margin of the creek, its ravines and tributaries. One of our Indian followers, who, although a chief of the extinct Missouri nation,[157] has yet much influence with the Konzas, wished to exchange a horse he had with him for one of ours, which was evidently a less valuable animal. The reason he assigned in explanation of his desire of such an apparently disadvantageous exchange was, that his horse had been presented to him by a person, who, he feared, intended to reclaim him, but that if he should exchange him for another horse, he would be secure in the possession of the individual so obtained, as an Indian will not reclaim a present which is not identically the same he had given. At the distance of seven miles from the village, our party encamped by the side of the creek, in a narrow, but beautiful and level prairie bottom, which was bounded by an abrupt, though verdant range of bluffs.

Mr. Dougherty and one of the Indians went in {124} quest of game, and having supplied the two remaining Indians with a pipe and tobacco, we were partaking of some refreshment, when one of the party suddenly drew our attention to an extensive cloud of dust, which arose from the plain, and which we soon perceived but partially concealed a body of Indians, who had already approached within a quarter of a mile, and were now running with great swiftness. Our Indian followers now displayed all their activity; the chief seized his gun, and ran towards the advancing multitude to obtain his horse, which he mounted and rode off at full speed, whilst his companion disappeared in the bushes in an instant. This was a sufficient intimation that a hostile party was before us, and a timely admonition of the approach of danger. Our men were therefore drawn up in a line, and all prepared themselves for defence in case of extremity.

The advancing party were armed, decorated, and painted, for battle, but they manifested, as they rushed up to us, the most pacific deportment, shaking us by the hand, putting their arms about our necks, and raising their hands with the palm towards us, in token of peace. We were not, however, disposed to rely upon these assurances of friendship, being fully aware of the difficulties which their partizans would have to surmount in checking the inconsiderate prowess of the younger warriors. We now observed some of them seizing our horses, which were staked at some distance: they mounted them and rode swiftly in the direction that the chief had taken, but they soon returned. It soon became necessary to protect our baggage by arranging ourselves around it; still, however, in despite of our vigilance, many of our small articles were stolen. They begged for whiskey and tobacco; and a small portion of the latter was given them. Amidst the confusion arising from the incessant and rapid movements of the Indians, we observed an individual bearing off a small {125} package of very fine pounded meat; I immediately pointed out the circumstance to the partizan, and directed him to recover it and punish the thief; he complied by wresting the meat from the grasp of the latter, and from that of several others who had been contending for portions of it, placed it beneath his feet, and defended it with his lance; but Chabonneau, to whom the meat belonged, declaring that he had given it to them, they were permitted to retain it. A tent which had been pitched for me in consideration of my illness, and in which my blanket, pistols, together with some small articles, had been deposited, was plundered of its contents; it was finally cut down, and would have been taken away, had we not made an effort to preserve it. During the whole transaction those warriors, who stood at a short distance, intently watched our movements, as if they were led to believe, from the attitude we assumed, that we would attempt to repel them, even with our inadequate force. No sudden action or motion of any one of the party escaped them; and individuals were frequently observed to draw their arrows to test the elasticity of the bows. At a critical juncture, a tall and graceful Indian cocked his gun fiercely, and put his war whistle to his mouth, but the signal was not blown. Amongst numerous incidents that occurred during the half hour that we were surrounded by them, an individual attempted to seize a knapsack belonging to one of the soldiers, and immediately under his observation; the latter placed his foot upon the knapsack to detain it, and at the same time prepared his gun as if to shoot the offender, who leaped backward with great agility, and with an ejaculation of pleasure, drew his arrow to the head. The whole party precipitately retreated just as Mr. Dougherty returned from hunting; being briefly informed of the nature of their visit, he called aloud to the fugitives in their own language, but they passed on without heeding him, taking our {126} horses with them. I had by a rough estimate fixed their number at one hundred and forty; they were chiefly armed with the bow and arrow, and lance, with the usual accompaniments of tomahawks, war-clubs, and knives, together with a few guns. Fortunately no personal indignity was offered us; yet we could not repress a sensation of much mortification at the prospect of a frustration of our enterprise, which now seemed inevitable, and of extreme vexation at the irreparable loss of our horses, which no exertions of ours could have saved: an appeal to arms, except in the last extremity, would have been the height of imprudence, conquest being hopeless, and escape almost impossible.

Soon after their departure Mr. Jessup and Chabonneau set out for the village to procure assistance, for the purpose of removing our camp to that place from which we recommenced our journey at a moment so unpropitious; whilst we busied ourselves in removing the baggage to a situation amongst the neighbouring bushes, which appeared favourable for concealment, and for defence, in case of a night attack, which was confidently anticipated. Several alarms occurred during the night, and on the return of day we observed thirty mounted Indians riding swiftly towards us. The chief, who left us so precipitately the preceding evening, on his arrival at the village, hastily assembled a little band of warriors for the purpose of returning immediately to our assistance, and it was he and his party, that we had now the pleasure to greet. They expressed great satisfaction, when they learned that we were all uninjured. After saluting us cordially, they pursued the trail of the Pawnees for some distance, and from the footsteps in the grass, and other appearances, to be duly appreciated only by the eye of an Indian, they estimated the number of the Pawnees at one hundred and thirty. On their return they restored to us some bacon and other articles, which had been {127} carried off by the fugitives, and rejected as not at all to their taste. We were now supplied with a conveyance for ourselves and our baggage, and were conducted back to the village.

The Indians who committed this robbery, were a war-party of the republican Pawnees, and were about one hundred and forty in number. Their nation was at war with the Konzas.

Mr. Say's party were kindly received at the village they had left on the preceding day. In the evening they had retired to rest in the lodge set apart for their accommodation, when they were alarmed by a party of savages rushing in, armed with bows, arrows, and lances, shouting and yelling in a most frightful manner. The gentlemen of the party had immediate recourse to their arms; but observing that some squaws, who were in the lodge, appeared unmoved, they began to suspect that no molestation to them was intended. The Indians collected around the fire in the centre of the lodge, yelling incessantly; at length their howlings assumed something of a measured tone, and they began to accompany their voices with a sort of drum and rattles. After singing for some time, one who appeared to be their leader, struck the post over the fire with his lance, and they all began to dance, keeping very exact time with the music. Each warrior had, besides his arms, and rattles made of strings of deer's hoofs, some part of the intestines of an animal inflated, and enclosing a few small stones, which produced a sound like pebbles in a gourd shell. After dancing round the fire for some time, without appearing to notice the strangers, they departed, raising the same wolfish howl, with which they had entered; but their music and their yelling continued to be heard about the village during the night.

This ceremony, called the _dog dance_, was performed by the Konzas for the entertainment of their guests. Mr. Seymour took an opportunity to sketch {128} the attitudes and dresses of the principal figures.[158]

Finding it impracticable to obtain horses by purchase, out of their almost exhausted stock of merchandize, to enable them to prosecute their march to Council Bluff, after due deliberation, they saw no alternative, but to endeavour to hire horses on credit, and to make the best of their way for Cow Island, in hopes of meeting the steamboat there. A Frenchman, Mr. Gunville, resident with this nation, agreed to furnish two pack horses, and a saddle horse for Mr. Say, whose state of health would not admit of his continuing the journey on foot. Thus furnished they prepared to depart, and in the meantime two runners were despatched to inform Major Long of their situation by letter.

On the 25th of August, Mr. Say and his party again left the Konza village, accompanied by the French trader, who had furnished them two horses, and by a Missouri Indian; but this last had followed them only a few miles, when he repented of his undertaking and returned.

In pursuing the most direct route from the Konza village to the Missouri, they crossed at the distance of seventeen miles, the Vermilion, a small stream bordered with handsome forests. Nineteen miles beyond this they arrived at the sources of Grasshopper Creek, where they encamped on the evening of the 27th.[159] Here the soil changes somewhat abruptly. The high prairies about the Vermilion and Blue Earth creeks are barren, almost naked, and inhabited by some orbicular lizards. About Grasshopper Creek the soil is fertile, the grass dense and luxuriant.

On the 29th they arrived at Isle au Vache, and were hospitably received by Colonel Morgan and the officers of his command, but had the mortification to learn that Major Long, after waiting a sufficient time to enable the Indian agent to complete his negotiations {129} with the Konzas, had departed with the steam-boat before the arrival of the messengers, that had been sent to notify him of their disaster. These runners had been despatched immediately after their arrival, with instructions to overtake the steam-boat, and to deliver Mr. Say's letter, but after some days they returned, without having been able to effect any thing.

It was now determined that Mr. Say and Mr. Jessup, who on account of ill health, were unable to travel farther on foot, should for the present remain at Isle au Vache, while the other gentlemen of the detachment should continue their journey. Mr. Dougherty, from his intimate acquaintance with the country, was of opinion that by crossing in the nearest direction from Isle au Vache to the mouth of Wolf river, they might yet overtake the steam-boat. They accordingly placed themselves under his guidance, and, by great exertion, fortunately arrived at the mouth of Wolf river, on the evening of the 1st of September, as the steam-boat was passing.

The country south-west of the Missouri, between the Konzas and the Platte, is drained principally by Wolf river and the Great Nemahaw. These rivers, like the Nodowa and Nishnebottona, which enter the Missouri nearly opposite them from the north-east, rise in the prairies at an elevation probably of forty or fifty feet above the level of the Missouri. As they descend, their vallies becoming gradually wider, embosom a few trees, and at length, near their entrance into the Missouri valley, are forests of considerable extent. The surface of these prairies presents a constant succession of small rounded hills, becoming larger and more abrupt as you approach the beds of the rivers. The soil is deep, reposing usually on horizontal beds of argillaceous sandstone, and secondary limestone. In all the limestones along the Missouri, we observe a tendency to crystalline structure, and they have often a reddish or yellowish white {130} colour. There is, however, always something in the arrangement and in the aspect of the crystals to distinguish these sparry varieties from the primitive granular limestone, to which they have something of general resemblance. The horizontal disposition of the strata of this limestone, the great numbers of organic relics contained in it, and its intimate connexion with coal strata, indicate with sufficient clearness its relation to the secondary rocks. No person who shall examine this stratum with the least attention, either about the Nemahaw and the Konzas, or in the mining district at the sources of the Gasconade, the Merameg, and the St. Francis, will for a moment mistake it for any of those varieties of transition or primitive limestone, which it in some respects so closely resembles. The crystalline varieties, no less than the compact blue limestones, embrace numerous masses of chert or hornstone. This occurs of various colours, and these are arranged in spots or stripes. Some specimens have several distinct colours arranged in zigzag lines, somewhat resembling the fortification agate. The hunters use fragments of this stone for gun-flints; the savages also formerly employed it in the manufacture of arrow points and other implements.[160]

The soil superimposed upon these strata of limestone, is a calcareous loam. Near the rivers it is intermixed with sand; this is also the case with the soil of the high prairies about the Konzas village. In ascending the Konzas river, one hundred, or one hundred and twenty miles from the Missouri, you discover numerous indications, both in the soil, and its animal and vegetable productions, of an approach to the borders of that great Sandy Desert, which stretches eastward from the base of the Rocky Mountains. You meet there with the orbicular lizard, or "horned frog," an inhabitant of the arid plains of {131} New Mexico. You distinguish also some cacti, as well as many of those plants allied to chenopodium and salsola, which delight in a thirsty muriatiferous soil. The catalogue of the forest trees belonging to the vallies of this region is not very copious. The cotton-wood and the plane tree, every where form conspicuous features of the forests. With these are intermixed the tall and graceful acacia, the honey locust, and the bonduc, or coffee-tree,[161] and several species of juglans, carya and fraxinus, with pinnated or many-parted leaves. Trees of the family of the coniferæ are not of frequent occurrence on the Missouri. About the summits of rocky cliffs are here and there a few cedars or junipers, the only trees that retain their verdure during the winter.

The prairies, for many miles on each side of the Missouri, produce abundance of good pasturage; but as far as our observation has extended, the best soil is a margin from ten to twelve miles in breadth, along the western bank of the river. In the summer very little water is to be found in the prairies, all the smaller streams failing, even though the season be not unusually dry. On account of the want of wood and of water, the settlements will be for a long time confined to the immediate vallies of the Missouri, the Konzas, and the larger rivers; but it is probable, forests will hereafter be cultivated in those vast woodless regions, which now form so great a proportion of the country; and wells may be made to supply the deficiency of running water.

We have seen at Bellefontain, as well as at several other points on this river, a pretty species of sparrow, which is altogether new to us;[162] and several specimens of a serpent have occurred, which has considerable affinity with the pine-snake of the southern states, or bull-snake of Bartram.[163]

Having received on board the detachment that had arrived from the Konza village, except Messrs. {132} Say and Jessup, who, on account of ill health, remained at Isle au Vache, we left the mouth of Wolf river on the 2nd of September. A party of hunters, furnished with a horse for the transportation of game, were despatched at the same time with instructions to hunt on the south side of the river, and to join us again in the evening. We had little difficulty in procuring a constant supply of venison. Deer are very numerous on this part of the Missouri, and we had several opportunities to kill them from on board, as they were swimming across the river.

Twenty-one miles above the mouth of Wolf river, and on the same side, is the entrance of the Grand Nemahaw, a considerable river which rises in the plains between the Platte and the Republican Fork of the Konzas river, and running eastwardly about one hundred and fifty miles, discharges into the Missouri a little north of latitude forty degrees. In the straightness of its course, the rapidity and turbulence of its stream, it has a general resemblance to the other western tributaries of the Missouri. A few miles above the Nemahaw, and on the opposite side, is the mouth of the Tarkio, a smaller stream.[164]

On the 4th of September we were joined by the hunters, who brought two deer, and informed us they had killed several others. Lieutenant Field's boat was allowed to remain at the encampment of the preceding night, after the departure of the steam-boat, for the purpose of taking on board a large quantity of honey. Swarms of bees were found here in great numbers, and the honey they afforded made a valuable addition to our provisions, consisting now in a great measure of hunters' fare.

Finding one of the valves of the steam-engine much worn and leaky, we were now under the necessity of stopping for a day to have a new one, which we had brought, adapted to its place. Several of the men amused themselves by hunting and fishing. {133} We had now a plentiful supply of game, and many large catfish were taken, some of them weighing more than fifty pounds.

We passed in succession the mouths of the Nishnebottona and the Little Nemahaw,[165] and arrived on the 7th at the Grand Pass. Here the Nishnebottona, a beautiful river about sixty yards wide, approaches within one hundred and fifty yards of the Missouri, being separated from it by a sandy prairie, rising scarcely twenty feet above the surface of the water. After pursuing for a short distance a parallel course, the two rivers diverge, and the Nishnebottona meanders along the side of the Missouri valley, about sixty miles to its confluence with the latter river.[166] From this point is a pleasing view of the hills called the Baldpated Prairie, stretching along the north-eastern side of the Nishnebottona, and diminished to the size of anthills in the distant perspective.[167] Here the navigation is much obstructed by sand-bars, and the ordinary current of the Missouri, according to the statement of Lewis and Clarke, corroborated by our observation, is something more than one fathom per second.[168] In many places the Missouri hurries across concealed sand bars and other obstructions, with the velocity of seven, eight, or even twelve feet in a second.[169] Between these obstructions, the channel becomes deeper, and the current more moderate; consequently the aggregate velocity at times of low water may be reckoned something less than six feet to the second. As the volume of water is increased by the heavy rains, and the melting of the snows within the Rocky Mountains, the current is proportionably accelerated, and becomes more equable, running for many miles in succession, not less than seven hundred and twenty feet per minute. At the time of our ascent the summer floods had not entirely subsided, and in contending against the current, we found occasion {134} in a few instances to make use of the towing rope.

About thirteen miles above the Grand Pass is a point where Lewis and Clarke witnessed the falling of a portion, about three-fourths of a mile in length, of a high cliff of sandstone and clay. Appearances have considerably changed since the time of their journey. There is still an indentation along the bluff, showing the upper part of the portion which had slid down, but the whole is now covered with grass. The river has retired from the base of the cliff it was then undermining. A grassy plain, of some extent, occupies the spot where the bed of the river must have been; but this prairie is, in its turn, experiencing the vicissitude incident to every thing along the bank of the Missouri, and is evidently very soon to disappear entirely. A mile or two above this point are cliffs of sandstone and indurated clay, in a state of rapid disintegration. Here we observed extensive beds of aluminous earth, of a dark grey colour, alternating with red and yellowish white sandstone. Here are also numerous vegetable remains, which Mr. Say thought to consist of the limbs of trees included in the rock, carbonized and often intermixed with pyrites; smaller limbs in short fragments lay intermixed, and crossing each other in every direction.

Among other things, we observed here what appeared to be the cast of the seed vessel of the nelumbium, of uncommon magnitude. Fragments of mineral coal were observed scattered about the surface.

The mouth of the Platte,[170] where we arrived on the 15th of September is, according to our observations, in latitude 41° 3′ 13″ north. We shall hereafter have occasion to speak more particularly of this river. Its mouth now exhibited a great extent of naked sand-bars, the water, which was transparent and of a greenish colour, flowing almost unseen through a number of small channels. Masses of sand accumulate at the mouth of the Platte, rendering the {135} navigation of the Missouri at that point extremely difficult. The Platte, during its floods, pours into the Missouri a volume of water, considerably exceeding in magnitude that of the latter river, occasioning a reflux of the waters for many miles. From the Platte upward, the annual range from high to low water in the Missouri, may be rated at about eighteen feet.

Above the Platte, the scenery of the Missouri becomes much more interesting. The bluffs on each side are more elevated and abrupt, and being absolutely naked, rising into conic points, split by innumerable ravines, they have an imposing resemblance to groups of high granitic mountains, seen at a distance. The forests within the valley are of small extent, interspersed with wide meadows covered with carices and cyperaceæ, with some species of limnetis, polypogon, and arundo, sometimes sinking into marshes occupied by sagittarias, alismas, and others of the hydrocharidæ. The woodlands here, as on the whole of the Missouri below, are filled with great numbers of pea vines,[171] which afford an excellent pasturage for horses and cattle. The roots of the apios tuberosa were much sought after, and eaten by the soldiers, who accompanied us in our ascent. They are little tubers about half an inch in diameter, and when boiled are very agreeable to the taste. Two and a half miles above the mouth of the Platte, and on the same side, is that of the Papilion, a stream of considerable length, but discharging little water.[172] Here we found two boats belonging to the Indian traders at St. Louis. They had passed us some days before, and were to remain for the winter at the mouth of the Papilion, to trade with the Otoes, Missouries, and other Indians.

The banks of the Missouri, above the Platte, have long been frequented by the Indians, either as places {136} of permanent or occasional residence. Deserted encampments are often seen. On the north-east side, near the mouth of Mosquito river, are the remains of an old Ioway village. Four miles above, and on the opposite side, was formerly a village of the Otoes. On the 17th of September we arrived at the trading establishment of the Missouri Fur Company, known as Fort Lisa, and occupied by Mr. Manuel Lisa, one of the most active persons engaged in the Missouri fur trade. We were received by a salute from this establishment, and encamped a little above, on the same side of the river.[173]

FOOTNOTES:

[157] For sketch of the Missouri Indians, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 26.--ED.

[158] For a description of the dog dance of the Sioux, see Smithsonian Institution _Report_, 1885, part ii, pp. 307, 308.--ED.

[159] Grasshopper Creek rises near the northern line of the state, its mouth being in Jefferson County, opposite Lecompton. The name was changed to Delaware River when the tribe of that name was removed to its lower course.

The route of the party on its return may have been across Pottawatomie and Jackson counties, and through southern Atchison; or, more probably, northern Jefferson and Leavenworth counties.--ED.

[160] Jessup's MS. Report.--JAMES.

[161] The guilandina dioica of Linn., Marshall, &c. but referred by Michaux to the new genus gymnocladus, of which it is the only well ascertained species. It is common throughout the western states, and territories, and in Canada, where it is called by the French Chicot, or stump tree, from the nakedness of its appearance in winter. In the English gardens, where it has been cultivated many years under the name of the hardy bonduc, it has attained considerable magnitude, but has not hitherto been known to produce flowers.--JAMES.

[162] _Fringilla grammaca_, SAY.--Above blackish-brown; _head_ lineated; beneath white, a black line from the inferior base of the inferior mandible, above this a dilated white line; from the angle of the mouth proceeds a black line, which is much dilated and ferruginous behind the eye, and terminates in a contracted black line; a black line from the eye to the superior mandible, enclosed, as well as the eye, by a dilated white line, which is more contracted behind the eye; top of the head with two dilated lines, which are black on the front and ferruginous on the crown and hind head, and separated from each other by a cinereous line; interscapulars and lesser wing coverts margined with dull cinereous or brownish; _wings_ dusky brown, a white spot on the outer webs of the second, third, and fourth primaries, near their bases; _back_ dirty olive-brown; _tail_ rounded; _tail feathers_ twelve, blackish-brown, two intermediate ones immaculate, adjoining ones with a small white spot at tip, which, on the lateral ones, increases in size until on the exterior one it occupies half of the total length of the feather; the exterior web of the outer feather is white to its base; _chin_ and _throat_ white; _neck_ and _breast_ dull cinereous; _abdomen_ and _vent_ white; _feet_ pale, tinged with orange; nail of the middle toe slightly dilated on the inner side.

Length six and a quarter inches.

Shot at Belle Fontain on the Missouri. Many specimens were obtained. The auriculars of the female are yellowish-brown. They run upon the ground like a lark, seldom fly into a tree, and sing sweetly. They were subsequently observed at Engineer Cantonment.--JAMES.

[163] _Coluber obsoletus_, SAY.--_Body_ black above, beneath whitish, with large subquadrate black spots, which are confluent, and pale bluish towards the tail; _throat_ and _neck_ pure white; _sides_ between the scales with red marks.

Description. _Body_ black, _anterior half_ with a series of continuous, dilated dull-red large circles, formed upon the skin between the scales, on the side; on many of the scales, are white marginal dashes near their bases: these scales are placed in groups each side of the vertebræ of the anterior moiety of the body; _scales_ bipunctured at tip; _beneath_ flat, so as to produce an angle or carnia each side; white slightly tinged with yellowish red, irrorate with black points, and spotted with large oblong quadrate marks, which gradually become more continuous, confluent and plumbeous towards the tail, occupying nearly the whole surface; _head_ beneath and _throat_ pure white; posterior _canthus_ of the eye two-scaled; _iris_ blackish; _pupil_ deep-blued black, enclosed by a silvery line.

One specimen, Pl. 228 -- Sc. 67 ? Another specimen Pl. 233 -- Sc. 84 Another specimen Pl. 228 -- Sc. 84 Total length -- 4 feet 11-5/8 inches. Tail length 4 feet 10-1/8 inches.

The lateral red marks are not perceptible, unless the skin be dilated so as to separate the scales; and the small white marginal lines on the bases of some of the scales are observable only on close inspection. It varies in being nearly or quite destitute of spots on the anterior portion of the body beneath, but the posterior half of the inferior surface still remains blackish. The whole animal bears strong resemblance to C. _constrictor_; but the scales are decidedly smaller, and the number of its plates and scales approach it still more closely to that uncertain species C. _ovivorus_. It is not an uncommon species on the Missouri from the vicinity of Isle au Vache to Council Bluff.

_Penis_ terminated by a hemisphere, covered with compressed, white spines, which are reflected at tip; the series interrupted on the posterior side of the member by a canal; _it_ is much dilated, dark reddish brown, abruptly contracted at base from the exterior side, and with a prominent tubercle on the middle of the inner side: length one inch and a quarter, width about seven-sixteenths of an inch.--JAMES.

[164] The Grand Nemahaw, now usually called Big Nemaha, does not rise so far to the west as is here implied. Its sources are in Lancaster County, Nebraska, almost directly north of the mouth of Republican River. The confluence of the Big Nemaha is just above the Kansas-Nebraska line.

There are two streams (Big and Little) called Tarkio Creek. They flow parallel through Atchison and Holt counties, Missouri. The mouth of the Big Tarkio is opposite that of the Big Nemaha; that of the Little Tarkio is now about eleven miles below, but the channel is very changeable. Tarkio is said to mean "full of walnuts."--ED.

[165] The Little Nemaha flows through the Nebraska county of the same name; its mouth is between the towns of Aspinwall and Nemaha.--ED.

[166] Nishnabotna is an Indian word signifying "canoe making river." Fifteen years earlier, Lewis and Clark found the divide between the rivers about three hundred yards wide. At that time the mouth of the Nishnabotna was on the line between Atchison and Holt counties, Missouri. Since then its waters have found their way across Grand Pass, and the old channel below that point has been abandoned. In 1804 the main current of the Missouri ran north of L'Isle Chauve (Bald Island), the middle of which lay opposite Grand Pass. The channel now runs south of this island, while the Nishnabotna, reaching the old channel of the Missouri at the middle of the island, follows it to the confluence of the island's foot. This was the condition in 1879 (see _Map of the Missouri River_, from the government survey, plates xx and xxi), but the channels are constantly shifting.--ED.

[167] Lewis and Clark applied the name "Bald Hills" to "the ridge of naked hills" here described, and "Bald-pated Prairie" to the low lands at their base.--ED.

[168] Lewis and Clarke, vol. i. p. 28.--JAMES.

_Comment by Ed._ The reference is to Biddle's _History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark to the Sources of the Missouri_, etc. (Philadelphia, 1814). See also Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_ (New York, 1904).

[169] This velocity of current is equalled by that of the Cassiquiare in South America, and probably surpassed by the Oronoko, the average descent of whose bed is thirteen inches to the mile of 950 toises (6 feet 4.376 inches per toise). See Humb. Pers. Nar. vol. v. p. 637, and vol. iv. p. 452. La Condamine and Major Rennel suppose the mean descent of the Amazon and the Ganges, scarce four or five inches to the mile, which is about equal to that of the Mississippi, according to the most satisfactory estimates we have been able to make.--JAMES.

[170] Platte River (sometimes called Flatwater and Nebraska, all three names having the same meaning) is the largest tributary of the Missouri. It joins the latter between Sarpy and Cass counties, Nebraska, 640.8 miles from the Mississippi. Its mouth is taken as the line between the "upper" and "lower" Missouri.--ED.

[171] Species of apios, the glycine of Lin.--JAMES.

[172] See Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 40.--ED.

[173] The Mosquito is on the Iowa side, in Pottawatomie County, its mouth being a few miles below Council Bluffs.

For the Oto Indians, Missouri Fur Company, and Manuel Lisa, see Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, notes 42, 149, 64 respectively. Lisa established the post named for him, in 1812, and for a decade it was the most important trading station on the Missouri. It stood about twenty miles above the present town of Council Bluffs (Iowa), on the opposite side of the river.--ED.

{137} CHAPTER VIII

Winter cantonment near Council Bluff--Councils with the Otoes, Missouries, Ioways, Pawnees, &c.

The position selected for the establishment of winter quarters for the exploring party, was on the west bank of the Missouri, about half a mile above Fort Lisa, five miles below Council Bluff, and three miles above the mouth of Boyer's river.[174] At this place we anchored on the 19th of September, and in a few days had made great progress in cutting timber, quarrying stone, and other preparations for the construction of quarters.

Cliffs of sparry limestone rise in the rear of the site we had selected, to an elevation of near three hundred feet.[175] At times of low water, strata of horizontal sandstone are disclosed in the bed of the Missouri. These pass under and support the limestone. Both these strata probably extend in connexion, some distance to the west; but as they are deeply covered with soil, we could not accurately ascertain their boundary in that direction. On the map accompanying this work, we have traced a line running from the Canadian river of the Arkansa, to the Elk Horn, between 96° and 98° west longitude, and marking what we supposed nearly the westernmost limit of the horizontal limestones, and the argillaceous sandstones, disclosed in the beds of the larger rivers.

{138} Both these strata embrace numerous relics of marine animals, many of which we collected.[176]

Immediately after our arrival, an interpreter had been sent across the country, to intercept the traders then on their way to the Pawnees, with considerable quantities of merchandize. It was thought proper to suspend all intercourse with those Indians, until an adjustment of the recent difficulties should take place. In addition to the outrage committed on Mr. Say's party, they had made prisoners of two white hunters from the Arkansa, a father and son, who had been found hunting in the Indian territories. These men had been liberated through the interference of some of the members of the Missouri Fur Company, and had recently arrived at Fort Lisa. During their captivity, they had been treated with such severity by the Pawnees, that they had often entreated an end might be put to their lives.

The interpreter returned on the 20th, having accomplished the object of his mission. Soon afterwards, Mr. Dougherty arrived from the Oto village, whither he had been sent with a deputation to Konzas, to aid in effecting a reconciliation between those nations. This proposition, which originated with the Konzas, was favourably received by the Otoes. Mr. D. was soon afterwards despatched to the Pawnees, with instructions to demand of them the property plundered from Mr. Say's party, also to require that the persons who had committed that outrage should be given up. He was accompanied by two Frenchmen acquainted with the Pawnees and their language.

A party of Otoes arrived at Fort Lisa on the 26th of September, with pack-horses laden with pelfries, and bringing with them a soldier, who, having been accidentally separated from a small detachment that were driving some beeves from Martin's Cantonments, towards Council Bluff, had wandered about in the prairie for five days, without tasting food, {139} when he at last had the good fortune to fall in with the Otoes, who hospitably fed and conducted him to the trading house.

The Council Bluff, so called by Lewis and Clarke, from a council with the Otoes and Missouries held there on the 3d of August 1804, is a remarkable bank rising abruptly from the brink of the river, to an elevation of about one hundred and fifty feet. This is a most beautiful position, having two important military features, security, and a complete command of the river. Its defects are a want of wood within a convenient distance, there being little within a mile above, and much farther below, also a want of stone and of water, except that of the river. From the summits of the hills, about one mile in the rear of the bluff, is presented the view of a most extensive and beautiful landscape. The bluffs on the east side of the river exhibit a chain of peaks stretching as far as the eye can reach. The river is here and there seen meandering in serpentine folds, along its broad valley, chequered with woodlands and prairies, while at a nearer view you look down on an extensive plain interspersed with a few scattered copses or bushes, and terminated at a distance by the Council Bluff.

This position is about five miles above that selected for the wintering post of the exploring party. At the last mentioned place, a very narrow plain or beach, closely covered with trees, intervenes between the immediate bank of the river and the bluffs, which rise near two hundred feet, but are so gradually sloped as to be ascended without great difficulty, and are also covered with trees. This spot presented numerous advantages for the cantonment of a small party like ours. Here were abundant supplies of wood and stone, immediately on the spot where we wished to erect our cabins, and the situation was sheltered by the high bluffs from the north-west winds. The place was called Engineer Cantonment. {140} On the 26th of September, Mr. Say and Mr. Jessup arrived in the flotilla from Cow Island, in company with Col. Morgan, Dr. Gale, and Captain Magee.[177] They had both nearly recovered their health, and entertained the liveliest sense of the eminent politeness and hospitality which had been conferred on them by the above named gentlemen, as well as the other officers of the military expedition.

About one hundred Otoes, together with a deputation of the Ioway nation, who had been summoned to a council by Major O'Fallon, presented themselves at our camp on the 3d of October. The principal chiefs advanced before their people, and upon invitation seated themselves. After a short interval of silence Shonga-tonga, the Big Horse, a large portly Indian of a commanding presence, arose and said, "My father, your children have come to dance before your tent, agreeably to our custom of honouring brave or distinguished persons."

After a suitable reply, by Major O'Fallon, the amusement of dancing was commenced by the striking up of their rude instrumental and vocal music; the former consisting of a gong made of a large keg, over one of the ends of which a skin was stretched, which was struck by a small stick; and another instrument, consisting of a stick of firm wood, notched like a saw, over the teeth of which a smaller stick was rubbed forcibly backward and forward; with these, rude as they were, very good time was preserved with the vocal performers who sat around them, and by all the natives as they sat in the inflection of their bodies, or the movements of their limbs; after the lapse of a little time three individuals leaped up and danced around for a few minutes, then, at a concerted signal from the master of the ceremonies, the music ceased, and they retired to their seats uttering a loud noise, which by patting the mouth rapidly with the hand, was broken into a succession of similar sounds, somewhat like the hurried barking of a dog. Several sets {141} of dancers succeeded, each terminating as the first. In the intervals of the dances, a warrior would step forward and strike a flagstaff they had erected with a stick, whip, or other weapon, and recount his martial deeds. This ceremony is called _striking the post_, and whatever is then said may be relied upon as rigid truth, being delivered in the presence of many a jealous warrior and witness, who could easily detect and would immediately disgrace the _striker_ for exaggeration or falsehood. This is called the beggars' dance, during which some presents are always expected by the performers, as tobacco, whiskey, or trinkets. But on this occasion, as none of those articles were immediately offered, the amusement was not, at first, distinguished by much activity. The master of the ceremonies continually called aloud to them to exert themselves; but still they were somewhat dull and backward. Ietan now stepped forward and lashed a post with his whip, declaring that he would thus punish those who did not dance; this threat from one whom they had vested with authority for this occasion had a manifest effect upon his auditors, who were presently highly wrought up by the sight of two or three little mounds of tobacco twist which were now laid before them, and appeared to infuse new life.

After lashing the post and making his threat, Ietan went on to narrate his martial exploits. He had stolen horses seven or eight times from the Konzas; he had first struck the bodies of three of that nation slain in battle. He had stolen horses from the Ietan nation, and had struck one of their dead. He had stolen horses from the Pawnees, and struck the body of one Pawnee Loup. He had stolen horses several times from the Omawhaws, and once from the Puncas. He had struck the bodies of two Sioux. On a war party, in company with the Pawnees, he had attacked the Spaniards and penetrated into one of their camps; the Spaniards, {142} excepting a man and boy, fled; himself being at a distance before his party, he was shot at and missed by the man, whom he immediately shot down and struck. "This, my father," said he, "is the only martial act of my life that I am ashamed of."[178] After several rounds of dancing, and of striking at the post by the warriors, Mi-a-ke-ta, or the Little Soldier, a war-worn veteran, took his turn to strike the post. He leaped actively about, and strained his voice to its utmost pitch whilst he portrayed some of the scenes of blood in which he had acted. He had struck dead bodies of individuals of all the red nations around, Osages, Konzas, Pawnee Loups, Pawnee Republicans, Grand Pawnees, Puncas, Omawhaws, and Sioux, Padoucas, La Plais or Bald Heads, Ietans, Sauks, Foxes, and Ioways;[179] he had struck eight of one nation, seven of another, &c. He was proceeding with his account when Ietan ran up to him, put his hand upon his mouth, and respectfully led him to his seat. This act was no trifling compliment paid to the well-known brave. It indicated that he had still so many glorious acts to speak of, that he would occupy so much time as to prevent others from speaking, and put to shame the other warriors by the contrast of his actions with theirs.

Their physical action in dancing is principally confined to leaping a small distance from the ground with both feet, the body being slightly inclined, and upon alighting, an additional slight but sudden inclination of the body is made, so as to appear like a succession of jerks; or the feet are raised alternately, the motions of the body being the same. Such are the movements, in which the whole party correspond; but in the figures, as they are termed in our assembly rooms, each individual performs a separate part, and each part is a significant pantomimic narrative. In all their variety of action they are careful to observe the musical cadences. In this dance Ietan represented one who was in the act of stealing {143} horses. He carried a whip in his hand, as did a considerable number of the Indians, and around his neck were thrown several leathern thongs, for bridles and halters, the ends of which trailed upon the ground behind him; after many preparatory manœuvres, he stooped down, and with his knife represented the act of cutting the _hopples_ of horses; he then rode his tomahawk, as children ride their broomsticks, making such use of his whip as to indicate the necessity of rapid movement lest his foes should overtake him. Wa-sa-ba-jing-ga, or Little Black Bear, after a variety of gestures, threw several arrows in succession over his head, thereby indicating his familiarity with the flight of such missiles; he at the same time covered his eyes with his hand to indicate that he was blind to danger. Others represented their manœuvres in battle, seeking their enemy, discharging at him their guns or arrows, &c. &c. Most of the dancers were the principal warriors of the nation, men who had not condescended to amuse themselves or others in this manner for years before; but they now appeared in honour of the occasion, and to conciliate in the best manner the good will of the representative of the government of the Big-knives.[180] Amongst these veteran warriors Ietan, or Sha-mon-e-kus-se, Ha-she-a, the broken arm, commonly called Cut Nose, and Wa-sa-ba-jing-ga, or Little Black Bear, three youthful leaders, in particular attracted our attention. In consequence of having been appointed soldiers on this occasion, to preserve order, they were painted entirely black. The countenance of the former indicated much wit, and had in its expression something of the character of that of Voltaire; he frequently excited the mirth of those about him by his remarks and gestures. Ha-she-a, called Cut Nose, in consequence of having lost the tip of his nose in a quarrel[181] with Ietan, wore a handsome robe of white wolf skin, with an appendage behind him, called a _crow_. This singular decoration is a large cushion, made of the skin of a crow, {144} stuffed with any light material, and variously ornamented; it has two decorated sticks projecting from it upward, and a pendant one beneath; this apparatus is secured upon the buttocks by a girdle passing round the body. The other actors in the scene were decorated with paints of several colours fantastically disposed upon their persons. Several were painted with white clay, which had the appearance of being grooved in many places. This grooved appearance is given by drawing the finger nails over the part so as to remove the pigment from thence in parallel lines. These lines are either rectilinear, undulated, or zigzag; sometimes passing over the forehead transversely or vertically; sometimes in the same directions, or obliquely over the whole visage, or upon the breast, arms, &c. Many were painted with red clay, in which the same lines appeared. A number of them had the representation of a black hand with outspread fingers, on different parts of the body, strongly contrasting with the principal colour with which the body was overspread; the hand was depicted in different positions upon the face, breast, and back. The face of others was coloured, one half black, and one half white, or red and white, &c.; many coloured their hair with red clay; but the eye-lids and base of the ears were generally tinged with vermilion. At the conclusion of the ceremony, whiskey, which they always expect on similar occasions, was produced, and a small portion was given to each. The principal chiefs of the different nations, who had remained passive spectators of the scene, now directed their people to return to their camp. The word of the chiefs was obeyed, excepting by a few of the Ioways, who appeared to be determined to keep their places notwithstanding the reiterated command of the chiefs. Ietan now sprang towards them, with an expression of much ferocity in his countenance, and it is probable a tragic scene would have been displayed had not the chiefs {145} requested him to use gentle means, and thus he succeeded, after which the chiefs withdrew.

October 4th. At ten o'clock, the hour appointed for the council, the Indians, headed by their chiefs, arrived; and after shaking us all by the hand took their seats. There were about one hundred Otoes, seventy Missouries, and fifty or sixty Ioways. They arranged themselves, agreeably to their tribes, on puncheon benches, which had been prepared for them, and which described a semicircle, on the chord of which sat the whites, with Major O'Fallon and his interpreters in the centre. Sentinels walked to and fro behind the benches; and a handsome standard waved before the assembly. The council was opened by a few rounds from the howitzers. A profound silence reigned for a few minutes, when Major O'Fallon arose, and in a very animated and energetic manner addressed his Indian auditors. Suitable replies were given by Shonga-tonga, the Crenier, and others, with all the extravagant gesticulation which is one of the prominent features of Indian oratory.

At the termination of the council, presents were made of blankets, kettles, strouding, tobacco, guns, powder, and ball, &c. The Big Horse and the Crenier only were acknowledged as chiefs, and to the latter, who did not possess a large medal, one was given in exchange for a smaller one which he possessed. No chief was acknowledged amongst the Missouries, as it is the wish of Major O'Fallon to extinguish as much as possible national prejudices between these two nations or tribes.

Cut Nose now presented to the agent his crow and bison robe ornamented with hieroglyphicks. The Little Black Bear presented his robe of white wolf and bison skin, and a pair of handsome leggings. The Black Bird presented a robe and the serrated instrument of music before mentioned, observing, significantly, that the latter was then the only weapon {146} he possessed with which he could defend his father.

October 5th. Last evening Loutre, an old Missouri Indian died; he had spoken in the council a few hours before, and remarked then that he had not long to live. He was buried without ceremony near the trading house.

October 9th. Messengers who had been sent yesterday for the Pawnees returned, having met with them on the Elk Horn creek, twenty-five miles distant, on their way hither.[182] They arrived about noon, seventy in number, consisting of individuals of each of the three tribes, called Grand Pawnees, Pawnee Republicans, and Pawnee Loups, or Pawnemahas, and halted at some distance from our camp. As we approached them we observed the majority of them standing in a forest of young willow trees, holding their mules by the bridles, and looking dubiously around. The chief of the principal band, Long Hair, was haranguing them in a loud voice, "Take off your saddles; why do you stand peeping and trembling in the bushes? you ought to have trembled when the whites were seen near the Konza village, &c." We saluted the principal men in the usual manner of shaking by the hand, though not with much cordiality. Major O'Fallon then said, "Pawnees, encamp here and smoke your pipes in security; you have conducted yourselves badly, but the whites will not harm the red-skins when they have them thus in their power; we fight in the plains, and scorn to injure men seated peaceably by their fires. Think well of what you will have to say to me in council to-morrow." These assurances appeared to annul their present apprehensions, and they proceeded to encamp.

Three boats came from Camp Missouri to take on board a quantity of provisions which are stored here for the troops; we exchanged salutes with them. The noise of the artillery excited the apprehensions of the {147} Indians; who, being sensible of having grossly offended the whites, now anticipated some exemplary punishment, and were not at ease until reassured of their safety, and the cause of the firing of such great guns so near them was explained.

In the evening, accompanied by several gentlemen of the party, we visited the camp of the Pawnees, whom we found sitting round their fires, smoking their pipes in silence. Some were employed in making bows, having found plenty of hickory, and hop horn beam wood here, which are not to be procured in the vicinity of their villages. Their mules were tied to trees, feeding on the bark of the cotton wood. The three tribes were seated around different fires. We sat down in the group of Grand Pawnees, and smoked with their chief Tar-ra-re-ca-wa-o, or Long Hair. This [is] an hereditary chief, of a lofty and rather haughty mien; his mouth is, perhaps through habit, drawn down a little at the corners. He has the appearance and character of an intrepid man, although not distinguished as a warrior, having, during his life, killed but a single man, who was a Spaniard. He is, however, artful and politic, and has performed some laudable actions. The following anecdote may serve in part to illustrate the more amiable traits of his character. Dorion, a Mestizo,[183] on a trading expedition, had accumulated a considerable quantity of peltry, at the Pawnee republican village, when it was situated on the Republican fork of the Konza river. As he had no horses to transport his merchandize, he requested the chief of that village to assist him in conveying it to the Grand Pawnees on the Platte, as he intended to descend that river to trade with the Otoes, on his way to St. Louis; the chief directly ordered horses to be brought, the furs were packed upon them, and they departed on the journey; but owing to some alleged misconduct on the part of Dorion, the chief, when half way, ordered the goods to be taken from the horses, and to be left on the plain. {148} He then, with his followers, returned to his village. The trader, after bewailing his unfortunate condition, at length resolved to go to the Grand Pawnee village and solicit the aid of Long Hair. Having arrived at the residence of the chief, he related to him in what manner he had been used by the Republican chief, and concluded by requesting assistance to bring in his goods. Long Hair, without reply, ascended to the top of his lodge and called out to his people to bring him one hundred horses. Taking the best of these, and a sufficient number of attendants, he accompanied Dorion, and assisted him to transport all his peltries, and did not cease with his good offices, until he had aided him in building a skin canoe, and had packed all the merchandize aboard, although previously told by Dorion that he had nothing to reward him with, having, as he said, traded every thing away, though at the same moment he had a number of Indian goods concealed in his packs of buffalo robes. After all was completed, "Now," said the chief, "Dorion, I know that you are a bad man; I have no doubt but you have a quantity of such goods as we want, concealed in those packs, and could reward me if you were liberal enough; but I ask nothing: you have a forked tongue. You have abused me to the whites, by calling me a rascal, saying I robbed the traders, &c.; but go, I will not harm you; tell the red head (Governor Clarke) that I am a rascal, robber, &c., I am content."[184]

At another fire, surrounded by his particular band, sat the Knife Chief, La-che-le-cha-ru, principal chief of the Pawneemahas. He is a large portly man, with a very prepossessing countenance; the hair on the sides of his head is gray; he has a deep scar on the right side, from a wound which was inflicted by a female prisoner, of the Padouca nation, whom he had adopted and taken into his family. This squaw, becoming infuriated at the prospect of the state of slavery to which she supposed herself now reduced, {149} stabbed her child to the heart, mortally wounded the brother of this chief, and, before she could be despatched, had inflicted this wound, through which the bowels protruded. The individuals of this band live in great harmony amongst themselves, owing probably to their having but two chiefs, who are unrivalled. The second chief is a Mestizo. Against this band we have no accusation; they have always demeaned themselves well towards the American whites.

In a third group were collected the representatives of the Pawnee Republicans; this nation or clan stands accused of whipping, robbing, and otherwise abusing a white American and his son, whom they found trapping beaver on the Arkansa river, this season; of killing two American citizens, two years since, who were also trapping beaver on the same river; and of robbing our party of sundry articles and horses, near the Konza village, whilst under the protection of the flag of our country, of the nature of which they had been instructed, and perfectly well understood. These outrages, and many others, they had committed on lands, to which they do not pretend to have any claim, situated far from their own territories, and in the immediate vicinity of nations with whom they then were, and still are, at war.[185]

On the following day the Pawnees were summoned to council, and in a short time they appeared marching leisurely in a narrow pathway, in _Indian file_, led by the grand chief; near this pathway the musical band was stationed, and when Long Hair arrived opposite, they struck up, suddenly and loudly, a martial air. We wished to observe the effect which instruments, that he had never seen or heard before, would produce on this distinguished man, and therefore {150} eyed him closely, and were not disappointed to observe that he did not deign to look upon them, or to manifest, by any motion whatever, that he was sensible of their presence. The Indians arranged themselves on the benches prepared for them, and the cessation of the music was succeeded by stillness, which was suddenly interrupted by loud explosions from our howitzers, that startled many of us, but did not appear to attract the notice of the Pawnees.

Major O'Fallon rose and addressed them in a very austere tone and manner; stating the offences they had committed against the white people, and admonishing them to a reformation in their conduct, and to restore the articles they had stolen from us; this was chiefly directed against the Pawnee Republicans; the Loups were applauded for their uniformly good deportment.

The council terminated after much of the property taken from us near the Konza village was restored, and a promise given that the offenders should be punished by whipping.[186]

The leisure we enjoyed after our arrival at Engineer Cantonment, afforded the opportunity of making numerous excursions to collect animals, and to explore the neighbouring country. We give here some account of two species of sorex, taken near our cabins.[187]

Early in October the cabins for winter-quarters were completed. Having made arrangements for the subsistence of the party, and being about to return to Washington, Major Long issued orders to the officers and gentlemen of the expedition, for their government during his absence. The following extract will show to what objects they were instructed to direct their attention.

"Mr. Say will have every facility afforded him that circumstances will admit to examine the country, {151} visit the neighbouring Indians, procure animals, &c. for the attainment of which he will call on Lt. Graham, who is authorized to make any expenditures in behalf of the expedition that may be deemed reasonable and necessary, and afford any aid in his power, consistent with the performance of other duties. Mr. Seymour or Mr. Peale will accompany him, whenever their services are deemed requisite.

"Major O'Fallon has given permission to Mr. Dougherty to aid the gentlemen of the party, in acquiring information concerning the Indians, &c.; this gentleman will, therefore, be consulted in relation to visits, and all kinds of intercourse with the Indians, that may be necessary in the prosecution of the duties of the expedition.

"In regard to these duties, the gentlemen of the expedition will consult my orders of March last. The documents transmitted from the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, by the Secretary of War; and the instructions of Mr. Jefferson to Capt. Lewis, to be found in vol. 1st of Lewis and Clarke's expedition,[188] and regulate their observations and inquiries accordingly.

"Lt. Graham will embrace every opportunity for celestial and barometric observations, and calculate the latitude, longitude, magnetic dip and variation, with the utmost attainable precision; also the heights of the neighbouring hills, and the adjacent high table lands. He will also continue the meteorologic observations as usual, noticing the changes of weather, and all celestial and atmospheric phenomena. To aid him in these duties, he will call on Lieut. Swift, or any other gentleman of the expedition, who may not be particularly engaged at the time in other important duties.

"It is believed, that the field for observation and inquiry is here so extensive, that all the gentlemen of the expedition will find ample range for the exercise of their talents in their respective pursuits; and it is {152} hoped, that through their unremitted exertions and perseverance, a rich harvest of useful intelligence will be acquired."

On the 11th of October, Major Long and Mr. Jessup took leave of their friends at Engineer Cantonment, and accompanied by several other persons, began to descend the Missouri in a canoe, on their way towards Washington and Philadelphia.

FOOTNOTES:

[174] The camp was in the southeast corner of Washington County, Nebraska. Boyer River rises in Sac County, Iowa, flows southwest through Crawford and Harrison counties, and debouches in Pottawatomie County, nearly opposite the boundary between Washington and Douglas counties, Nebraska.--ED.

[175] Height of the bluff, ascertained by Lieutenant Graham.

Trigonometrically, 271 feet. Barometrically, 277 feet. --JAMES.

[176] We add some notices of a few of the most important.

1. _Terebratula._--A specimen considerably resembling the T. _subundata_ of Sowerby, in the undulated line of the edges of the valves; but it is a much more depressed shell, and of a much less rounded form.

In the young state, the undulation of the edge is not very distinct; but this character increases with age, so that in the young state, it appears like a totally different species from the adult.

2. In the same rock are very numerous arquated spines, like ribs of fish, some of them 1-1/2 inches long.

3. A fragment of a terebratula or productus, imbedded, with very long spines, which may possibly be the same with the above.

4. A specimen, being a mass of comminuted fragments of shells, amongst which are only recognizable a few segments of the column of the encrinus, and minute turretted univalves of five whirls, which resemble turritella, and are about one-twentieth of an inch long.

5. _Millepora cylindrica_, SAY.--Branched, cylindric; _pores_ very regular, alternate, oval, placed nearer to each other than the length of their own transverse diameters, and resembling those of an _alveolite_.

Diameter, about one-tenth of an inch.

6. Segments of the column of encrinus of authors, of a pentangular form.

7. Ossiculæ of the body of a crinoid animal of the analogous species to No. 21.

8. Fragment of Perna?

9. A mass of argillaceous sandstone, containing spines of a Linnæan echinus, belonging probably to the genus cidarites of Lamarck. Of these spines some are elongate-conic, others slightly fusiform, obtuse and slightly dilated near the tip, both are armed with short asperities throughout their length. They resemble in some degree those of the _cidarites pistillaris_ of Lamarck, but they are smaller, less fusiform, and the asperities are not prominent.

In the same mass are segments of encrinus, and fragments of the retepore.

10. Retepore, much resembling the _milleporites flustriformis_ of Martin, Petrif. Derbi. pl. 43. fig. 1 and 2., but the alveoles in our specimens are rather smaller.

11. _Millepora cylindrica_, SAY.--Of the diameter of half an inch.

12. _Productus subserratus_, SAY.--Shell transverse, convex valve semicircular, destitute of asperities or striæ, longitudinally indented in the middle; line of the hinge rectilinear, half as long again as the length of the shell, with three or four spines or serratures on each side towards the angle; _umbo_ not prominent; the beak hardly prominent beyond the line of the hinge. Length, more than three-tenths; breadth, more than half an inch. A large specimen was four-fifths of an inch wide.

If we except the beak, the outline of this shell, as respects the hinge margin and the sides, considerably resembles that of P. _spinulosus_ of Sowerby, but the base is far more obtusely rounded, and it is a shorter shell comparatively with its width. The serratures are very often broken off. The curvature of the sides does not in the slightest degree project beyond the angles of the hinge line.

13. An imperfect cast, very like the _terebratula subundata_ of Sowerby, and of equal magnitude.

14. Pentagonal ossiculæ of the trunk of encrinus of authors, which in outline may be compared to figs. 61 and 62, of plate 13. vol. 2. of Parkinson's Organic Remains, but their surfaces do not now exhibit any sculpture.

15. Many of these shells exhibit the most unequivocal evidences of having been in a plastic state, at some period or other, since their deposition in their present situations. The fine striæ of a _productus lineolatus_, are so interlaced on the middle of a valve of one of our specimens, as at once to convince every observer of the shell having been thus partially dissolved, and when in this state to have been gently rubbed by some other body, in two directions proceeding obliquely to the same point, so as to throw the striæ in that part entirely out of their proper longitudinal direction. It is very common to find shells unnaturally flattened, or compressed in various ways and degrees, often without any fracture in the shell or cast; a circumstance which certainly could never happen to the shell, unless it was in a plastic state, or in a state of partial solution.

16. A specimen of carbonate of lime, on its surface a mass of sub-parallel tubes, connected by short lateral processes. The whole much resembles, and is probably congeneric with the erismatholithus tubiporites (_catenatus_) of Martin's Petrif. Derbi. t. 42. fig. 2., but the connecting processes of the tubes are much shorter than they are represented in that figure; but it corresponds much more exactly with the tubiporite, figured by Parkinson in his Organic Remains, vol. 2. pl. 1. f. 1., and may with great propriety form a new genus, the type of which will be the tubipora strues of Lin.

The genus is probably allied to favosites and tubipora.

17. _Trilobus._--The abdomen of a species of this singular genus frequently occurs in the sandstone of the Missouri; near Engineer Cantonment they were very common. The largest was rather more than one inch long, by about one and three-tenths inches in breadth at base; but the more general length is about three-fourths of an inch. The tergum or intermediate lobe is narrow, being not more than two-thirds of the width of the flanks, and much more convex than those parts.

But a single specimen occurred, which we can, without any doubt, consider as the thorax of a trilobus; but whether or not it appertains to the same species with the above, or to some other of which we have no other fragment, we are at a loss to determine. Like the above-mentioned abdomen, it is distinct from any that we have seen figures of. It is of a narrow lunate form, highly convex, the disk destitute of sculpture, and the eyes prominent.

18. Many imperfect casts of two different kinds of bivalve shells occur near Engineer Cantonment, of which one may possibly have been a _cardita_.

19. Tooth of a squalus, which seems to approach nearest to those of _Sq. maximus_, by its compressed conic form.

Greatest length 2-1/10 inches.

Thickness more than 2/5 of an inch.

The sides are rounded, without any appearance of serratures; thickened near the tip, and more compressed near the base.

20. Tooth of a squalus, something like that of _S. galeus_, but less of a triangular form, and the lateral processes are more distinct, and also less triangular than in that species.

21. An imperfect body of a crinoid animal, _encrinite_ of authors; the fragment is about one-half of the inferior portion of the body, from which the following description is made out, taking into view the whole circumference. The plates composing the _first costal_ series (Miller), five in number, are longitudinally pentangular, much curved inwards towards the base, to join the _first columnar joint_, or perhaps the _pelvis_; at which part the plate is narrow, being about one-ninth of an inch, whilst the other sides are nearly three-tenths of an inch each, the superior ones being somewhat longer than the others; the _second costal plates_, (Miller,) five in number, are transversely pentangular, the superior joint being long, the lateral ones shortest, the former being one-half an inch in length, the latter 3/20, and the inferior sides which articulate to the segments of the pelvis, somewhat less than 3/10 of an inch; the margins of the first costal joints, as well as the superior margins of the segments of the pelvis, are armed with a few tubercles, some of which seem to have been perforated; all the superior pieces are wanting in our specimen, but the truncated surface, on which the _scapulars_ (Miller) rested, is of a pentagonal outline, and composed of a series of horizontal equilateral triangles, two to each side, which are separated on each side from the adjacent pairs by a deep groove, which corresponds, and is nearly at right angles with the exterior sutures, which join the first costal joints to each other; these triangular surfaces are also separated from the exterior edge by two grooves, which are crenated, and enclose an oblong foramina between them; a single _intercostal plate_ occurs, interposed between two of the _second costals_; it is of an oblong hexagonal form, its base resting upon the extremity of a segment of the _first costals_, which is truncated to receive it; the superior portion of this plate is much bent inward towards the abdominal cavity; its tip is quadrate and concave.

The whole exterior surface of this reliquium, with the exception of the tubercles, and sutural impressed lines, is plain and equable.

If we have not mistaken the pieces of this imperfect specimen, the pelvis is wanting, but the cavity in which it existed must have been about 3/20 of an inch in diameter.

The plate-like form of the ossiculæ, and their mode of articulation with each other, by an extension horizontally inwards, as we have described above, in the case of those plates which we have considered as the _second costals_, seem to indicate, that this species ought to be referred to the second division of the crinoidea, or _semiarticulata_ of Miller. It certainly, however, cannot be at all referred to poteriocrinites, the only genus which that author has framed in this division of the family. We refrain from distinguishing it by a name either generic or specific, until other specimens can be obtained, in which the characters are less equivocal.

We have two _second costal plates_, which made part of distinct individuals, larger than the above described one. Of these the surface of one is perfectly glabrous, whilst that of the other has light orbicular indentations instead of tubercles; a third very small one is perfectly smooth like the first, and doubtless formed part of the body of a young individual.

Another plate found near the same spot with the above, is of a somewhat triangular form exteriorly, or rather like the face of a truncated pyramid, of which the middle of the summit is a little produced in the form of a right angle, thus offering a scollop on each side of the apex for the adaptation of superior ossiculæ. On divesting it carefully of its extraneous matrix, we discovered that it was readily adjusted by its base to the summit of those segments of the fragment above described, which we have supposed to be _second costals_, a prominent line on its base corresponding with the inner one of those grooves which we have described, to characterize the superior face of those plates. This plate, then, agreeably to the relations in which we have viewed the preceding pieces, must be a _scapula_; it is susceptible of considerable hinge-like motion, and appears to have been much less firmly attached to the costals than the latter are to each other.

A segment of a crinoid animal, which seemed to have been a _first costal joint_ of a _pentacrinus_ of Parkinson, occurred near the same place.

22. _Productus pectinoides_, SAY.--Convex valve, with a central longitudinal indentation; the whole surface is longitudinally ribbed, each rib being marked by two striæ, in addition to the central carina.

The shell is not of frequent occurrence, and a perfect specimen has not yet been obtained, but the portions we have examined, are sufficient to show that it is perfectly distinct from either of the species we have mentioned. We do not find any species figured or described by authors like it.

23. _Productus compressus_, SAY.--Shell much compressed, with numerous acute striæ, upwards of fifty in number on each valve, the alternate ones rather smaller; a very slight central longitudinal indentation on the convex valve; outline suborbicular; hinge edge rectilinear, shorter than the greatest breadth of the shell.

Greatest breadth from 3/5 to 1 inch. In its proportions it resembles the truncated portion of the productus of Martin, as represented on his plate 22. fig. 3. It is very common.

24. A shell of the length and breadth of three inches sometimes occurs, the convex valve of which is transversely undulated, its umbo prominent, and curved like that of a gryphæa, its tip resting on the base of the opposite valve which is concave, with a transverse linear base; its muscular impressions seem to have been lateral.

25. A single specimen was found of a valve of a shell, in some degree resembling a pecten, but without the auricles. Length more than 2-3/10 inches.

26. _Productus lineolatus_, SAY.--Valves with numerous, fine, equal, equidistant, longitudinal striæ, and a few small tubercles; convex valve very much elongated, its basal portion is curved downwards, almost perpendicularly with respect to the disk near the umbones.

So singular is the structure of this shell, that the internal cavity appears to have been perfectly transverse, with respect to the general length of the shell, and small in comparison with the length. It strongly resembles the anomites productus of Martin, as represented on plate 22. fig. 102. of his Petrif. Derbi., and like that shell it is armed with small tubercles, though fewer in number, and the striæ are much more numerous and smaller.

27. Cast of a turretted univalve, probably a cerithium, of the length of 2-1/2 inches.

28. Cast of the anterior portion of a valve of a shell like an ostrea, of the breadth of 2-1/2 inches.

29. On the Missouri near the Platte, occur masses of rock, which seem to be almost exclusively composed of a remarkable petrifaction, belonging to the family of concamerated shells. This shell is elongated, fusiform, and when broken transversely, it exhibits the appearance of numerous cells disposed spirally as in the _nummulite_, but its longitudinal section displays only deep grooves. The shell was therefore composed of tubes or syphons, placed parallel to each other, and revolving laterally, as in the genus _melonis_ of Lamarck, with which its characters undoubtedly correspond. But as in the transverse fracture, its spiral system of tubes cannot be traced to the centre in any of the numerous specimens we have examined, it would seem to have a solid axis, and consequently belongs to that division of the genus that Montfort regards as distinct, under the name of _miliolites_, which seems to be similar to the _fasciolites_ of Parkinson, and altogether different from the miliolites of Lamarck. Our specimens are conspicuously striated on the exterior, which distinction, together with their elongated fusiform shape, sufficiently distinguish them as a species from the _sabulosus_ which Montfort describes as the type of his genus. No aperture is discoverable in this shell, but the termination of the exterior volution very much resembles an aperture as long as the shell.

The length is three-tenths of an inch; and its greatest breadth one-twelfth.

We call it _miliolites secalicus_, SAY.--Mr. T. Nuttall informs me, that he observed it in great quantities high up the Missouri.

In the same mass were some segments of the encrinus, and a terebratula with five or six obtuse longitudinal waves.

30. Another petrifaction, abundant in some fragments of compact carbonate of lime, also found on the shores of the Missouri, possesses all the generic characters which we have attributed to the preceding species, excepting that in the transverse fracture the cells distinctly revolve from the centre itself, and of course the shell was destitute of the solid nucleus as in melonis, _Lamarck_. It has about four volutions. We have named this species, which is, notwithstanding the difference of the central portion of the same genus with the preceding _miliolites centralis, Say_. As in the preceding, it is entirely filled solidly with carbonate of lime, and this substance being of a greater purity in the filled-up cavities of the fossil than in the mass, its interior divisions are very obvious.

The latter species we observed about one hundred miles up the Konzas river, where it forms the chief body of the rocks in extensive ranges. It seems to be a carbonate of lime containing iron.--JAMES.

[177] John Gale, of New Hampshire, was surgeon in the rifles. He entered the army in 1812, as surgeon's mate in the 23d Infantry. After an honorable discharge in 1815, he was the same year reinstated as surgeon's mate in the 3d Infantry, and in 1818 made surgeon in the rifles. Three years later he became major-surgeon. He died in 1830.

Matthew J. Magee was captain of a Pennsylvania company of volunteers during the first two years of the War of 1812-15. In 1814 he was made captain in the 4th Rifles. After being discharged at the close of the war, he was reinstated (1816) as first lieutenant of ordnance with brevet rank as captain. A little later he was made captain, and in 1818 was transferred to the rifles. In 1821 he was transferred to the infantry. His death occurred in 1824.--ED.

[178] Ietan, as he was called by the whites, is said to have been the son of Big Horse (Shonga-tonga). The name may have been given him for some exploit against the Ietan (Comanche) tribe. His Indian name (Shamonekusse, Shongmunecuthe) means Prairie Wolf. In 1821-22 Ietan accompanied a deputation of chiefs to the East; the Indians made careful observations of what they saw, after their own fashion, and, it is said, attempted to count the people of New York by means of notched sticks. Among his fellows Ietan was noted for his wit and sagacity, as well as for warlike prowess. His death resulted (April, 1837) from a wound received while pursuing some young braves who had seduced two of his wives.--ED.

[179] The Ietan Indians, more commonly known as Comanche, were a branch of the Shoshoni family. Their range was the upper Arkansas, Canadian, and Red rivers.

On the Pawnee and Pawnee Loups, see respectively Brackenridge's _Journal_, in our volume vi, note 17, and Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 44. The Pawnee nation consisted of four principal tribes: 1. Pawnee proper (Grand Pawnee); 2. Pawnee Republican, who dwelt on the Republican fork of Kansas River; 3. Tapage, on the Platte; 4. Pawnee Loups (Skidi; Pani-mahas).

The Omaha and Ponca were closely related tribes of Siouan stock. For their early history and present condition, see our volume v, notes 49, 63.

The Sioux (Dakota) were the chief branch of the great family to which they have given their name. The branch was divided into a number of tribes, including the Yankton and Teton, mentioned below in the text.

Sketches of the Osage, Sauk and Foxes, and Iowa will be found in our volume v, notes 21, 22.

The Padouca were a powerful tribe when visited by Bourgmont in 1724 (see succeeding volume, note 29), but the nation disintegrated and lost its identity before the close of the eighteenth century, if, indeed, the name was not from the beginning applied collectively to several kindred tribes of the plains. Their habitat was the banks of the upper Kansas River; later they removed to the Platte, the North Fork of which is sometimes designated by their name.

The Indians here called La Plais (La Playes) were reported by Lewis and Clark (_Statistical View_) to be a numerous tribe of Shoshoni stock, inhabiting the plains at the heads of the Arkansas and Red rivers. Later authorities seem not to have distinguished them from the kindred Comanche.--ED.

[180] The Indian name for Americans. On the origin of the term, see Thwaites, _Daniel Boone_ (New York, 1902), p. 111, note.--ED.

[181] This quarrel, and the resulting loss of part of the nose of one of the contestants, has given rise to a number of fables. In one of them Ietan and his brother are the combatants, and it is Ietan who loses the tip of his nose. In his thirst for revenge he pursues his brother across the plains and through the forest, both in friendly and hostile villages, only to fall a prey to bitter remorse when, after many months, he overtakes the fugitive and slays him.--ED.

[182] Elkhorn River (Corne de Cerf, of the French explorers) is a considerable northern tributary of the Platte, into which it falls on the western line of Sarpy County. The head waters are only a few miles from the Niobrara River, in Rock County.--ED.

[183] One of the half-breed sons of Pierre Dorion (Durion), who accompanied Lewis and Clark as interpreter. See Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, note 7.--ED.

[184] Red-head was the customary Indian name for Governor William Clark, and St. Louis was "Red-head's Town." For sketch of Clark, see Nuttall's _Journal_, in our volume xiii, note 105.--ED.

[185] It was a party of the Grand Pawnees that robbed and ill-treated Lieutenant Pike and his party, when traversing the country within their range.--JAMES.

[186] See Appendix C at the end of volume xvii.--ED.

[187] 1. _Sorex parvus_, SAY.--Brownish cinereous above; beneath cinereous; teeth blackish; tail short, of moderate thickness.

_Body_ above brownish cinereous, beneath cinereous; _head_ elongated; _eyes_ and _ears_ concealed; _whiskers_ long, the longest nearly attaining the back of the head; _nose_ naked emarginate; _front teeth_ black, lateral ones piceous; _feet_ whitish, five-toed; _nails_ prominent, acute, white; _tail_ short, subcylindric, of moderate thickness, slightly thicker in the middle, whitish beneath.

Length from tip of nose to root of tail, 2 3/8 inches. Length of tail, 0 3/4 inches. Length from the upper teeth to tip of nose, 0 3/20 inches.

Mr. Peale caught this animal in a pitfall, which he had dug for the purpose of catching a wolf. It is a female.

Barton, in his Medical and Physical Journal for 1806, p. 67, says, that, "Sorex minutissimus of Zimmerman, has been discovered in the trans-Mississippi part of the United States, in the country that is watered by the Missouri;"--had he reference to this species?

This _sorex minutissimus_, is probably synonymous with S. _exilis_, to which our specimens cannot be referred, whilst the character attributed to that species, of "tail very thick in the middle," is considered essential.

2. _Sorex brevicaudus_, SAY.--Blackish-plumbeous above, beneath rather lighter; teeth, blackish; tail, short, robust.

Total length from nose to tip of tail, 4-5/8 inch. Total length of the tail, 1 inch. Total length from the upper teeth to the tip of nose, 0-1/8 inch.

_Above_ blackish plumbeous, when viewed from before; silvery plumbeous when viewed from behind; _fur_ dense, rather long; _beneath_ rather paler; _head_ large; _eyes_ very minute; _ears_ white, entirely concealed beneath the fur, aperture very large, with two distinct semisepta, (tragus and antitragus?) which are sparsely hairy at tip; _rostrum_ short, with a slightly impressed, abbreviated line above; _nose_ livid brown, emarginate; _mouth_ margined with whitish and with sparse short hairs; _teeth_ piceous-black at tip; _feet_, white, the second, third, and fourth toes subequal, the first and fifth shorter, the former rather shortest, anterior with but very few hairs, nearly naked; _nails_ nearly as long as the toes; _tail_ with rather sparse hairs, nearly of equal diameter, but slightly thickest in the middle, depressed, and nearly as long as the posterior feet.

This specimen, which is a male, closely resembles _S. parvus_, but it is much larger; the head is proportionably much larger and more elongated; the tail more robust, and the inferior anterior pair of incisores are similar to those of S. _constrictus_, fig. 7. pl. 15. of the Mem. du Mus. by Mr. Geoffroy St. Hilaire. The incisors of the superior jaw are twelve in number, in a cranium belonging to this species, five on each side in addition the two larger anterior ones; the posterior tooth of the lateral ones is smallest.

May not this be the animal mentioned by the late professor Barton in his Medical and Physical Journal, for March, 1816, which, he says, "may be called the black shrew?" I do not know that the black shrew has ever received any further notice, unless it is the same species to which Mr. Ord has applied the name of _Sorex niger_.--JAMES.

[188] See Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, Appendix, vol. vii, doc. xviii.--ED.

{153} CHAPTER IX

Animals--Sioux and Omawhaw Indians--Winter Residence at Engineer Cantonment

The subsequent account of the transactions at and near Council Bluff, and of the observations made there, we copy from the journal of Mr. Say.

Descriptions of some of the animals which occurred, are given in the notes below.[189]

The prairie wolves[190] roam over the plains in considerable numbers, and during the night, the principal season of their hunts, they venture very near to the encampment of the traveller. They are by far the most numerous of our wolves, and often unite in packs for the purpose of chasing deer, which they very frequently succeed in running down, and killing. This, however, is an achievement attended with much difficulty to them, and in which the exertion of their utmost swiftness and cunning are so often unavailing, that they are sometimes reduced to the necessity of eating wild plums, and other fruits, to them almost indigestible, in order to distend the stomach, and appease, in a degree, the cravings of hunger.

Their bark is much more distinctly like that of the domestic dog, than of any other animal; in fact the first two or three notes could not be distinguished from the bark of a small terrier, but these notes are succeeded by a lengthened scream.

The wonderful intelligence of this animal is well worthy of note, and a few anecdotes respecting it may not be amiss. Mr. Peale constructed and tried various kinds of traps to take them, one of which was of the description called "a live trap," a shallow box reversed, and supported at one end, by the {154} well known kind of trap sticks, usually called the "figure four," which elevated the front of the trap upwards of three feet above its slab flooring; the trap was about six feet long, and nearly the same in breadth, and was plentifully baited with offal. Notwithstanding this arrangement, a wolf actually burrowed under the flooring, and pulled down the bait through the crevices of the floor; tracks of different sizes were observed about the trap. This procedure would seem to be the result of a faculty beyond mere instinct.

This trap proving useless, another was constructed in a different part of the country, formed like a large cage, but with a small entrance on the top, through which the animals might enter, but not return; this was equally unsuccessful; the wolves attempted in vain to get at the bait, as they would not enter by the route prepared for them.

A large double "steel trap" was next tried; this was profusely baited, and the whole, with the exception of the bait, was carefully concealed beneath the fallen leaves. This was also unsuccessful. Tracks of the anticipated victims were next day observed to be impressed in numbers on the earth near the spot, but still the trap, with its seductive charge, remained untouched. The bait was then removed from the trap, and suspended over it from the branch of a tree; several pieces of meat were also suspended in a similar manner, from trees in the vicinity; the following morning the bait over the trap alone remained. Supposing that their exquisite sense of smell warned them of the position of the trap, it was removed, and again covered with leaves, and the baits being disposed as before, the leaves to a considerable distance around were burned, and the trap remained perfectly concealed by ashes; still the bait over the trap was avoided. Once only this trap was sprung, and had fastened for a short time upon the foot of a species, which was shot the following day at no great distance; it proved to be a species distinct from the {155} prairie wolf, and we have described it under the name of C. nubilus.

In no respect disheartened by these futile attempts, many times repeated, and varied in every obvious manner, another scheme was executed, which eventuated in complete success. This was the log trap, in which one log is elevated above another at one end, by means of an upright stick, which rests upon a rounded horizontal trigger stick, on the inferior log.

The latrans does not diffuse the offensive odour, so remarkable in the two species of jackalls, (C. aureus and C. anthus) though in many respects it resembles those animals. Like the Mexicanus, the hair on the vertebral line is elongated; and we should be disposed to regard it as the same animal, but it differs from the description of that species, both in colour and physiognomy. The ears are proportionally longer than those of C. cancrivorus, and, as well as the tail, shorter than the corresponding parts of C. mesomelas.

This animal, which does not seem to be known to naturalists, unless it should prove to be the Mexicanus, is most probably the original of the domestic dog, so common in the villages of the Indians of this region, some of the varieties of which still retain much of the habit and manners of this species.

On the 14th of October, four hundred Omawhaw Indians assembled at Camp Missouri. Major O'Fallon addressed them in an appropriate speech, stating the reasons for their being called to council; upon which Ong-pa-ton-ga, the Big Elk,[191] arose, and after shaking by the hand each of the whites present, placed his robe of otter skins, and his mockasins under the feet of the agent, whom he addressed to the following effect, as his language was interpreted by Mr. Dougherty.

"He had heard that his father wished to see him, and he had wished to see and to hear the words of his father, ever since he learned that he was ascending {156} the river. He was informed last fall of his being at the river Platte, and as he could not then go to see him, he had now come to visit him; and here I am, my father. All these young people you see around here are yours; although they are poor and trifling, yet they are your children. I have always loved the whites since I first remember to have seen them, and this affection increases with my age. All my nation loves the whites, and always have loved them. Amongst all the good things of this world I place the whites first. But it appears that there are many nations that live nearer to you than I, that do not love you, though you have done more for them, than you have done for me. When they meet with you, they flatter you, in order to get presents from you, notwithstanding which, they would not hesitate to kill some of your people on their way home. Some of them shake hands with you in a friendly manner, whilst their hands are yet stained with your blood; and if you examine your own hands, my father, I think you would find some of it adhering to them yet. For my part, my father, I am proud to boast, that my hands are clean. Never has one of my nation stained his hands with the blood of a white man. I do not understand, my father, your mode of treating those well who treat you ill. It is true, I know, that you have more sense than I have, but I cannot understand it. I have heard that the Pawnees have been to see you; a nation that has killed, robbed, and insulted your people. I was also informed that you feasted them, and at their departure you put weapons in their hands. I should not be surprised to hear, that those very weapons were stained with white man's blood before they reached the Pawnee village. This is what I cannot understand. This circumstance led me to believe, that if you treated those that have injured you so well, you surely would treat your poor children the Omawhaws, who have never done harm to your people, with much kindness {157} also. But I am afraid the transaction will have a bad effect on my young men. When they heard of American troops ascending this river, they feared and respected them. But I am fearful that this transaction will throw them off their guard, make them lose their respect for you, and cause them to do something that they would not otherwise have done, and thus create trouble and difference between us. You said, my father, that those troops do not come to harm us. I believe it is true. I consider them all my brothers and friends. So far from thinking they come to injure me, I regard them as my shield, to guard me against bad nations around me. You say, that if ever there is a difference between us, that it will be our fault; but I hope not, my father, I cannot think that the Omawhaws will offer any indignity to your people, now that they have seen all those troops, when they have not harmed individuals who have resided years in their village unprotected, although we were then less enlightened than we now are. Some think, my father, that you have brought all these warriors here to take our land from us, but I do not believe it. For although I am but a poor, simple Indian, yet I know that this land will not suit your farmers; if I even thought your hearts bad enough to take the land, I would not fear it, as I know there is not wood enough on it for the use of whites. You might settle along this river, where timber is to be found; but we can always get wood enough in our country to make our little fires. There is one thing I fear, my father; my nation is coming down here to hunt this winter, and if you send out your soldiers to hunt also, they will drive off all the game, and our women and children will starve. We have heard of the ascent of the troops up this river ever since last fall, and we have been told by other nations, that if they chance to meet with any squaws unprotected, they ravish them. But, my father, we shall soon know if this be true or not; because, having {158} but little to eat, our squaws will be obliged to go out into the prairies to dig roots; I shall trust to you, and not hesitate to let them go." He also observed, that he could not see the necessity of stationing so many troops here, as there was no one to oppose; he thought it desirable that they should go higher up the river, to chastise those refractory Indians who will not listen to our words. "There is one thing, my father," he observed, "which I wish you to inform me of. We have heard of your tying up and whipping individuals of several nations, as you ascended this river. What is the offence which will subject us to this punishment? I wish to know, that I may inform my people, that they may be on their guard." He then observed that all his children were poor, and that they had come with the expectation of receiving something from their father.

This speech, contrary to the usual mode of Indian orators, was commenced in a low tone, the voice gradually rising as the speaker proceeded, until it attained its full intonation.

Several speakers subsequently went forward and delivered their sentiments, generally alluding to the circumstance of our treating those who injure us kindly, and neglecting our friends.

Ta-sone, the White Cow,[192] spoke with that allusion, and added, "Look at me, my father, look at my hands; examine me well, I am a wild man, born in the prairie;" and subsequently, "I told you, my father, to look at me, that you might see if there is any of the blood of your people upon me. Some, whose hands have been stained with blood, endeavour to wash it off, but some of it will still remain."

It is proper to mention, as explanatory of some of the allusions in the above speeches, that the Pawnees, at the conclusion of their council, had been invited to dine at Camp Missouri, and that many of their chiefs were there presented with sabres, as I before stated. It was to this circumstance that the above-mentioned {159} speakers had reference, as being inexplicable to them; as it seemed as if we wished to conciliate the good will of those evil-doers through fear, and yet they could hardly accuse us of fear, surrounded as we were by so formidable an array of troops.

It was evident, however, that the speakers had mentally no reference to Major O'Fallon, as they knew he had not committed or sanctioned the acts of which they complained in their truly delicate and peculiar manner. But they looked upon him as responsible for the actions of his people, knowing him to be the representative of the government, and that in case of wrong, they could not obtain redress from any other person. How much soever Major O'Fallon may have disapproved of the treatment which the Pawnees had received from the military, he was perfectly conscious of having conducted himself towards them according to their deserts, so far as power had been placed in his hands. But being thus verbally accused, pointedly and repeatedly of injustice, for acts not his own, he arose and said, "Omawhaws, you say I called the Pawnees here to feast them and make them presents, after they had killed and insulted us, but it is not true. I did not smoke the pipe of peace with them, neither will I, until our differences are settled. I told the Pawnees that, even if I stood unsupported before them, I would, nevertheless, either compel them to make reparation for their offences, or leave my bones amongst them for my nation to come and bury."

The Big Elk, and Big Eyes, were the only chiefs acknowledged by Major O'Fallon, who then made liberal presents to them for their people.

Some of these presents were distributed by the Indians after a peculiar manner, but which I learn is very common amongst the Indians of this country. A certain portion of them is placed upon the ground, and whoever can _strike the post_ the most frequently, {160} gains them. Another portion is then staked for any other competitors who may choose to advance. A valuable stake was then offered, and an aged veteran stepped forth, and looking round upon his nation with a majestic mien, in which there was not a little expression of triumph, he seemed to challenge the bravest of the brave to come forward and compete with him for the possession of it; but agreeably to his expectations no one advanced, and he bore off the prize by common consent, without going through the ceremony of _striking_.

From the 24th of October to the 10th of November, the atmosphere was generally filled with a dense smoke, like a fog or stratus, which proceeded from the conflagrated prairies. It sometimes affected our vision painfully, sometimes it so far intercepted the rays of the sun that the disk of that luminary appeared of a blood-red, and the eye could repose upon it uninjured. On the morning of the 8th instant, it occurred in greater quantity than at any other time, when it was so extremely dense as to intercept a view of the opposite shore of the Missouri from Engineer Cantonment.

On the 9th of November some rain fell, attended with thunder and lightning. The rain continued on the day following, with the wind from the south-east; at evening the smoke was almost entirely dissipated, and the clouds, which were cirro-cumuli passing to the north-north-west, became visible.

A party of Sioux visited us on the 15th of November, to view the steam-boat. As Major Long had left orders to put the steam machinery in action occasionally, in order to preserve it from rust, Lieutenant Graham concluded to exhibit the boat with the engine in action. The Indians hesitated to enter the boat, fearing, as they said, that it was, or that it contained some _great medicine_ of the Big-knives that might injure them. But when on board and at their ease, one of them observed doubtingly, {161} "he hardly thought the Big-knives had any medicine to hurt them." They appeared much delighted with the boat; its size seemed to surprise them, several measured the width of the deck by straddling, instead of pacing as we do. We exhibited to them the air-gun, magnet, &c. which considerably excited their attention. Two of the howitzers were discharged, loaded with case-shot; the effect produced, of the shot falling into the water, at unequal distances and times, was new and unexpected, and they covered their mouths with the hand, to express their astonishment. Of these warriors, three are Tetons, one a Yancton, and a Sa-ho-ne; three different tribes of the great Dacota or Sioux nation. They are fine looking men, with very prominent cheekbones. They are more attentive to their dress, and are much neater than the other Indians we have seen; though it is proper to observe that, as visitors, they are clothed in their best attire. They decorate their hair with a profusion of feathers of the war eagle, and of a species of owl which we have not seen. They also suspend in the headdress an entire skin of the paroquet. The hair is in great profusion, and is thrown upon the back in very long rolls; but upon close inspection, the greater portion of it is perceived to be false hair artificially attached to their own, the points of junction being indicated by small masses of clay, with which the attachment is effected. Two of these Tetons are inseparable friends, were raised together from their infancy, and although not allied by blood, there is a strong personal resemblance between them, which is not a little enhanced by a studied similarity in dress and ornaments. These two individuals are firm friends to the whites. One of them was a few years since at the Sa-ho-ne village in company with a trader, and being invited to a feast, they had proceeded but a short distance, when a Sa-ho-ne rushed from his concealment and knocked the trader down with his war-club. The Teton immediately {162} attacked the assailant, felled him in his turn to the earth, gashed his body with the spear of his war-club and left him for dead. This is a strong evidence of the determination of the savages, as they are called, to protect those whom they consider under their guardianship. The Teton retaliated the blow given to the trader, not only at the immediate risk of his life in the combat, but of having to expiate the deed to many a kindred exasperated warrior, and also at the hazard of originating a war between the two bands.

In the course of the winter we received frequent supplies of provisions from Camp Missouri; and by means of some exertion and diligence in hunting, we were able to procure plenty of fresh venison and other game. For coffee we substituted the fruit of the gymnocladus canadensis, which afforded a palatable and wholesome beverage. The flesh of the _skunk_ we had sometimes dressed for dinner, and found it a remarkably rich and delicate food.

On the 5th of December, the gentlemen of the party dined by invitation with Mr. M. Lisa.

The principal Ioway chief was once at our camp; he is a very intelligent Indian, with a solemn dignity of deportment, and would not deign to enter our houses or even to approach them until invited. He is said to have a more intimate knowledge of the manners of the whites, than any other Indian of the Missouri, and to be acquainted with many of the words of our language, but will not willingly make use of them, fearing to express himself improperly, or not trusting to his pronunciation. He remained near Council Bluff in the autumn, in order to be present at the councils with the different nations, and to observe the conduct of the whites towards them respectively, a considerable time after his nation had departed down the river to their beaver trapping. After this he went with his family to the head waters of the Boyer, and during his stay there trapped sixty {163} beaver; when with us he was about to go in search of his people. He had three wives with him, one of whom appeared to be about nine or ten years of age, and whom we mistook for his daughter, until he undeceived us. We showed him our books of engravings, with which he was highly pleased. The Indians, almost all of them, delight to look over engravings, particularly those which represent animals; they are not soon fatigued when employed in this way.

This Indian is known by several names, as Grand Batture, Hard Heart, Sandbar, and in his own language, Wang-e-waha. During our late contest with Great Britain, he turned his back upon his nation, in consequence of their raising the tomahawk upon our citizens, and crossing the Missouri, united his destiny with the Otoes, who received and treated him with distinguished respect. Last autumn his nation joined him, and submitted to his guidance; so that the Otoes, Missouries, and Ioways were then united.

Some time since in a transaction with a captain, formerly of the United States' army, he thought himself grossly insulted, and demanded on the spot personal satisfaction, agreeably to the custom of the whites, challenging his opponent to single combat, with pistols or such other weapons as he might choose.

He is esteemed the bravest and most intelligent of the Ioways, and amongst the Otoes he was associated with many equally brave with himself. But as there are national prejudices amongst the Indians as well as amongst the whites, he has not escaped from many a keen allusion to his nation. In a quarrel, which arose from some expressions of this nature, Ietan knocked him down with a war-club.

He has been in fifty battles, and has commanded in seven.

He says the white people often request the Indians to abstain from war, and yet the white people continue {164} to fight each other, as if they wished to monopolize the occupation of war, and thereby deprive the Indian of his principal avenue to honour and dignity.

Several Omawhaws, who have been trapping in the country opposite to Blackbird-hill, remained with us last night. The principal one, A-ha-ga-nash-he, or the Upright Horn, has a rather handsome Sioux squaw, to whom he appears to be much attached, paying her great attention in conversation, giving her a portion of his whiskey, and handing her the pipe to smoke. She is, however, not exempted from the ordinary employments of the Indian women, and we had an opportunity to-day of seeing her depart from Mr. Lisa's with a heavy load, consisting of the goods which her husband had received in exchange for his beaver, on her back, whilst he carried only a keg of whiskey slung over his shoulders, and his gun and hunting apparatus. Previously to the departure of the Omawhaws from our establishment this morning, the brother of one of them, who, report said, had been killed by the Sioux, arrived; he has been with about ten lodges, (about twenty men) of his tribe trapping on the Elk Horn, and they had taken about two hundred beavers. He has taken sixty himself, of which he presented his elder brother twenty, and is on his way to Mr. Lisa, to have a trader with merchandize sent to his party to deal for the skins. It is a singular circumstance, that this is the second instance of these two brothers meeting in this vicinity, after the one had been supposed to have been killed by the Sioux.

A-ha-ga-nash-he, whom we invited to take up his lodgings for the night in our room, became alarmed at my repute as a medicine man, fearing that I would cast some spell upon him, or otherwise injure him by the operation of some potent mystic medicine: he removed his quarters to the adjoining room, where he seemed to think he was safe from my incantations.

Our hunter, whose name is No-zun-da-je; or, "He {165} that does not dodge," is esteemed a good hunter by his nation; but he is not a distinguished warrior, although he has been in numerous battles. He says he has killed several red skins in action, but never yet had the honour to _strike_ a body. He showed us the scars of many wounds, most of which he had inflicted on himself, when in mourning for the death of his relatives and friends, by thrusting arrows through the skin and a portion of the flesh of his arm. His brother, at the same time, showed many scars which he had caused by cutting out pieces from his body with a knife, on the same occasions.

Several Omawhaws visited us on the 8th, and a party of three of them, who were in possession of a keg of whiskey, invited our hunter to accompany them, for the night, to "make his heart glad" with a portion of its contents. The Omawhaws, Otoes, Missouries, and Ioways are excessively attached to this destructive liquor.

On the 9th December, Lieutenant Swift, in company with Mr. Pilcher[193] of the Missouri Fur Company, set out on a visit to the Omawhaws. His course was first directed towards the Elk Horn river, tributary to the Platte, and afterwards along the valley of the former, to the Omawhaw encampment, which he reached at the distance of about one hundred and twenty miles. The country over which he travelled was almost entirely destitute of woodland; the surface generally cut by numerous ravines; the soil for the most part sandy, but in some instances enriched by a black loam. He returned to camp on the 23d, his companion having purchased of the Indians one hundred and thirty beaver skins, besides raccoon and deer skins.

10th. By a recent occurrence, the late treaty of peace between the Otoes and Konzas was on the eve of being infracted. The Otoes, who were encamped for hunting near the mouth of the Platte, had four horses stolen from them about two weeks since, and {166} subsequently ten more. These robberies were immediately attributed to the Konzas, and a war-party prepared themselves to march and retaliate upon that nation. Hashea, however, prevented them from going, saying that their father (Major O'Fallon) had been instrumental in reconciling them to a peace with the Konzas, and it would be highly improper for them to strike a blow, without asking his opinion upon the subject. It seems more probable that the horses have been taken either by the Sauks or Ioways. The latter appears to be a faithless people; they obtained a considerable quantity of goods on credit, last fall, from the Missouri Fur Company, and now, we are informed, instead of returning to discharge their debts, they are on their way down the river to barter their beaver at Fort Osage. It is said they will inhabit their old village, on the river Des Moines, the ensuing season.

12th. Many Indians visited us yesterday and to-day, some of whom brought jerked deer meat, mockasins, &c. to exchange for their favourite drink, and for trinkets. But as we have none of the latter, and as the former is interdicted from them by our laws, we are not authorized to make any purchases. That they do contrive to get whiskey elsewhere, perhaps of the traders, we have abundant proof. Yesterday a squaw got drunk, and made much noise; but her companions, after much ado, carried her off to their encampment.

As we were cutting up a log for fuel, one of the Omawhaws seeing a knot or protuberance of the wood, suitable to form into a bowl, requested us to cut it off for him; but not choosing to gratify him in that manner, we offered the axe we were using, that he might cut it in his own way; he, however, would not accept of it, but pointed to the palm of his hand, giving us to understand that such labour would make his hand sore and hard; he then called one of his squaws, who immediately went to work, {167} and handled the axe very dexterously. Observing several young Indians passing, I indicated to her the propriety of requesting one of them to assist her, but she laughed significantly, as if she would say--you are ironical.

The Indians are very fickle in bargaining. An Indian, some time since, exchanged his rifle for Mr. Dougherty's shot gun; yesterday he reversed the bargain, giving a pair of mockasins in return; and this morning he requested to exchange again, in which he was gratified.

A squaw offered to exchange mockasins for a couple of our military stocks. We could not conceive to what use she would apply them, but, upon inquiry, we learned that she wished to ornament the crupper of her horse with them.

The stone quarry, which supplied limestone for building chimnies at camp Missouri, was situate at the distance of an hundred yards below our cantonment. The labourers that were employed in this quarry opened upon many large fissures, in which were found a number of serpents that had entered there for the purpose of hybernating. Of these, three species appear to be new.[194]

This morning three Omawhaws were fired upon by a war-party of five Ioway Indians, and two were wounded; this occurred on the east side of the river, nearly opposite to our cantonment. When they fired, each one called out his name agreeably to the Indian custom. A party of Omawhaws then assembled, and pursued them about fifteen miles, but without success.

Two Oto warriors, and a boy, nephew of Ishta-gre-ja, Gray Eyes the elder, visited us this afternoon. They have been hunting on Blue Water creek, in the neighbourhood of the Konzas hunting camps, and not distant from the village of the latter; they have been so fortunate as to take one hundred and forty beavers, the skins of which they left at {168} their village, under the care of the son of Gray Eyes and their squaws; their business in this quarter is to look out for the best market for their peltries. They say it was certainly not the Konzas who stole the horses from their brethren who are encamped near the confluence of the Platte. They attribute that theft to the Ioways, who, they say, are still fools, as they always have proved themselves to be.

30th. In the morning a nimbus from the north. An imperfect parhelion appeared at sunrise, consisting of three luminous spots, at about 22° distant from each other in the horizon; one of them was the real place of the sun, and the others were to the north and south of it. As the sun ascended towards the zenith, the mock suns continued to ascend equally and parallel with it, but became gradually fainter until they disappeared near the zenith.

Evening. A complete paraselene appeared about the moon, of the diameter of 45 degrees.

The mercury was below Zero the greater part of the day, in Fahrenheit's thermometer.

31st. Several Canadians in the employ of the Missouri Fur Company, came this evening to dance and sing before us, agreeably to the custom of their countrymen, in celebration of the termination of the year. They were adorned with paint after the Indian manner, clothed with bison robes, and had bells attached to different parts of their dress. So completely were they disguised, that three of their employers, who happened to be present, had much difficulty in recognizing them. This dance is called _La Gineolet_,[195] and may have had its origin in the same cause that produced our _Belshnickles_, who make their appearance on Christmas-eve. We gave them what was expected, whiskey, flour, and meat.

January 6th, 1820. Mr. Graham and I measured the width of the river in two places, a short distance below our cantonment, and a short distance above; [158] the latter gave two hundred and seventy-seven and one-third yards, and the former one hundred yards.

We hear the barking of the prairie wolves every night about us; they venture close to our huts; last night they ran down and killed a doe, within a short distance of our huts; this morning the remains of the carcass were found, consisting only of bones and skin.

Mr. Fontenelle,[196] in the employ of the Missouri Fur Company, who has been absent for some time trading with one of the bands of the Omawhaws, called to-day on his return; this band had been much necessitated for food, subsisting for some time upon the fruit of the red haws, which the squaws sought for beneath the proper trees, under the snow. He met with some of the nation of Sioux, called Gens de Feuille[197] by the French. They have been much thinned in numbers by a disorder, which, from the description given of it, may be the quinsy. This same band is said to have suffered much from the small-pox last autumn. They were also now nearly starved for want of food; but they said if they could hold out until they arrived at Min-da-wa-cong, or Medicine lake, (on the maps, Spirit lake,)[198] they would do very well, as they had there a considerable quantity of wild oats buried, or _caché_, as the French say.

13th. Ietan,[199] an Oto, of whom we have before spoken, visited us to-day for the purpose of getting two gun-locks mended. He left his people at the Republican fork of the Konza river, and intends as soon as he returns, to lead a party in pursuit of bisons, which he says are in plenty on the Loup fork of the Platte, about sixty miles distant from us.[200]

14th. Ietan called this morning, and as some of our party were going to visit at Camp Missouri, he accompanied them in order to obtain Major O'Fallon's permission for his nation to go to war with the {170} Konzas. He informed the agent that individuals of that nation had sometime since stolen horses from them. That one of the losers, Big Soldier, had gone to the Konza village to demand the horses; but seeing a number of horses belonging to that nation when he arrived near the village, he could not resist the temptation of immediately retaliating by seizing several, and appropriating them to his own use. But, Ietan said, he thought the honour of his nation still called for war, and he solicited the acquiescence of the agent in that measure. The Major replied, that his opinion ought to have been asked previously to the retaliatory measure which had already been prematurely taken, as they were not certain that the Konzas were the offenders, and that this ought to have been ascertained before any depredation on the Konzas had been committed. But the course which he would now advise them to pursue was, to send a deputation to the Konzas, for the purpose of ascertaining the fact, to return the Konzas' horses, and to demand their own. This course seemed satisfactory to the warrior; who, however, stated that if the Konzas attempted to steal horses from them in future, he would certainly lead a war party himself against them.

15th. Mr. Woods, of the Missouri Fur Company, has returned from a trading excursion. He reports that he saw several of the Pawnee _caches_, which had been broken open and robbed of their corn by the Omawhaws. This is by no means a rare occurrence with the Indians, but it does not appear that it has ever led to hostilities between nations; they say that when a person is in want of food, he has a right to take any he can find.

Corporal Norman, who went out this morning to kill rabbits, returned about noon with twenty-seven, which he had killed with single balls.

February 9th. Several Oto Indians have visited us within this day or two, and one of them, Ca-he-ga-in-ya, {171} remained with us last night; he was finely dressed, had on a chief's coat laced with silver, and a profusion of wampum about his neck, and suspended to his ears; he departed this morning on his way to the Omawhaws, to trade for horses.

The ice on the Missouri is sixteen inches in thickness, that of the Boyer creek fifteen and three-fourths.

12th. Messrs. Dougherty, Peel [Peale], and myself, with an assistant, encamped at a pond near the Boyer to obtain fish; we cut several holes in the ice of the pond, and obtained one otter and a number of small fishes, amongst which three species appeared to be new; several specimens were of the genus gasterosteus.

15th. Mr. Zenoni, of the Fur Company, who departed the twenty-seventh ultimo on a trading expedition, returned and remained with us last night. He and two men had ascended the Elk Horn about twenty-five miles higher than Mr. Swift had been, but were not successful in finding any Indians. And although they saw a few bisons and antelopes, and elks, they were not so fortunate as to kill any game for subsistence, excepting three turkeys; so that they returned in a state of considerable exhaustion, having been for some time on an allowance of a little maize per day. He found that the upper part of the Elk Horn had not frozen during the severe weather, but still remained open. This circumstance seems to indicate the flow of a great quantity of spring water, or water of a medium temperature, in that part of the stream, requiring time to cool in its passage, before it can congeal.

19th. The sand is blown by the violence of the wind from the sand-bars of the river, so as to resemble a dense fog. We have been hitherto very well supplied with fresh meat, from game killed principally by Mr. Peale, who, on one occasion, killed two deer at a single shot and with one ball, but we are now reduced again to salt pork of a very inferior quality. {172} The party, with the exception of myself, continue to enjoy good health.

22d. Messrs. Dougherty and Peale returned from a hunt, having killed twelve bisons out of a herd of several hundreds they met with near Sioux river, and brought us a seasonable supply of meat. They saw several herds of elk, and yesterday they saw swans, geese, and ducks, flying up the river. A dinner and ball were given at Camp Missouri, in honour of the day, to which our party were invited.

24th. Mr. Graham and I endeavoured to ascertain the rapidity of the current of this part of the Missouri, at the present low water. We availed ourselves of a long vacancy in the ice to float a porter bottle, to which the proper specific gravity was given, by partially filling it with water, it was attached to a cord of one hundred and twenty-two feet in length; it floated this distance in six successive experiments in the following several times 1′ 07″--1′ 04″--1′ 07-1/2″--1′ 05″--1′ 07″--1′ 07″, the mean of which is 1′ 06-1/2″ nearly, giving a velocity of 1 mile 441 yards 1-1/2 feet per hour.

By these experiments, however, the superficial current or stratum only was indicated, and as we had reason to suppose that this stratum was more impeded by friction against the inferior surface of the ice than it would be by the atmosphere, it became an object to ascertain the average velocity of the different depths. With this view a staff ten feet long was made to float vertically, by means of a weight attached to its inferior extremity; a line of one hundred and seventy-eight feet in length was run out by this arrangement, during the following intervals of time, in four experiments, viz. 1′ 21″--1′ 21″--1′ 19″--1′ 21″, of which the mean is 1′ 20-1/2″, which would seem to indicate a current of the velocity of 1 mile 893 yards 1 foot per hour. Thus the average velocity of ten feet in depth of the current of the Missouri, is greater by almost 452 yards in a single hour, than {173} that of a superficial stratum of about six inches depth, during the ice-bound state of the river. During these experiments the atmosphere was nearly calm.

25th. Cooked for dinner the entire hump of a bison, after the manner of the Indians; this favourite part of the animal was dissected from the vertebræ, after which the spinous processes were taken out, and the denuded part was covered with skin, which was firmly sewed to that of the back and sides of the hump; the hair was burned and pulled off, and the whole mass exhibiting something of a fusiform shape, was last evening placed in a hole dug in the earth for its reception, which had been previously heated by means of a strong fire in and upon it. It was now covered with cinders and earth, to the depth of about one foot, and a strong fire was made over it. In this situation it remained until it was taken up for the table to-day, when it was found to be excellent food. Mr. Lisa and family dined with us by invitation. That we have sometimes food in great sufficiency, the provision upon our table this day will sufficiently attest. It consisted of the entire bison hump, above mentioned; the rump of a bison roasted, boiled bison meat, two boiled bison tongues, the spinous processes roasted in the manner of spare-ribs, sausages made of minced tender loin and fat, &c. It is true that we have no vegetables whatever, but having been so long estranged from them, we scarcely regret their absence. Their place is supplied by excellent wheat flour, of which our cook prepares us bread fully equal, in point of excellence, to any that we have ever eaten. The above repast was prepared for eleven persons, of whom two were ladies.[201] The collation was succeeded by coffee as a desert.

February 28th. I ascertained the temperature of spring water, which, however, was somewhat exposed to the atmosphere, but in a shaded situation, and in a ravine, to be 47°; that of the atmosphere being at {174} the same time 56°, and that of the river 32°, of Fahrenheit's scale.

Wednesday, March 8th. The Big Elk, Big Eyes, and Wash-co-mo-ne-a visited us to-day on their way, with their attendants, to the traders with jerked bison meat. They presented us with five large pieces. The Big Elk, principal Omawhaw chief, is much pitted with the smallpox, and is of commanding presence. He speaks with great emphasis, and remarkably distinct. He observed that we must think them strange people to be thus constantly wandering about during the cold of winter, instead of remaining comfortably housed in their village; "But," said he, "our poverty and necessities compel us to do so in pursuit of game; yet we sometimes venture forth for our pleasure, as in the present instance, to visit the white people, whom we are always delighted to see." Big Eyes is a large and remarkably muscular man. His nose is that of the European, the opposite to the Roman curve; he is second chief of the Omawhaws.

The Omawhaw chiefs remained with us the greater part of the following day, and presented us with eight more pieces of jerked meat. We presented them in return with some tobacco, &c. The Big Elk made us a considerable harangue, with all the remarkable vivacity, fluency, and nerve of Indian eloquence, in which he said that he would address me by the title of father; "And you," said he, to Mr. Dougherty, "whom I know so well, I will call brother. The Indians around," said he, "who tell the white people that they love them, speak falsely, as is proved by their killing the white people; but my nation truly love you, they have never stained their hands with the blood of a white man, and this much cannot be said by any nation of this land." He added a strong expression, that such was his attachment to us, that he believed that he should, at a future day, be a white man himself.

{175} When they took their leave, we advised them not to visit Camp Missouri, telling them what, in fact, they had already been informed of, that many of the soldiers were sick; (we did not wish them to observe the extent of the malady, with which that camp was afflicted,) but Big Elk remarked, that it had been his intention to go there, and it was not fear that could prevent him; his life was at the disposal of the great Wahconda only, and he could not die before his time; "But," said he, "agreeably to your request I certainly will not go."

Of all the objects which we exhibited to the view of the chiefs, quicksilver (mercury) seemed to excite the most surprise; they weighed the vessel, in which it was contained, in their hands, dipped their fingers into it, and were surprised at the resistance which it offered to the immersion, and what appeared most singular was, that they should be withdrawn without any appearance of moisture upon them; that they might not be deceived they repeated the experiment again and again. A couple of iron nails were then thrown upon the mercury, and as these did not sink to the bottom, they pressed them down with their fingers; but finding that the nails constantly arose again to the surface, the Big Elk returned the vessel to me, saying, with a smile of pleasure strongly impressed on his strongly marked countenance, that the fluid was the Omawhaw's Wahconda.

The last load of stone, which was taken from the quarry early in December last, was prevented from reaching Camp Missouri by the floating ice; the boat was driven ashore and abandoned. It was now observed floating down the river, with a large quantity of drift ice; and, when opposite our cantonment, was readily secured by Major Ketchum, without having received any injury whatever.[202] Major Ketchum, with a detachment of men, has been engaged for two or three days past in cutting out of the ice, three of the boats from our harbour. These, together with {176} one, which is at Camp Missouri, are intended to convey the sick from that camp down the river to Fort Osage. Camp Missouri has been sickly, from the commencement of winter; but its situation is at this time truly deplorable. More than three hundred soldiers are, or have been sick, and nearly one hundred have died. This fatality is occasioned by the scurvy (scorbutus). Individuals who are seized rarely recover, as they cannot be furnished with the proper aliments; they have no vegetables, fresh meat, nor antiscorbutics, so that the patients grow daily worse, and entering the hospital is considered by them as a certain passport to the grave. Yet it is some consolation to reflect that all the science, care, and attention of the healing art have been exerted for the relief of the sufferers by Doctors Gale and Moore, as far as their present insulated situation will admit. The causes which have been productive of all this disease, are not distinctly known, although there are many supposed ones to which it has been imputed. But it was generally remarked, that the hunters, who were much employed in their avocation, and almost constantly absent from Camp Missouri, escaped the malady.

On the 19th, Mr. Immel,[203] of the Missouri Fur Company, returned from an expedition to the Sioux. During his stay in the vicinity of the pseudo volcanoes, which occur on the banks of the Missouri, a tremendous subterranean explosion occurred, which much alarmed the Indians as well as the whites; the concussion was succeeded by a large volume of dense smoke from the aperture of the volcano, by the sinking in of a portion of the hill in the rear, and by the cracking of the ice in the river. Messrs. Peale, Swift, and Dougherty departed in a periogue yesterday, on their way to the Bowyer Creek to hunt.

An igneous meteor, or jack-o'-lantern, was seen on the evening of the 20th, near our cantonment; it was described to me as of the size of a double fist, {177} with a caudate appendage, or tail, of the length of about two feet; it emitted a light of the colour of the flame of burning sulphur; it passed along the river shore nearly over the observer's head, at but a very small elevation, nearly in a right line, with an equable motion, about as rapid as the flight of a bird, and with an audible sound like the blowing of a moderate stream of air through a thicket; it was visible about one half a minute, when it crossed the river, became paler, and disappeared.

The waters of the Missouri have been as clear during the winter as ordinary rivers; the earthy matter, which they hold in suspension during the temperate and warm weather, and which every person who views the river remarks as characteristic of its waters, subsides as soon as the wintry temperature occurs, but is again renewed in the spring. They have been gradually more and more turbid, these two or three days past. The ice in the river broke up on the 29th ult., and entirely disappeared on the 19th instant.

Great flights of geese, swans, ducks, brant, and cranes have been passing up the river, at their usual migrating altitude above the surface of the earth; but this migration of these aquatic birds has nearly ceased.

April 5th. A war-party of Omawhaws arrived at the trading house of the Missouri Fur Company. They are one of three parties, which have been for ten days past in pursuit of a war-party of thirteen Sauks who carried off a number of horses from near the Omawhaw village. They pursued the trail of the Sauks, until they lost it nearly opposite to this place; they, nevertheless, continued the pursuit in the direction which they supposed the enemy had taken, but are now returning unsuccessful; they say they are in hopes, that one of the other parties may overtake them. It seems probable, that it was this same {178} party of Sauks who fired upon a soldier on the 30th ult.

6th. The war-party mentioned yesterday visited us this morning, on their way home. They danced for us, and after receiving bread, buffaloe meat, and tobacco, departed well pleased. In the afternoon, another war-party of eleven Omawhaws, who had also been in pursuit of the same Sauks, arrived. We were notified of their proximity by hearing their war-song, and going out, we observed them at a short distance arranged in a line, from the centre of which were elevated two handsome streamers, which, upon their approach, we found to be two long lances, to which feathers of different colours, fancifully arranged, were attached. The partizan advanced, and made us a speech as usual, in which he gave an account of their adventures, and concluded by praising the kindness of the whites, their hospitality, and their greatness in arts and arms. This address being well understood to aim at food and lodging, though neither of these were mentioned, we supplied them with bison meat, bread, and maize, and invited them to remain with us during the night to rest themselves in comfort and safety. They immediately sat down, and, the food being portioned out by one of the warriors, they proceeded to eat with the appearance of such appetites as convinced us that their fast had been of long duration. In conversation during the evening the partizan said, that they had followed a considerable trail, supposing that the Sauks had taken that direction; that they observed stakes stuck in the ground at certain distances, and the trees _blazed_ as far as they went upon that trail. He inquired if we knew the reason of such marks; he was then informed, that it was to indicate the course of a road which was to be made in that direction, and that if he had travelled far enough upon the trail he would have met with towns of white people, who would have treated him well. After musing some time, he {179} observed, that they had travelled a good distance on that route, and having occasion to deviate a short distance from it, they found when they returned that a white man and three horses had passed along during their absence; (this was Lieutenant Fields, the express,) they immediately despatched two of their young men back to follow him, and to learn if he had met the fugitive Sauks; but they could not overtake him. "We continued on," said Naugh-ken-ne (or the Left Hand), "with all speed; but at length, being almost famished, we were necessitated to halt and hunt; of course we gave over the pursuit. Not wishing to return to our nation without obtaining some trophy, we resolved to go to Nishnebottona, in order to strike upon the Ioways, who, we had been informed, were at that place; but when we arrived there, we had the mortification to learn that they were gone; we must, therefore, return without these poor young men having any opportunity to distinguish themselves." "Did you not," we asked, "make peace with the Ioways last season?" "Yes, it is true we made a kind of peace with them, but you know they are bad men; we do not like them; the whites do not like them; perhaps it was a party of that nation, and not Sauks, that stole our horses, and you know it was very hard to be obliged, after all our difficulties and starvations, to return to our people without either scalps or horses. We wished to obtain some trophy that should repay us for our toils." In the evening they sang for our amusement a number of tunes, whilst two or three danced as well as they could in our small chamber. A negro belonging to the Fur Company coming in on an errand, they spoke of him as the _black white man_, and one of them jokingly said, he was a Wasabajinga, or little black bear.[204]

The Indians departed early on the 7th, with many thanks for the attention they had received. Before they went, they presented to us a wild cat, which {180} they had shot, but we advised them to keep it to eat on the way home, upon which they thanked us for it, as if they had never owned it.

11th. We learn that a third war-party of Omawhaws, who departed in pursuit of the Sauks before either of the others, were met by a strong party of that nation, who were on their way to the Omawhaw village; they however escaped from them with the loss of one man killed and several wounded; the loss of the Sauks is not known. The party speak highly of one of their number, a boy of twelve years, who, at a critical juncture of the engagement, ran up to several of the enemy and flashed his gun three times at them; he escaped unhurt.

FOOTNOTES:

[189] I. _Vespertilio pruinosus._--Ears large, short, not so long as the head, hairy on the exterior side more than half their length; _tragus_ very obtuse at tip, arcuated; _canine teeth_ large, prominent; _incisors_, only one distinct one on each side, placed very near the canine, conic, almost on a line with it, and furnished with a small tubercle on its exterior base; _nostrils_ distant; _fur_ of the back, long, black brown at base, then pale brownish-yellow, then blackish, then white; towards the rump dark ferruginous takes the place of the brownish-yellow on the fur; _beneath_ the colours are similar to those of the back; but on the anterior portion of the breast the fur is not tipped with white, and on the throat it is dull yellowish-white dusky at base; the brachial membrane is densely hairy on the anterior margin beneath; interfemoral membrane covered with fur: length nearly 4-1/2 inches.

This bat is common in this region, and was observed by Mr. Thomas Nuttall at Council Bluffs. It is a fine large species, and remarkable for its many-coloured fur. It has much affinity with the New York bat, (V. novaboracensis,) but is more than double its size, and is distinguished from it by many minor characters.

The late professor Barton, presented a specimen of this bat to the Philadelphia museum, that had been captured in Philadelphia.

2. _Vespertilio arquatus._--_Head_ large, _ears_ rather shorter than the head, wide, and at tip, rounded, hairy at base, posterior edge with two slight and very obtuse emarginations; the anterior base distant from the eye; _tragus_ arquated, obtuse at tip; interfemoral membrane naked, including the tail to one half of the penultimate joint.

Total length 5 inches: tail 1-1/2 inches.

Expansion more than 13 inches.

This bat might be readily mistaken for the Carolina bat, (V. carolinensis, Geoff.) which it resembles in colour, but differs from it in being of a larger size, the ears broader and proportionally shorter, and an arquated tragus, curving in an almost luniform manner towards the anterior portion of the ear, like that of the V. _serotinus_, Daub. Geoff., though not so broad. The upper incisor teeth, like those of several of our species of bats, are not prominent; they are very much inclined forward, and do not rise at their tips above the level of the intermediate callosity.--JAMES.

[190] 1. _Canis latrans._--Cinereous or gray, varied with black above, and dull fulvous, or cinnamon; _hair_ at base dusky plumbeous, in the middle of its length dull cinnamon, and at tip gray or black, longer on the vertebral line; _ears_ erect, rounded at tip, cinnamon behind, the hair dark plumbeous at base, inside lined with gray hair; _eyelids_ edged with black, superior eyelashes black beneath, and at tip above; supplemental lid margined with black-brown before, and edged with black-brown behind; _iris_ yellow; _pupil_ black-blue; spot upon the lachrymal sac black-brown; rostrum cinnamon, tinctured with grayish on the nose; _lips_ white, edged with black, three series of black seta; _head_ between the ears intermixed with gray, and dull cinnamon, hairs dusky plumbeous at base; _sides_ paler than the back, obsoletely fasciate with black above the legs; _legs_ cinnamon on the outer side, more distinct on the posterior hair: a dilated black abbreviated line on the anterior ones near the wrist; _tail_ bushy, fusiform, straight, varied with gray and cinnamon, a spot near the base above, and tip black: the tip of the trunk of the tail, attains the tip of the os calcis, when the leg is extended; _beneath_ white, immaculate; _tail_ cinnamon towards the tip, tip black; posterior feet four-toed, anterior five-toed.

ft. in. Total length (excepting the hair at tip of tail) 3 9-1/2 Trunk of the tail 1 0-1/2 Hind foot os calcis to tip of claw 0 7-1/5 Fore foot elbow to tip of claw 1 0-3/4 Ears from top of head 0 4 Rostrum from anterior can thus of the eye 0 3-3/4

Taken in a trap, baited with the body of a wild cat.

The line on the anterior side of the anterior feet, near the wrist, is wanting in a second specimen.

This species varies very much in size; another specimen measured--

ft. in. In total length (excepting the hair at tip of tail) 3 2-1/2 Tail (excepting the hair at tip of tail) 0 11-3/4 Ear from top of head to tip 0 3-5/8

The snout was narrower than in the preceding specimens, but in colour similar.

Another specimen was destitute of the cinnamon colour, excepting on the snout, where it was but slightly apparent; the general colour was, therefore, gray with an intermixture of black, in remote spots and lines, varying in position and figure with the direction of the hair.

2. _Canis nubilus._--Dusky, the hair cinereous at base, then brownish-black, then gray, then black; the proportion of black upon the hair is so considerable as to give to the whole animal a much darker colour than the darkest of the _latrans_; but the gray of the hairs combining with the black tips, in the general effect, produce a mottled appearance; the gray colour, predominates on the lower part of the sides; _ears_ short, deep brownish-black, with a patch of gray hair on the anterior side within; _muzzle_ blackish above; _superior lips_, anterior to the canine teeth, gray; _inferior jaw_ at tip, and extending in a narrowed line backwards, nearly to the origin of the neck, gray; _beneath_ dusky ferruginous, greyish, with long hair between the hind thighs, and with a large white spot on the breast; the ferruginous colour is very much narrowed on the neck, but is dilated on the lower part of the cheeks; _legs_ brownish-black, with but a slight admixture of gray hairs, excepting on the anterior edge of the hind thighs, and the lower edgings of the toes, where the gray predominates; the _tail_ is short, fusiform, a little tinged with ferruginous black above, near the base and at tip, the tip of the trunk hardly attaining to the os calcis; the longer hairs of the back, particularly over the shoulders, resemble a short sparse mane.

ft. in.

Length from the tip of the nose to the origin of the tail 4 3-3/4

Length of the trunk of the tail 1 1

Ear, from anterior angle to the tip 0 3-3/4

From the anterior angle of the ear, to the posterior canthus of the eye, 0 4-3/4

From anterior canthus of the eye, to the middle of the tip of the nose, 0 5-1/2

Between the anterior angles of the ears, rather more than 0 3

The aspect of this animal is far more fierce and formidable than either the common red wolf, or the prairie wolf, and is of a more robust form. The length of the ears and tail distinguish it at once from the former, and its greatly superior size, besides the minor characters of colour, &c., separate it from the prairie wolf. As the black wolf (C. lycaon,) is described to be of a deep and uniform black colour, and his physiognomy is represented to be nearly the same as that of the common wolf, it is beyond a doubt different from this species. It has the mane of the _mexicanus_. It diffuses a strong and disagreeable odour, which scented the clothing of Messrs. Peale and Dougherty, who transported the animal several miles from where they killed it to the cantonment.

1. _Sylvia celatus._--_Above_ dull greenish-olive; _rump_ and _tail coverts_ purer greenish-olive; _primaries_ and _tail feathers_ blackish-brown, olive-green on the exterior margins, and white on the interior margin; _head_ very slightly and inconspicuously crested; _crest_ with the feathers orange at base; _bill_ horn colour, slender, base of the inferior mandible whitish beneath; _beneath_ olivaceous yellow; _inferior tail coverts_ pure yellow; _legs_ dusky.

Length 5-1/4 inches.

Shot at Engineer Cantonment early in May. This bird is distinguished by the colour of the feathers on the crown of the head, which are of a fulvous colour, tipped with the same colour as that of the neck and back, so that the fulvous colour does not appear at first sight. The wings are destitute of any white band, and the margins of the six exterior primaries are much paler than those of the others. We cannot find any description of this bird; it seems, however, to approach nearest to the S. _leucogastra_, Steph., Nashville warbler of Wilson; but in our specimen the belly is not white, neither does Wilson's description of the colour of the head of his Nashville warbler agree at all with that of our bird.

2. _Sylvia bifasciata._--Above bluish; all beneath white; _head_ highly varied with darker; between the eyes and bill blackish; _bill_ black; _interscapulars_ lineate with blackish; _wings_ blackish; _shoulders_ bluish; _wing coverts_ with two white bands; _primaries_ margined with white on the inner side, and with plumbeous on the exterior side; _tail_ black; _feathers_ blackish, white on the inner margin, and plumbeous on the exterior margin; and, excepting the two middle ones, with a white spot on the inner side, near the tip; _flanks_ spotted with plumbeous; _feet_ black.

Length rather more than 4-3/4 inches.

Shot in May, near Engineer Cantonment. This species seems to approach very closely to S. cærulea.

_Genus Limosa_, CUV.

_Limosa scolopacea._--Dusky cinereous; _bill_, straight; upper mandible a little longer, and very slightly arquated towards the tip; the grooves continue to near the tip, about as long again as the head, yellowish green; _tip_ black, dilated, rugose, with a dorsal groove; _palate_ with reflected, cartilaginous spines; _head_ with a line from the upper mandible, passing over the eye and inferior orbit; white _cheeks_, _chin_, _throat_, and origin of the _breast_, cinereous; the plumage margined with dull whitish; _back_ beneath the interscapulars, white; _rump_, plumage white, fasciate with black; _tail coverts_, and _tail_ white fasciate with black, which latter colour is more abundant; _lesser wing coverts_ margined with whitish; _greater wing coverts_ black, terminal margin white: _secondaries_ black, margin and submargin white; _primaries_ black, interior ones very slightly edged with white; _outer shaft_ white, a little longer than the second; _breast_ and _belly_ white; _sides_ spotted or undulated with blackish cinereous; _inferior tail coverts_ with black abbreviated bands, the white prevailing; _feet_ dirty greenish; _toes_ webbed at base, the exterior one reaching the first joint of outer toe, the interior one very short; _hind toe_ rather long.

inches. Length from tip of bill to that of the tail, 11-3/4 Length of bill, 2-3/4 Length of feet, 5-3/4 Length from the knee to the origin of the feathers, 1-1/10

Tail projecting more than one inch beyond the tip of the wing.

Several specimens were shot in a pond near the Bowyer creek. Corresponds with the genus scolopax, Cuv. in having the dorsal grooves at the tip of the upper mandible, and in having this part dilated and rugose; but the eye is not large, nor is it placed far back upon the head; which two latter characters, combined with its more elevated and slender figure, and the circumstance of the thighs being denudated of feathers high above the knee, and the exterior toe being united to the middle toe by a membrane, which extends as far as the first joint, and the toes being also margined, combine to distinguish this species from those of the genus to which the form and characters of its bill would refer it, and approach it more closely to _limosa_. In one specimen the two exterior primaries on each wing were light brown, but the quills were white. It may perhaps with propriety be considered as the type of a new genus, and under the following characters, be placed between the genera scolopax and limosa.

_Bill_ longer than the head, dilated and rugose at tip: _tip_ slightly curved downwards, and with a dorsal groove: _nasal groove_ elongated; _feet_ long, an extensive naked space above the knee; _toes_ slightly margined, a membrane connecting the basal joints of the exterior toes; first of the primaries rather longest.

_Genus Pelidna_, CUV.

1. _Pelidna pectoralis._--_Bill_ black, reddish-yellow at base; upper mandible with a few indented punctures near the tip; _head_ above black, plumage margined with ferruginous, a distinct brown line from the eye to the upper mandible; _cheeks_ and _neck_ beneath cinereous very slightly tinged with rufous, and lineate with blackish; _orbits_ and line over the eye white; _chin_ white; _neck_ above dusky, plumage margined with cinereous, _scapulars_, _interscapulars_, and _wing coverts_ black, margined with ferruginous, and near the exterior tips with whitish; _primaries_ dusky, slightly edged with whitish, outer quill shaft white; _back_, (beneath the interscapulars, _rump_) and _tail coverts_ black, immaculate; _tail feathers_ dusky, margined with white at tip, two intermediate ones longest, acute, attaining the tip of the wings, black, edged with ferruginous: _breast_, _venter_, _vent_ and _inferior tail coverts_ white, plumage blackish at base; _sides_ white, the plumage towards the tail slightly lineate with dusky; _feet_ greenish-yellow; _toes_ divided to the base.

Length nearly 9 inches. Bill 1-1/8 inches.

This bird in many respects resembles _cinclus_, but as the average size of that bird is stated at seven inches and one or two lines, ours is doubtless a distinct species. Many flocks of them were seen at Engineer Cantonment, both in the spring and autumn, the individuals of which corresponded in point of magnitude: we add a description for the information of ornithologists. It is described from a specimen in the autumnal plumage. In the spring dress, the colour of the superior part of the bird is much paler, almost destitute of black, and the feathers are brownish, margined with pale cinereous; the superior part of the head is always darker than any part of the neck, and margined with ferruginous; the plumage of the neck beneath, and the breast, does not appear to be subject to so much change, as that of the superior part of the body.

2. _Pelidna cinclus._ VAR.--Above blackish-brown, plumage edged with cinereous, or whitish; _head_ and _neck_ above cinereous with dilated fuscous lines; _eyebrows_ white; a brown line between the eye and corner of the mouth, above which the front is white; _cheeks_, _sides of the neck_, and _throat_, cinereous, lineate with blackish-brown; _bill_ short, straight, black; _chin_, _breast_, _belly_, _vent_, and _inferior tail coverts_ pure white, plumage plumbeous at base; _scapulars_ and _lesser wing coverts_ margined with white; _greater wing coverts_ with a broad white tip; _primaries_ surpassing the tip of the tail, blackish, slightly edged with whitish, exterior shaft white, shafts whitish on the middle of their length; _rump_ blackish, plumage margined at tip with cinereous tinctured with rufous; _tail coverts_ white, submargins black; _tail feathers_ cinereous margined with white, two middle ones slightly longer, black, margined with white; _legs_ blackish. A male.

Length to tip of tail 7 inches. Bill 7/8 of an inch.

This bird was shot in November, near Engineer Cantonment, and it is probably a variety of the very variable _cinclus_ in its winter plumage.--JAMES.

[191] A sketch of Big Elk is given in Bradbury's _Travels_,