Travels in the Interior of North America Part 10

Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, pigeons, thrushes, the great lark, the cardinal, the blue-bird, and many others, were seen in the orchards during the whole winter. The coveys of partridges lay in the fields of maize, or the thorn hedges, sheltered and protected from the cold. There were often very warm days in the middle of winter. On such a day, the 31st of January, I found, at noon, the thermometer being +5 R., at the foot of a thick plane tree, a great number of the red and black spotted lady-bird, which were half frozen. Tortoises were seen, on warm days, during the whole winter. In the middle of February, a great number of the white maple, called also the soft or swamp maple, were in blossom in the forests; and, towards the end of that month, the song of many birds resounded through the woods and orchards. Flights of cranes pa.s.sed over. The _Arabis bulbosa_ (Muhlenb.) blossomed, as well as the hazel, yet there were still some cold days. The Americans have a proverb--"When winter comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb,"

and _vice versa_. This winter, however, the cold had not set in early.

At the beginning of March we had frost. On the 2nd of March, at eight in the morning, Reaumur's thermometer was at -16; and at twelve o'clock at noon, -9. Small pieces of water were frozen over; the ducks, especially the pintail ducks, which were now constantly disturbed in the Wabash, by the navigation and by the sportsman, sought for small pieces of open water; and when they were driven from these, repaired to the woods or the maize fields. The blackbird and the robin sought their scanty food on the banks of the brooks. Many species of animals were, however, in motion at the beginning of March.

Numbers of tortoises appeared; the note of the owl was heard in the forests, even in the daytime; the wood-snipe fluttered about, and the young leaves of the _sambucus_, and the flowers of the _corylus_, gave an enlivening appearance to the forest. The voice of the turtle-dove was heard as early as the 8th of February; insects buzzed about; flocks of migratory pigeons flew towards the north and east; and on the 9th, the first steam-boat went up the Wabash.

We had satisfactory accounts of the sanitary state of the southern and western parts of the United States. At Cincinnati the violence of the cholera had abated at the commencement of the Indian summer; on the Ohio it had generally ceased; and St. Louis, by the latest reports, was perfectly healthy. Mr. Bodmer, who had made an excursion to New Orleans, in December and January, found the cholera still there, but it had greatly abated; and I therefore resolved to make preparations for proceeding on our journey, as soon as our collections were packed up and sent off.

FOOTNOTES:

[83] Robert Owen (1771-1858) was a prominent English socialist and propagandist. Rising from the ranks of workingmen, by shrewd business capacity he acquired a fortune, which he devoted to the improvement of the conditions of working people, and to the spread of principles of co-operation and education. His factory and schools at New Lanark, Scotland, became famous, and were visited by eminent reformers. He was also instrumental in securing the first Factory Act, protecting the rights of children. In 1825 he purchased New Harmony, Indiana, for the purpose of establis.h.i.+ng a co-operative community. Owen's connection with this experiment was dissolved about 1828, although his sons remained on the property many years. The latter years of his life were entirely devoted to theoretical discussion, erratic journalism, and socialistic experimentation. He is considered the founder of the co-operative movement in England.

William Maclure (1763-1840), a wealthy merchant, geologist, and philanthropist, made an unsuccessful attempt (1819) to found an agricultural school at Alicaut, Spain, for the benefit of the poorer cla.s.ses. In 1824 he went with Robert Owen to New Harmony and took charge of the educational department. The following year, however, together with a hundred and fifty followers, he withdrew to found Macluria. Later, they purchased the New Harmony establishment, and for a short time conducted a school of industry destined to early failure.

In 1827, because of failing health, he went to Mexico, where he died (1840).--ED.

[84] Jean Baptiste Audebert (1759-1800), an eminent French painter, engraver, and naturalist, published _A Natural History of Apes, Lemurs, and Galeopitheci_, with numerous plates (1800), and _A History of Humming Birds, Fly Catchers, Jacamars and Promerap_ (1 vol., 1802).

Audebert at his death left unfinished several works on birds, subsequently edited by Vieillot and Destray.--ED.

[85] See Plate 8, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[86] See Plate 25, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[87] _Cervus major_, or _Canadensis_. I have retained the American name of elk for this animal, but it must not be confounded with the elendthier (_Cervus alces_), which is sometimes called elk, in Prussia. The name wapiti, given to it by the English, which is derived from one of the Indian languages, ought never to be used, because it is scarcely known to anybody, even in America.--MAXIMILIAN.

[88] Edward Poppig (1798-1868) was educated as a naturalist at Leipzig. He travelled in Cuba and the United States (1822-24), and subsequently went to South America, returning to Germany in 1832. In 1845 he was elected professor of zoology at the University of Leipzig and died in 1868. He wrote _Reise in Chila, Peru und auf dem Amazonenstromer_ (Leipzig, 1835-36), and _Landschaftliche Ansichten und erlauterude Darstellungen aus dem Gebiete der Erdbunde_ (Leipzig, 1838).

For Mrs. Trollope, see Wyeth's _Oregon_, in our volume xxi, p. 44, note 24; for Doctor Drake, see Flint's _Letters_, in our volume ix, p.

121, note 61.--ED.

[89] For a brief sketch of Lesueur, see our volume xvi, p. 138, note 60.

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) was a distinguished professor in the University of Gottingen. As a recognition of his ability, he was in 1812 elected secretary of the Royal Society of Sciences.--ED.

[90] Mr. Lesueur sketched these from memory, having parted with the originals.--MAXIMILIAN.

_Comment by Ed._ See opposite page for ill.u.s.tration of Indian pipes.

[91] See the "Disseminator" for 1831. Say writes--"Some arrow-heads and knives made of flint were found in the same tumulus, which are perfectly like those often found on the surface. These arrow-heads are generally known, but the instrument which probably served as a knife, deserves more particular consideration. It is from an inch and a half to two inches and a quarter long, from three-tenths to seven-tenths broad, and has two edges; in shape it resembles the obsidian knives of the ancient Aztecks, or, perhaps, of the Tultecks, of which we found a great many near the Mexican city of Chalco, and of which there are engravings in one of the last numbers of 'Silliman's Journal.' We have compared several specimens of flint and obsidian knives, and found them as perfectly alike as if they had been made by the same artist, and as the difference of the material allows. If we cannot decide how far this fact may serve to confirm the hieroglyphic accounts of the emigration of the Aztecks and Tultecks from north to south, it seems, however, to strengthen the conjecture that the remote ancestors of the present Mexicans erected the tumuli and walls which are spread in such numbers over this country, and of the origin of which the present race of red men have no tradition." These obsidian knives are likewise represented in one of the early volumes of the French Academy, but Warden does not mention them in his "Antiquites Mexicaines." He puts the question, whether the people of the Ohio Valley may not have been a colony of the ancient inhabitants of Palenque? The old tumuli of Harmony appear, at least, to belong to a kindred race. On this obscure but highly interesting subject, see Alex. V. Humboldt, "Voy. au Nouv.

Cont." t. iii. p. 155, &c.--MAXIMILIAN.

[92] This must have been a wandering band either of Sauk and Foxes (the latter of whom often were ent.i.tled "Musquake") or of Mascoutin.

The Indian t.i.tle to this region had been extinguished in 1804; see note 92, _post_. Possibly they were Potawatomi, several of whose chiefs bore names resembling these.

An account of the battle of Tippecanoe is given in Evans's _Tour_, in our volume viii, p. 286, note 131.--ED.

[93] Some of the southern tribes of the North American Indians still use such wooden pipes. I have seen such belonging to the Cherokees, which were in the shape of a bear. The opening for the tobacco was on the back, and the tube fixed near the tail.--MAXIMILIAN.

[94] For the Kickapoo and Mascoutin (Masquiton) Indians, see Croghan's _Journals_, in our volume i, p. 139, note 111; for the Potawatomi (Potanons), _ibid._, p. 115, note 84. The Piankeshaw and Miami are respectively noted in our volume i, p. 142, note 115; p. 27, note 24.

The Wyandot (Viandots) were the Huron; see our volume i, p. 29, note 26.

Two treaties--the first with the Delawares, signed August 18, 1804; the second with the Piankeshaw, August 27, 1804--were concluded by William Henry Harrison at Vincennes. By these treaties all the southwestern portion of Indiana below the Vincennes tract already ceded, became the property of the United States. See W. H. Smith, _History of Indiana_ (Indianapolis, 1897), pp. 230-233.--ED.

[95] Bloomington, the seat of Monroe County, Indiana, was laid out by Benjamin Park, July 12, 1818.

By the two acts of March 26, 1804, and April 16, 1816, Congress granted two towns.h.i.+ps of land, subsequently located in Gibson and Monroe counties "for the use of a seminary of learning." The territorial legislature on November 9, 1806, established in the borough of Vincennes "an university to be known by the name and style of the Vincennes University." The attempt proved a failure, and the land was transferred to the Indiana Seminary created on January 20, 1820. The latter was, on January 24, 1828, raised to the dignity of Indiana College, and on February 15, 1838, to Indiana University.--ED.

[96] The other taxes were at this time the following:--1. Poll-tax, thirty-seven and a half cents per head, per annum. 2. Land-tax, according to the quality of the land; in Illinois, one and a half cents per acre on land of the best quality. 3. Watch-tax, twenty-five cents on a silver watch, and half a dollar on a gold watch. 4.

Horse-tax, thirty-five cents on every horse above three years old.

Twenty-five cents on every pair of draught oxen. This was the case in Indiana; in Illinois, a tax of half a dollar, on the value of 100 dollars for every head of cattle above three years old. All grocers who sell sugar, coffee, and spirituous liquors, pay a tax in Indiana, as well as publicans. The landlord of the inn at which we lodged, paid a tax of ten dollars per annum. All these taxes are levied by the Government of the State, and are liable to be changed.--MAXIMILIAN.

[97] See p. 175, for ill.u.s.tration of neck-yoke and plow.--ED.

[98] In the splendid work, "Genus Pinus," by my lamented friend, A. B.

Lambert, Esq., Vice-President of the Linnean Society, lately deceased, there is a plate and an interesting account of this tree. Mr. Lambert states that "it was introduced into England by Lord Bagot, from seeds received from the celebrated naturalist, Mr. Correa de Serra, then amba.s.sador of Portugal to the United States. Lord Bagot has two fine trees in his conservatory, and was so good as to give me plants of it, which are now growing in my conservatory at Boyton."--H. EVANS LLOYD.

[99] Fox River, a bayou of the Big Wabash River, in the eastern portion of Philip Towns.h.i.+p, White County, Illinois, cuts off about six miles of territory, known as Fox Island.--ED.

[100] See Bodmer's view of this junction, Plate 38, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

[101] See Evans's _Pedestrious Tour_, in our volume viii, p. 192, note 45.--ED.

[102] This _Nymphaea_ had, in January, thrown out short pedunculi, near to its tuberculous root, at some depth below the water, from which thick, round, yellow flower-buds had sprouted. The arrow-shaped leaves were green, but, at this time, at a great depth under water.--MAXIMILIAN.

[103] The parroquet (or parrakeet), a diminution of the Spanish _perico_, meaning parrot, is the term applied to many small varieties of parrots, especially to the long-tailed East Indian and Australian species of the genus _Palaeorius_. At the opening of the nineteenth century they were quite numerous in the southern portion of the United States; but they have now disappeared, save in the wilder portions of Indian Territory and Florida. See c.u.ming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, p. 161, note 108.--ED.

[104] See Plate 38, in the accompanying atlas, our volume xxv.--ED.

CHAPTER IX

JOURNEY FROM NEW HARMONY TO ST. LOUIS ON THE MISSISSIPPI, AND OUR STAY THERE, FROM MARCH 16TH TO APRIL 9TH, 1833

Mount Vernon--Mouth of the Wabash--Shawneetown--Battery Rock--Cave-in-Rock--c.u.mberland River--Tenessee River--Mouth of the Ohio--Cape Girardeau--Grand Tower--St. Genevieve--Merrimack River--Vide Poche--Kahokia--St. Louis--Sac and Fox Indians--Meeting of the Black Hawk with his Countrymen at Jefferson Barracks--The American Fur Company--Preparations for the Journey up the Missouri.

After taking leave of our friends at Harmony, who, during a residence of four months, had given us unvarying proofs of kindness and hospitality, we set out on horseback early in the morning of the 16th of March, leaving our baggage to be conveyed by the Ohio. The day was fine, and, rejoicing in the warm spring sun, we reached the hills that bounded the valley of the Wabash. We were immediately surrounded by lofty forests, and cast a farewell look on the cheerful country which had so long sheltered us. Perched on the top of the maple, oak, and tulip tree, the robin poured forth his morning song. The turtle-dove was cooing with her sweet low moan, and the shrill voice and hammering of the woodp.e.c.k.e.rs resounded on every side. In Europe the soft note of the turtle is not heard till spring is more advanced, and the trees are clothed with verdure. Many trees were covered with buds; those of the dog-wood were particularly forward, the beautiful white flowers of which appear before the leaves; this is the case with many of the trees of this country. We pa.s.sed Rush Creek, on the eminences near which grow many sugar-maple trees, the juice of which was tapped, and had in some of them already ceased to flow. At the lower part of all the trunks, we found small tubes of elder inserted, from which the insipid sweetish juice ran into the troughs placed below them. It is said to flow in great abundance, when hot spring days are succeeded by cold frosty nights. We soon reached what is called a sugar camp in the forest; it is a hut, in the floor of which four kettles are fixed for boiling the juice. This [pg. 94] hut contains likewise large troughs, in which the juice from the smaller, placed at the trees, is collected.

Such a hut, with the maples growing around it, is called a sugar camp, and the quant.i.ty of sugar produced depends on the number of maples in the vicinity. Many camps furnish in one spring 300, 500, or even 1000 lbs. of sugar, which is crystallized in loaves. It is brown, but very sweet, and has no disagreeable flavour. We refreshed ourselves with the juice in the small troughs, which our horses drank greedily.

The people in the isolated dwellings in the forest were partly engaged in burning the timber. Many of the small wooden houses of these peasants were without windows; gla.s.s windows are quite a luxury, and the only light enjoyed in the daytime is admitted by the open door. We saw in all these dwellings, very wide, large beds. We crossed the Big Creek, a considerable stream, with rising banks, by a wooden bridge; here we saw many piles of oak bark, which is sold to the tanneries. At noon, the weather being excessively hot, we reached Mount Vernon, on the Ohio.

In this little scattered place, with about 600 inhabitants, among whom there are five medical men, about one third of the buildings are of brick; the town-hall stands in an open square. The Ohio, which we immediately visited, had now a much more striking appearance than at our first visit in the autumn. It is considerably broader than the Rhine, and it is said that it often rises thirty feet higher--up to the very thresholds of the buildings standing on the bank. The view both up and down the river was beautiful. The immediate environs of Mount Vernon consist of damp marshy forests; hence the water is very bad, and the inhabitants prefer even that of the Ohio. The temperature at noon was now very warm; 14 Reaumur.

We were obliged to wait a couple of days in this little town for a steam-boat, to go down the river. The rus.h.i.+ng noise of the steamers often called us to the river, but they were mostly going up, and disappeared at Diamond Island. At last, on the 18th of March, about ten in the morning, two steam-boats appeared, of which the largest, the Napoleon, did not stop; while the smaller one, the Conveyance, took us in.[105] We proceeded rapidly, reached before noon Wabash Island, near the mouth of that river, and after dinner landed at Shawneetown.

Shawneetown or Shawaneetown is a hamlet lying along the banks of the river, and containing from 600 to 700 inhabitants. The best buildings are some inns, shops, and the post-office. The tribe of the Shawnee Indians formerly dwelt in this country, and were succeeded by some Delawares, who have been long since expelled or extirpated.

Arrow-heads of flint, as well as the bones, &c., of these people, are frequently found in the neighbourhood. The Shawnees were said to have previously dwelt on the Savaney River, on the coast of Florida, and afterwards lived for about sixty-five years in the state of Ohio. They consisted, according to Dr. Morse, of four tribes:--1. The Piqua; 2.

The Maguachake; 3. The Kiskopokoke, to which the celebrated prophet, Elsquataway, and his distinguished brother, Tec.u.mseh, belonged. They were very warlike. In [pg. 95] 1806 they settled near Greenville, in the State of Ohio, and their subsequent history is well known. They afterwards went to the country about Tippecanoe. 4. The Chillicothes, who live in the vicinity of the town of that name; these, and further accounts of these people, are to be found in Dr. Morse, and other writers.[106]