Travels in the Interior of North America Part 9

In the forests of Indiana the ground is covered with a thick undergrowth, fifteen, twenty, or thirty feet high, consisting chiefly of the papaw tree, the spinewood (_Laurus Benzoin_), and the red bud; the flowers of the two latter precede the leaf. Under these lower trees, shrubs cover [pg. 76] the ground. No pine, rhododendron, kalmia, azalea, magnolia, nor even the chestnut tree, are found in these forests; but they seem to be especially the native country of the beautiful catalpa tree, of which it was not known in what part of America it properly grew wild, and which here attains a considerable height and size.

These lofty forests re-echo with the hammering of the numerous woodp.e.c.k.e.rs; and, during the winter, the scarlet cardinal (_Fring.

cardinalis_) s.h.i.+nes in the distance; and the t.i.tmouse (_Parus.

bicolor_, and _Atricapillus_), and the nuthatch (_Sitta Carolinensis_), everywhere seek for insects and nuts.

The inhabitants of these forests would never be in want of an ample supply of wood for fuel and for timber, if they had been at all careful. The black walnut and cherry tree wood are the best for cabinet work; and for fuel, the hickory, which affords more heat than beech wood. The price of wood, at Harmony, was one dollar for a cord; but the price is already rising, because the forest in the neighbourhood of the village is gradually cleared, and the carriage is more expensive.

There are several kinds of officinal plants in the vicinity of Harmony; ginseng (_Panax_) grows close by the village, and its roots are still in request, but not so much as formerly. Another plant of the woods of Indiana, which is much esteemed, is the spurious Colombo root; likewise the peppermint, which grows in every part of the United States. The wax tree (_Myrica cerifera_), of the berries of which the green, fragrant tapers are made, does not grow in Indiana, but is found on the whole east coast, from New Jersey to Florida. A kind of bark, which is now much used, is that of the slippery elm (_Ulmus rubra_): if chewed, or softened for a moment in water, it dissolves into a viscous slime, and is found very useful in dressing wounds, as it is cooling, and allays the inflammation. It is said to have been applied with success in cholera, and is now sold, in powder, in all the apothecaries' shops. A teaspoonful of this bark, in boiling water, makes a very useful beverage, which is sweetened with sugar, and has the same effect as linseed. Michaux has given a print of this elm, and it would be desirable to cultivate it in our gardens.

The country on the banks of the Wabash is as interesting to the zoologist as to the botanist; formerly there were great numbers of the bison or buffalo of the Anglo-Americans, the elk,[87] bear, and beaver; but they are now entirely extirpated. The Virginian deer is still pretty numerous, but is daily becoming more scarce: when Mr.

Rapp first settled here, seventy of these deer were shot, in a day, in one of the Wabash islands. The wolf is still common, and seems to differ but little from the European, but is a different species from the wolf of the prairies of the Missouri; [pg. 77] it is said that there is a black wolf in the prairies of Illinois, which may, perhaps, be a distinct species. Of foxes, I saw only the grey, though the red fox is said to be found here. In the works that treat of the natural history of North America, there are many errors. The rac.o.o.n is common in the forests of Harmony, and is never seen in the daytime; it is hunted in the night with dogs, which drive it into a tree. It does not sleep through the winter, for I often obtained it in that season. The opossum is also common, and lives much in the same manner as the rac.o.o.n. The polecat, the otter, and the mink are common; the pine marten is said to be sometimes seen; the ermine is not rare in the prairies of Illinois. The marmot, or ground hog, grows to a considerable size, and is found in the islands of the Wabash; the musk-rat abounds in all the rivers. The rabbit, as it is called (_Lepus America.n.u.s_), is nowhere so common as in Europe, yet is found in all parts of the country. Of squirrels there are many species.

The most interesting of the birds of this part is the wild turkey, which was formerly extremely numerous, and is still pretty common. A large c.o.c.k was sold at Harmony for a quarter of a dollar. A young man in the neighbourhood, who supplied the place with this delicate game, had often ten or fifteen hanging about his horse at the same time. The pheasant or heathc.o.c.k is found in these forests, but in no great numbers. The prairie hen is common in the prairies of Illinois, and comes in large flocks to the neighbourhood of Harmony, as soon as the cold weather and snow set in. Partridges abound, and so do parrots (_Psitt. Carolinensis_) which remain here during the winter. No other kind of parrot seems to bear so great a degree of cold as this. We often saw them flying about in the forests, feeding on the fruit of the plane, when Reaumur's thermometer was at 11 below zero. In the mild climate of the Ohio and Wabash they remain all the year through.

They are amusing birds in a cage, and become very tame.

There are but few species of amphibia in the country about Harmony.

Soft sh.e.l.l turtles and several kinds of _emys_ are numerous, such as the snapping turtle (_E. serpentina_), likewise _E. geographica_, _picta_, _pulch.e.l.la_, &c.

There are several lizards, but no great number of species. The rattle-snake is seldom seen, this country not being sufficiently dry and stony; the copper-head, on the contrary, is said not to be rare, but I cannot speak with certainty. The hognose-snake is very common.

There are many kinds of adder in the Wabash that are not venomous.

The proteus (_Men.o.branchus lateralis_, Harl.) of the Ohio, and of the great Canadian lakes, is found in the Wabash. The rude inhabitants have many superst.i.tious notions and fables respecting several kinds of animals, especially serpents. Of the gla.s.s-snake (_Ophisaurus ventralis_), which easily breaks to pieces, they say, that when the pieces are placed together, they immediately unite: they affirm that the horn-snake, which has a horn or sting at the end of its tail, takes it in its mouth, and then runs along like a hoop; and that if it pa.s.ses a tree it wounds it with its sting, which always makes the tree die. Mr. Thomas Say was once informed that a [pg. 78] planter had brought one of these snakes, and would prove the truth of this a.s.sertion. He sent for the man, and found that he had the tail of one of these snakes carefully wrapped up. Mr. Say asked him whether he must die if he p.r.i.c.ked himself with this horn? The man answered "undoubtedly." Mr. Say immediately p.r.i.c.ked himself with the horn and drew blood, but was not affected by it; and the impostor, who affirmed that he had witnessed the effects of the sting, excused himself by saying that he had been deceived by a neighbour who gave him the snake. The inhabitants of the country generally believe that venomous serpents sting both with the tongue and with the tail, that they fascinate other animals, an old, long since refuted fable, which, however, is occasionally revived in American journals, with other stories of a similar kind.

There are many kinds of fish in the Wabash, on the whole the same as in the Ohio and the Mississippi: the cat-fish is said sometimes to weigh above 100 lbs. Several species of sturgeon and pikes are found here; the horn-fish, the buffalo (_Catastomus carpioles_), a large fish resembling the carp, &c. The remarkable paddle-fish is likewise met with, but not frequently, nor in all the rivers. Mr. Lesueur has given it the name of _ptalyrostra_, and has sent several specimens of it to Paris. This naturalist, during his long residence at Harmony, has very carefully studied this branch of zoology. He possesses a large collection of drawings and descriptions of this cla.s.s, and specimens, for the most part stuffed. He has presented many of them to the National Museum at Paris; and it was his intention soon to visit Europe, and publish his observations on this subject, which will form an important supplement to the great work of Cuvier and Valenciennes.

The bivalve sh.e.l.ls (_Unio_, _Alasmodon_, and _Anodonta_), of which there are a great many different species, some of them very large and beautiful, are an interesting portion of the natural productions of the Ohio, the Wabash, and the tributary streams, especially Fox River.

Several American naturalists have written on this subject. Mr. Say, who was the first, states the number of species of these bivalves at forty-four. He would have given descriptions and drawings of all the species existing in this country, as well on land as in the rivers, in his natural history of the North American testacea, had not death called him from this world, too soon for his friends and for science.

He died on the 10th of October, 1834, soon after I had left him in good health on my second visit to Harmony. This part of the country has two species of crustacea (_Astacus Bartoni_, Bosc.), and (_Astacus affinis_, Say), which are here called craw-fish. These are the only large species of crustacea, but there are many smaller ones. Mr. Say, by many years' study, made himself fully acquainted with the insects.

It is remarkable that the bee, which was brought to America by the Europeans, is now common in all the forests; the Indians are said to call this insect the white-man's fly. Many beautiful b.u.t.terflies and moths adorn the woods of Indiana.

The eminences about Harmony are of secondary formation, with a basis of limestone, and upon that, strata of sandstone, clay-slate and indurated clay. The land in the neighbourhood of [pg. 79] Harmony is extremely fertile. The fields are not manured for many successive years, and produce the finest crops; such land, however, in good situations, is no longer cheap. The climate is salubrious, and the inhabitants attain a great age. The winters are generally mild; the changes of temperature are often very great and rapid. The cholera has not yet visited this country. We arrived at the season called the Indian summer, when, with a temperature of +16 to 17 Reaumur, the atmosphere was gloomy and misty. Most persons experience, at this season, irregularities in the digestive organs, and head-ache. Poppig gives a very accurate account of the North American autumn, and Mrs.

Trollope felt the peculiar effect of this warm autumnal weather on strangers; it is, however, very remarkable that this state of the atmosphere in the Ohio Valley quickly put an end to the cholera, on which Dr. Daniel Drake wrote an essay.[88] The weather in the wintertime is generally bright and clear; sometimes there are fogs, and h.o.a.r frost, which encrusts the trees with the most beautiful crystals: parhelia and aurora borealis are frequently seen. On the 14th of December we had a tremendous thunder-storm at daybreak; Reaumur's thermometer was at +2; the rain, thunder, and lightning were equally violent; the latter covered the heavens with a sheet of fire, and was extremely dazzling; the thunder resembled a discharge of artillery. We were told that, in the preceding year, 1831, the weather had been exceedingly unhealthy, and the inhabitants even affirmed that wounds would not heal.

Like the whole of the interior of North America, the country on the Wabash has still numerous traces of a very early extinct original population, of which even the present Indians have no traditions, and whose remains have been spoken of by many writers. Warden, in his account of the United States, and more particularly in the great work, ent.i.tled "Antiquites Mexicaines," has mentioned such remains in all the states, and collected much information on this subject. Here, too, in the neighbourhood of Harmony, there are ancient tumuli, which, externally, are exactly similar to those which are everywhere found in our German forests. Lesueur had examined many of these tumuli, and sent part of the articles found in them to France. Some of the most considerable tumuli were found on the spot, near the back of the village, where Rapp made his churchyard, and which is now planted with acacias. The bones of the Swabian peasants are here mingled with those of the aboriginal Indians. Lesueur dug through some of those tumuli, which are now much levelled, and covered with greensward, and found a right-angled oblong parallelogram, level at the bottom, formed of large flat stones, set edgewise, and likewise covered over with similar stones. Some decayed bones were found in it, of which I received a considerable number from Mr. Lesueur, and sent them to Mr.

Blumenbach, at Gottingen.[89] This mode of interment is not that of the present Indians, who themselves affirm that these tumuli were made by the whites. Most of the skulls which were found were without the bones of the face, and all were very much decayed. The race of men to which they belonged were not smaller than those now existing, and, consequently, afford no evidence of a dwarfish race, which has been fabulously [pg. 80] ascribed to America. Potsherds were found in many of the tumuli; they were made of a grey clay, and in general marked with stripes, or rings; it would appear that they had been moulded in a cloth, or basket, as they were marked with similar impressions, or figures. Mr. Lesueur has seen unbroken vessels of this kind, which were large, very flat, and had figured handles. Broken sh.e.l.ls are frequently found intermixed with the dark grey clay of these vessels.

In one of the tumuli was found, together with the human bones, the jawbones of an animal of the stag kind; in others, battle-axes, arrow-heads, and tobacco-pipe heads of clay, different in form from those now used in Indiana.

One of these pipes was in the shape of a squatting frog, the mouth serving for the tobacco; some of them are represented in the accompanying woodcuts.[90] Some of the most interesting articles found in and near these graves, are the narrow, oblong, square pieces of flint, which those nations made use of instead of knives. They are from two to two inches and a half long, and scarcely half an inch broad; very thin and very sharp on all the four sides. Several of these knives were discovered near New Harmony, and Mr. Lesueur found one during my stay there. There is a very remarkable coincidence of these knives with the perfectly similar instruments of obsidian or volcanic gla.s.s, which are found, even now, in Mexico, some of which Mr. T. Say brought with him, from his journey to that country, and wrote a paper respecting them.[91] In the [pg. 81] forty-eighth plate, I have represented the two kinds of stone knives together, as they seem to testify the affinity of the aborigines of the interior of North America with those of Mexico, which is supported by other reasons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Indian pipes]

About fifteen miles from Harmony, lower down the Wabash, is a part of the bank known by the name of the Bone Bank, where the river has partly cut through a hill, or laid it bare, in which there are numbers of human bones seen imbedded in the bank. Mr. Lesueur sent a perfect skull from this spot to Blumenbach. An old tree having fallen down on this place, he saw under the roots an entire human skeleton; this, therefore, was undoubtedly a burying-place. While the observer deeply regrets that he is wholly without information respecting these remarkable remains of antiquity, he feels that the present white population of North America may justly be reproached for neglecting or destroying them. n.o.body in Harmony was able to give any account of the names of the Indian tribes who inhabited the country at the time when this village was founded. One of the first settlers of the country about Mount Vernon, who had grown up in Kentucky among the Indians, but had removed, in 1806, to the forests on the Lower Wabash--where at that time there were no white settlers--had been well acquainted with the Indians about Harmony, and frequently visited them in their huts.

He was the only man who was able to give me any information about them. He called them Muskoghe Indians; this name, however, seems to be incorrect. They lived in this part of the country till 1810; but in the year preceding the battle of Tippekanoe they all removed, and did not return. They were not numerous, and lived chiefly about the mouth of the Wabash, and on the Big Creek.[92] They were a good-looking, robust race; wore a kind of ap.r.o.n, and had bows and arrows, in the use of which they were very expert. They had among them thirty or forty indifferent guns; they smoked Sumach leaves in wooden pipes,[93]

the tube of which was made of cane. Their huts, at the mouth of the Wabash, were composed of large bundles of reeds, lined inside with deer-skins. Many of these Indians fastened their pipes to the tomahawk. Their heads were shorn, with the exception of a tuft at the back, like the Indians of the Mississippi and Lower Missouri. They coloured their faces with red paint. To the whites they were friendly, visited the first settlers in their dwellings, and reposed around their hearths, especially in bad weather. At that time there were elks and beavers, yet in no great numbers; but bears and wolves in abundance. My informant had killed many bears, and great numbers of wild turkeys.

[pg. 82] The early history of Indiana mentions, as the inhabitants of this State, when the French first settled here, the Kickapoos, Musquitons, Potanons, and some other nations, remnants of which are still to be found at the sources of the Wabash, as well as the Piankishaws, Miamis, and Viandots. In the year 1804, a treaty was concluded with them at Vincennes for the purchase of the lands between the Wabash and the Ohio, after which they emigrated.[94] Some well-informed inhabitants of Harmony, who, at the time of the Indiana emigration, when the United States had repeatedly bought land of those people, saw the several dislodged tribes pa.s.s through this country, a.s.sured me that the character of their physiognomy was often essentially different; and I myself found this confirmed both in North and South America; though the fundamental features of the American race are everywhere the same. All these Indians are now totally extirpated or expelled from Indiana, and the country enjoys the advantage of being peopled by the backwoodsmen.

The fertile and salubrious country of Harmony has attracted a great number of settlers, who have begun to thin the great forests of Indiana. These settlers are usually called backwoodsmen, because they live in the remote forests. They are a robust, rough race of men, of English or Irish origin. They dwell very isolated, scattered in the forests, and but seldom come to the towns, only when business calls them. There is a school at Harmony where the children learn to read and write; two dollars are paid quarterly, and the children receive instruction in the morning and afternoon; but in the country the young people grow up without any education, and are, probably, no better than the Indians themselves. In the Western States, the sixteenth section of the Congress land (_i. e._, land belonging to the Government) is always a.s.signed for the benefit of the schools, but is not always employed according to the first intention. At this time there was in the state of Indiana only one college; it was at Blooming Town.[95] There was no clergyman at Harmony, and, with the exception of the meetings of some religious sects, the inhabitants were dest.i.tute of both religious and school instruction. Business, or festive occasions, bring the backwoodsmen into the town, where they indulge their love of whisky, which generally r.e.t.a.r.ds their return homeward. They have a good race of horses, and are bold hors.e.m.e.n; even the women are frequently seen on the saddle, and whole families travel in this way--man, woman, and child ofttimes mounted on the same beast.

There is nothing characteristic in their costume, like the original dresses which are met with in the country in Germany; but they wear a medley, and bad imitation of all the fas.h.i.+ons of English towns; caps, felt and straw hats, frocks, great-coats, plaids, &c. The women, too, endeavour to imitate the fas.h.i.+ons of the towns, wear large hats with loose veils, and gaudy plaid mantles, which, altogether, have often a most ludicrous effect in these remote forests. The winter dress of the men is often not ill chosen, though perfectly novel to a stranger. At that season they wear great-coats made of the common woollen horsecloths, white or green, with gay stripes on the collar, cuffs, and pockets; [pg. 83] nay, some are striped all over like zebras: such a coat, of the commonest kind, cannot be had here for less than eight or ten dollars. Noisy parties of these people frequently a.s.semble at the public-houses of Harmony, gather round the fire, and let the whisky circulate briskly, while their horses are frequently left the whole day, standing in the street, amid rain and snow. On Sunday, which is kept by many of the inhabitants, though there is no divine service, they are more decently clad, wash their faces, and make some attempt at putting their hair in order, which hangs dishevelled about their faces. The young men often went to the chase, others played in the streets, generally at ball, but a great number remained at their work, and the peasants and farmers, with their huge wagons, followed their usual occupations. On certain days, especially when a magistrate, a president, or a governor was to be chosen, all were gathered together, for they all take great interest in the government of the country, and would not, on any account, renounce the privilege which, in their estimation, makes them important statesmen. On such election days, whole troops of them ride into the town; the streets are crowded with their horses, which are tied up, and the whisky-shops resound with their tumultuous discussions. Every man gives his vote; disputes arise; and, as in the Polish diets, their excited pa.s.sions frequently lead to blows. They are all great politicians, and some of them are well acquainted with the newspapers. In the winter, as soon as snow fell, sledge parties commenced at Harmony. Six or eight persons were on separate seats, two and two together, upon one sledge; others amused themselves with skating, for which, however, they had not much opportunity in the winter of 1832-3. There were frequent b.a.l.l.s at the inns; on New Year's Eve they literally danced the whole night through.

Agriculture is still in its infancy about New Harmony, and the people depend on the extraordinary fertility of the soil. In the immediate vicinity of the town land is not cheap, having already risen to fifteen dollars per acre; whereas, at the distance of two miles, there was still a considerable quant.i.ty of Congress land, which might be had at one dollar per acre. There was a tax of fifty cents, or half a dollar,[96] on every quarter of a square mile of land. What is called Congress land, is frequently taken possession of, for a time, by new comers, who have no right to it. They fell the wood, erect their huts, and n.o.body hinders them in their proceedings till the lawful owner ejects them, who has purchased the land of the Government. A square mile of [pg. 84] Congress land was still to be had for 100 dollars; but these lands are subject to the periodical inundations of the Wabash, when the farmers are obliged to fly with all their effects to more elevated stations. They have then to look for their cattle in the great forests, and drive them away; but they cannot always find all the animals, many of which perish. The fertility of the soil is increased by these inundations. Congress land which was not exposed to inundation, could be bought for one dollar twenty-five cents per acre.

This high water is said often to present an interesting scene. Hogs and other animals, even the opossum, have been found on low trees, where they had sought protection.

The chief vegetable production of this part of the country is maize, which grows to the height of twelve or thirteen feet; the ears are very large and heavy; I found some weighing fourteen to fifteen ounces, and nearly three inches in diameter, in which I counted above 1,000 grains. They ripen in September, October, November, and December, and are often left standing through the winter, till wanted for use. There are fifteen varieties of this important plant; one kind, called sweet corn, is particularly good when roasted in an unripe state. It is calculated that the best soil will yield 100 bushels of corn per acre. Very good cakes and bread are prepared of maize flour, and there are many other ways of dressing it. When boiled with milk it is called mush. All living creatures in this country subsist, almost exclusively, on this invaluable production.

When the whites arrived in America numerous Indian tribes subsisted on it; quadrupeds, birds, nay, even fish, are fond of it. At the places where the flat boats, laden with maize, land, the fish collect and a.s.semble in great numbers, and fall an easy prey to the fishermen. At this time the corn was sold at six and a half cents per bushel at Harmony; whereas, on the frontiers of Canada, two dollars were paid for it. Living is, consequently, very cheap on the banks of the Wabash. The maize is brought to market in large wagons, drawn by four oxen, and a considerable quant.i.ty is thence sent by water carriage.

Other kinds of grain--wheat, rye, barley, and oats--which ripen in June, are likewise cultivated. Barley is grown for the brewers; and oats, in considerable quant.i.ties, for the horses. Potatoes, too, are extensively cultivated, but they are by no means so good and mealy as in Germany. There is a great variety of culinary vegetables. There are abundance of apples, but not many pears, which do not thrive; peaches are good, and very productive; quant.i.ties fall to the ground, where they are consumed by the hogs; plums and cherries are rarely grown; the latter are not so good as in Europe, but very fruitful. The vine was formerly cultivated, but it is now quite neglected. According to Warden, cotton is grown at Vincennes, Princetown, and Harmony, but this does not seem to be the case at present. This plant does not thrive beyond the 31st degree of lat.i.tude. The inhabitants grow hemp and flax for their own consumption, and some tobacco; bad cigars are made at Harmony, and, in general, good tobacco is rarely to be met with in the United States. Maple sugar is manufactured in great abundance in Indiana. Warden says that, in 1810, 50,000 lbs. [pg. 85]

were made in this State, and, at present, it was worth seven or eight cents a pound. Many of the inhabitants obtain, in the spring, about 100 lbs. of this sugar. In this part of the country the corn is not thrashed, but generally trodden out by horses; a very imperfect process, which appears to have originated in the times of the ancient Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans.

Next to agriculture the breeding of cattle is an important object among the backwoodsmen; but is likewise ill understood. The breed of swine furnishes the princ.i.p.al supply for food and exportation, great quant.i.ties of pork being sent to New Orleans. Mr. Owen had established a whisky distillery, and fattened the swine on the refuse. About 1,500 barrels of whisky, worth ten dollars a barrel, were made every year in Mr. Owen's distillery. Great numbers of swine are in the woods of Indiana, far from all human dwellings, where they grow very fat by the abundance of oak and beech mast. They are of a reddish brown colour, with round black spots; there are some quite wild, which anybody is at liberty to shoot. These animals are never housed, even in the vicinity of Harmony. We observed them, in our excursions, in the depth of winter, when the young ones often perish with cold; and we also saw them eaten by the mothers. Dead swine were lying about in all directions, partly devoured by others. The negligence and want of feeling with which the animals are treated, are very great; and, accordingly, the breed of cattle can never flourish. The cattle, which are very fine, are kept in the open air day and night, amidst ice and snow, with which their backs are covered; the same may be said of the horses; nay, in cold moonlight nights, we saw these animals standing in the street, near their master's dwelling, as if they hoped to be let in. The animals are generally fed in the morning with maize, and a woman usually appears at an early hour, in her plaid, to milk the cows.

The cattle of this country are large and handsome, very hardy, and do not differ in figure or colour from those of Germany; no food is given them in winter but the dry leaves of maize. No clover or other forage is cultivated, so that the cattle and horses are confined to straw, the bark of trees, and the green reed, miegia, which forms a thick underwood in the forests on the Wabash. Everywhere one sees the bark and twigs gnawed, and even the fruit trees are often damaged in this manner. Horses and cattle frequently starve to death in the winter. I was told that the animals gnaw, in preference, the nettle-tree (_Celtis occidentalis_), the hack-berry (_Celtis cra.s.sifolia_), and the sugar maple. It is remarkable that the swine, which otherwise refuse no species of fruit, will not touch that of the papaw tree (_Asimina_). All the beef in this country is of a bad quality, because, as I have said, no forage is cultivated. In Pennsylvania it is quite the reverse; there a great deal of clover is grown, and the beef is, consequently, good. In Indiana pork is said to be much better and easier of digestion than to the east of the Alleghanys. We saw but few sheep, and no goats, at Harmony. There were plenty of geese and domestic fowls, but only a few tame ducks.

The mode of tilling the ground for the different kinds of grain, has been described by [pg. 86] many travellers; I will therefore merely observe that the plough is different in its construction from that used in Germany, and that the oxen are attached to it by a very peculiar yoke, which consists of a long, thick, crooked piece of wood, which is laid horizontally over the necks of the two oxen, with two bows underneath, through which the heads of the animals are put.[97]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Neck-yoke and plow]

My stay at New Harmony, which was at first intended to be only for a few days, was prolonged by serious indisposition, nearly resembling cholera, to a four months' winter residence. At any other place in this country I should have extremely regretted such a loss of time, but here I derived much instruction and entertainment from my intercourse with two highly-informed men, Mr. Thomas Say and Mr.

Lesueur, who, during my two months' illness, gave me constant proofs of kindness, and endeavoured to make our time pa.s.s agreeably and usefully. I received also much kindness from other estimable families, Messrs. Owen (who were educated by Fellenberg, in Switzerland), Mr.

Maclure and his sister, and Mr. Twigg. My walks and hunting excursions with the two naturalists were very instructive. Mr. Say's house was in a garden, where he cultivated many interesting plants of the interior of Western America. I there saw a large _Maclura aurantiaca_ (Nuttall), the bow or yellow wood, or Osage orange, from the river Arkansas, of the wood of which many Indian tribes make their bows. It is a p.r.i.c.kly tree, with very tough wood. There was one at St. Louis, in the garden of Mr. Pierre Chouteau, which did not, however, flourish.[98] Dr. Pitcher had the kindness to give me some of the seeds of this tree, [pg. 87] which, however, have not succeeded. In Mr.

Say's garden I likewise saw _Euphorbia marginata_, from Arkansas, several beautiful _phlox_; and the _Lonicera sempervirens_ was laden with its ripe fruit. The _Euphorbia marginata_ flourishes exceedingly well at Bonn, where it was raised from seeds which I brought.

Mr. Say's zoological collection was confined to insects and sh.e.l.ls. He was less anxious to possess a complete collection than to have a good library, which, thanks to Mr. Maclure, he really possessed, and new insects and sh.e.l.ls were sent to him from all parts of the United States, which he immediately described. He had a very extensive correspondence, even with Europe, and received many conchylia, which he used and compared for his work on American conchology. This work was entirely got up here in Harmony, for Mrs. Say drew and coloured the figures very faithfully after nature, which were engraved by an artist, engaged by Mr. Maclure; the text also was printed there. Mr.

Say's entomological collection was continually damaged by the rapacious insects, which are much more dangerous and destructive here than in Europe. The most fatal to the zoological collections, in this country, besides the common European moth (_Phalaena sarcitella_), are the _Dermestes lardarius_, _Anthrinus muscorum_, _Dermestes vulpinus_, _Necrobia violetia_, _Acarus destructor_, and several others, among which there are some brought from Europe.

Mr. Lesueur's labours were chiefly in the higher orders of the animal kingdom; he had explored the country in many directions, was acquainted with everything remarkable, collected and prepared all interesting objects, and had already sent considerable collections to France. He was a skilful draughtsman, and his portfolios of drawings, made during his voyage round the world, and in his residence in America, afforded us much gratification during the winter. He had paid great attention to the fishes of the Wabash, Ohio, and Mississippi, for which his frequent visits to New Orleans had given him the best opportunity. His friend Barrabino, who died prematurely in that city, and took much interest in the sciences, had been of great a.s.sistance to him. It would be a pity if the interesting labours of Mr. Lesueur, in natural history, were not communicated to the learned world during his lifetime.

I shall always retain a most pleasing recollection of the excursions which we made in the neighbourhood of Harmony, with Mr. Say, and to greater distances, with Mr. Lesueur. One of the most agreeable was when we sailed down the Wabash, and landed on its wooded islands.

Immediately on the west of the river, is Fox Island, a large thickly wooded tract, between the Wabash and Fox River.[99] We generally left Harmony by water, in bright, sunny weather. The Wabash divides into several arms, forming beautiful romantic islands, covered with tall forests, partly surrounded by quant.i.ties of drift wood. The water of the river is clear and dark green, and the bottom, which is plainly seen, is covered with large bivalve sh.e.l.ls (_Unio_), as well as with several kinds of snails. High trees uniformly clothe the sh.o.r.e, and colossal, wide-spreading planes rise above the dense forests. In some places there are sand-banks, where sh.e.l.ls are [pg. 88] found in abundance, and where the track of the rac.o.o.n and the mink, which come here in the night to seek their food, are imprinted in all directions on the wet ground. Under the old roots of trees on the bank, which is from ten to twenty feet high, we saw the burrows of the minks, into which it had taken a quant.i.ty of sh.e.l.ls. The common people here think that this is done by the musk-rat, which is certainly a mistake. The musk-rat lives on vegetables, and it is only the small beasts of prey that live on sh.e.l.l-fish. There were various species of ducks, which rose in flocks before us, and flew rapidly to the undisturbed parts of the banks. Besides the common wild duck, which was the most numerous, there were the beautiful wood duck, the blue-winged teal, and the pintail duck, or sea-pheasant. After proceeding about three quarters of an hour, we usually landed on Fox Island, on the right bank, fastened our boat to the trunk of a large fallen tree, and then went up the steep bank into a thick, lofty forest, where the high reeds were intersected with small, narrow paths, made by the horses and cattle of the neighbouring farmers. From our several landing places, we had to proceed only about 100 steps across the island to the Fox River, which runs here, for a pretty considerable distance, parallel to the Wabash, and joins it below Fox Island.[100] The stream is highly picturesque, with romantic banks, large uprooted trees, colossal planes, magnificent oaks, hickory, sh.e.l.lbark hickory, &c.

Here grows the lofty _gymnocladus_, with its large, broad pods, and the beautiful catalpa. _Bignonia radicans_ and _cruciata_ wind round the trunks, as well as thick, cl.u.s.tering vines (_Hedera quinquefolia_) and the poison vine. Vast quant.i.ties of fallen trees lay in the water, and, when it was low, often formed a kind of bridge. The trunks of the plane are very remarkable; they are often so thick that five or six men cannot span them. When of this size they are generally hollow.

These trees are suffered to grow so old, because they yield but indifferent timber. Twenty or thirty feet from the ground, the trunk usually divides into several thick branches, which rise to a very great height; they have a bark of dazzling whiteness, which forms a singular contrast with the brown forests, when leafless and bare in winter. This tree never attains such a thickness and height in Europe, and hence the white colour of the branches is wanting. The quiet, lonely Fox River is covered, during the whole day, with numerous ducks. Whenever we approached cautiously through the reeds, and over the dry leaves, scattered on the ground, we could immediately fire at them. The kingfisher (_Alcedo alcyon_), is constantly seen here, and many species of birds, particularly the blue-crested roller (_Garrulus cristatus_), came to the water to drink. Unluckily we had no European hounds, which would have been of great service to us, and thus, from want of them, we often lost the ducks we had shot. The turkey buzzards were seen hovering in the air, and, after wet weather, were often observed sitting in the suns.h.i.+ne, with outspread wings, on the highest trees. If we shot a bird, and did not immediately pick it up, it was sure to be devoured by these ravenous creatures. If the buzzards were driven away, the cunning crows supplied their place. The whole air was soon filled with these buzzards, hovering round and round, [pg. 89]

while numbers of others sat together on the high trees. If we shot at them when flying, they immediately vomited; this I likewise observed in Brazil. We found here some heads of the paddle-fish, which lives in the stream. If we left the banks of the rivers, and advanced far into the forests, we had often to clamber over fallen trunks of trees, covered with moss, and to penetrate through matted reeds, where we heard the voice of the grey squirrel, and the hammering of the numerous woodp.e.c.k.e.rs. Among the entangled climbing plants, we often saw, throughout the whole winter, the beautiful cardinal, or red-bird; finches of various kinds; and on the decayed trees, on the ground, some kinds of _Troglodytes_. Towards the end of autumn, and early in warm days in February, nay, even in December and January, we often saw in Fox River, on stones, and old submersed trunks of trees, large tortoises basking in the sun, which we sometimes shot at with our fowling-pieces, but we seldom got them. They are very shy, and plunge into the water as soon as any one approaches.

Towards noon the scattered sportsmen usually re-a.s.sembled, with their booty, round a cheerful fire, under ancient plane trees, on the bank of Fox River. Our frugal repast, which we had brought with us, was seasoned by the exercise in the open air, in the fine forests of Indiana and Illinois. Tortoises, sh.e.l.l-fish, birds, &c., were deposited in our boat. Mr. Lesueur frequently accompanied us in these excursions. Once, on the 7th of March, he found, on Fox Island, a couple of marmots above ground, one of which ran into its burrow, while the other sought refuge on a low tree, where, however, it was shot. We then dug for the other, in hopes of finding it, but the burrow went so far and deep into the ground, that we were forced to give it up. This circ.u.mstance may serve as a proof that the animals which sleep throughout the winter make their appearance about this time.

In our excursions we often visited some others of the numerous islands in the Wabash, being particularly attracted thither by the loud cries of the wild turkey; their voice is exactly similar to that of the European turkey. We could hear them scratching among the dry leaves on the ground, in search of food. If we surprised them, they were generally too far off for our fowling-pieces, loaded with small shot, for they ran away with extraordinary rapidity. Turkey Island seemed to be a favourite place of resort. At the upper end of the island drifted wood was frequently piled up to such a height, that it was difficult to clamber over it, and among this wood there were generally many otters. Here we often found wild turkeys, and even the Virginian deer; and it is really a fine sight to see a flock of these wild turkeys fly across the river, or a swarm of wild geese, with loud screams, swim down the stream. The grey eagle was often seen sitting on the lofty plane trees, on the bank; and the white-headed eagle hovered in the air, at a great height.

On another hunting excursion, up the Wabash, we proceeded as far as Black River,[101] a stream which falls into the Wabash, three miles from Harmony. On the 5th of January, at eight [pg. 90] o'clock in the morning, the mercury in Reaumur's thermometer was twelve and a half degrees above freezing point, and the fish leaped above the surface of the water as in summer. Near some small log-houses the people were employed in felling the high trees, and our boatmen observed that those new settlers had taken possession of this Congress land without any right to do so. Such irregularities are very frequent here; thus, for instance, they cut down large trees on Mr. Maclure's property for making their flat boats, and yet n.o.body calls them to account. These are the backwoodsmen of Illinois and Indiana. On the high banks of the river we observed in the forest a mink-trap. It nearly resembles, in miniature, the great bear-trap; is covered on all sides with brushwood, so that the animal can enter only at a certain place. The Black River, which, in some parts, is wide and expanded, was now rather narrow and shallow, the water of a pure green colour. The bottom consists chiefly of sand or clay; it is contracted at the mouth, where a quant.i.ty of sand has acc.u.mulated, and where poplars and lofty planes grow; colossal vines wound round their trunks, of which we cut off one that was very thick, as a specimen. While our boatmen were engaged in this work, and in looking for sh.e.l.l-fish, we advanced several miles up the stream, where we met with frequent obstacles in the forest. The large dry leaves of the planes made such a rustling, that we could seldom get near the ducks, numbers of which were swimming on the stream. I collected on the bank the beautiful orange-coloured seeds of the _Celastrus scandens_, and several others.

We generally returned home with ducks and other birds, but we were unsuccessful in our chase of the wild turkeys, of which we sometimes saw whole flocks fly across the Wabash. Many an hour we pa.s.sed in these forests, watching for ducks and birds of prey; where, while we stood concealed in a hollow plane, the small birds sometimes flew almost into the face of the sportsman, or settled on his gun.

In order to explore the forests of Harmony, in the southern direction, Mr. Say took me to a neighbouring estate of Mr. Maclure, on Rush Creek, through a romantic, lofty forest, where very fine tulip trees, with thick and high trunks, as straight as a s.h.i.+p's mast, and very rough bark, were growing. This tall, splendid tree bears its fine large flowers only at the very summit. The wood is of a greenish pale yellow colour, and is used by cabinet makers. The red-headed woodp.e.c.k.e.r was almost the only bird that was seen here. The whole track consists of steep hills, separated by small valleys, on which we particularly observed the ancient tumuli of the aboriginal inhabitants of these forests. Pa.s.sing through a valley we came to Rush Creek, which we crossed by a very ruinous bridge of branches of trees, to the opposite bank, where _Hydrangea arborescens_ grew. Several species of maple grow here, which have certainly not been properly distinguished and cla.s.sed. Their trunks, covered with rough bark, are often not to be spanned by three men, and they grow perfectly straight. Near the junction of the Rush Creek and the Wabash, we came to the small log-house of a tenant of Mr. Maclure, where the woman was engaged in domestic employments, while the children were picking bones, probably [pg. 91] of wild turkeys, with which they ate maize bread. In front of the house lay large blocks of catalpa wood, which, when fresh cut, is of a brownish yellow colour, and emits a peculiar smell. We were told of a stream in the neighbourhood, the water of which was said to have killed many persons. We visited this dangerous water, which is very cold, but does not appear to have any peculiar ingredients. One of our party, who had often drunk of it, without injury, affirmed that those men had not been killed by the water, but by whisky; probably, however, death was caused by drinking this excessively cold water when they were overheated.

In a dense forest, some miles to the north-west of Harmony, was a narrow pond, or, rather, long, broad ditch, called Long Pond, which, at certain seasons of the year, is connected with Fox River, to which we sometimes made excursions. Beyond the Wabash, in this direction, the forest has a sandy soil, which, however, is soon succeeded by a rich clay. A man well acquainted with the country was our conductor; we were obliged to force our way through the closely-matted reeds, where there was no path, and our clothes were completely torn by them.

On all sides we heard the bells of the oxen and horses, and our guide easily found his own beasts, which knew his voice. He had wished me to take a compa.s.s, which was not done, and we, in fact, twice lost our way, in consequence; for it is not easy to discover one's lat.i.tude in such thick, bewildering reed forests. Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs and squirrels were the usual fruits of our excursions in this wilderness. After pa.s.sing a couple of isolated habitations, we came to a hollow in the forest, about a mile long, and full of water. This was the Long Pond, in which many varieties of water plants were growing.

Our guide had taken a hatchet and a basket, in order to dig up the roots of a yellow-flowering _Nymphaea_,[102] which was growing in luxuriance, and which he intended to employ as a poultice to a swelled face. The surface of the water was covered with an elegant plant, _Azolla Caroliniana_ (Wild), which formed mossy verdant spots, and is here found on all standing water. The cardinal and the blue-crested roller frequented this place; and near a field of maize, in the forest, I saw large flocks of parrots, of which we often shot many with great ease. They were not shy, and soon re-a.s.sembled after our shot had dispersed them. Their manner and note much resembled those of the long-tailed paroquet of Brazil.[103] With a shrill cry they flew rapidly from tree to tree, when their beautiful bright green colour was seen to great advantage. Mr. Bodmer has given a very faithful representation of one of these flocks.[104] They eat the fruit of the planes; and if we did not disturb them, they sat in a row, close together, to warm themselves in the faint beams of the January sun. We sometimes found a great number of turkey buzzards collected about the carca.s.s of a dead animal; some sitting crowded on the high trees, others hovering in the air; but it was not easy to get at them. We occasionally met with horses, which, in these [pg. 92]

wildernesses, familiarly approach those who happen to pa.s.s, in the hope of receiving salt from them. On our return home we were often gratified with the view of a splendid fiery evening sky on the Wabash; the lofty crowns of the forest trees appeared to burn, while the snow-white stems of the tall planes a.s.sumed a roseate tint, and reflected their beauty in the smooth surface of the water.

The winter which we pa.s.sed at Harmony was, on the whole, mild.