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Show APPENDl X TO t• ART II. On the 30th the riH;r wno;; frozen np, and towards evening the water had ran off, and left the bed of the river covered with icc. This circumstance determined me to leave my canoes and coul'sc the riret' by land. Accordingly, on the ~1st of Octobet·, al'tcr hnving thrown away all my clothmg; and pt·o ihion, except half a clozcn tm cups of hard corn for· each man, I slung my riOc on my shoulucl', and with my buffalo robe at my back and circurnfercntor in my hnnd, 1 1·ccommenccd my march with a li g-ht and cheerful heart. My only apprehension was the meeting with detached bands of the Paw· necs, who, I am confident, would have brought me and my five men to action and the consequence was very obvious. On 't he 1st, 2d, and 3d of November I marched over !u.g h an d barren hills of sand, ::mel at the close of each day, passed strongly impregnated salines, and perceived the shores of the river to be com· plctely frosted '"ith nitre . The face of the country, as I descend~d, looked mor·e desolate than above, the eye being scarcely able to dts· cern a tree ; and if one was discovered, it pt·oved to be a. solit~t·y cotton-wood, stiuted in growth by the sterility of the so1l. ! he evening of the 3d instant I encamped on the bank of the. nver, without a tree or even a shrub in view. On the 4·th we expenenccd a heavy rain; but hunger and cold pressed me forward. A!tcr marching ten miles 1 reached a small tree, where I remained 1•11 a continued rain for two days, at the expiration of which time ha\'lng exhausted my fuel, I h~d ag·ain to push off in a severe stot·m, and formed my camp at the mouth of a hold running stream, whose northern bank was skirted by a chain of lofty ricl~cs. On the 8th, in the morning, it having cleared up, I began ~ny march early, and it appeared as if we had just gotten into the rc ~1011 of game, fot· the herds of buffalo, elk, goat, ancl deer surpassed ere· dibility. I do solemnly assert, that, if I saw one, I saw more than nine thousand huffalos during the day's march. On the 1Oth in the eveniuc>- after a severe day's march, I en· ' 1"1' r camped on the bauk of a large creek, and discovered for the u·st time, on the river, a species of wood differing from the cotton ~rec. I assut·e you the si~ht was more agt·ceable than a person would Imagine: it was like meeting with an old acquaiutana, from whom you had been separated a lc.ngth of time; 1 even began to think my~clf appr0ximating; civilized settlements, although 1 was just entcnng on the huntin ~ ground of the Osages. The buftdo and goats disappeared on the 12th, or rather we ~:ul passed their range ;mcJ entered that of the deer only. Ouf APPENDIX TO PAHT II. 27 marches now lay through rich narrow bottoms, from one hundred and fifty, to two hundred yards wide. On the J 5th discovering timber sufficiently large to form canoes, I felled a couple of trees, and commenced sjtlitting out. I would have proceeded further by land, but as my men were almost worn out with fatigue, and as the game grew scarce, I conceived it most adviscable to rest for a short time, and kill my winter's store of meat. This I effected by the 24.th, and on the same day completed the canoes. On the 25th I again attempted the navigation of the river, but was as unfortunate as at first, for my boat grounded, after floating a few hundred yards, and the men were consequently compelled to ply with their· shoulders instead of their paddles. The following day I passed the Negracka, at whose mouth commence the ct'aggy clifl's, which line a great part of the shores of the Arkansaw. On the 28th the pr·ovision canoe oversat, and I lost nearly all my stock of meat; this accident was rendered the more distrcssin r; ~>y an almost total loss of n1y ammunition, which unfortunately was m the same canoe. ?n the ~Oth, I fell in with a band of Gt·and Osages, who were m pursuit of buffalo cows; the chief of the party insisted on my r·emaining with him a day, and sent out his young men to hunt ~o~· me. In the aftemoon two Indians of the Little Osage nation !omcd us, with a horse and mule, and bt·ought me a message from futtasuggy, or' the Hlind, who it appeat·ed was lying very ill, about twenty miles across the prait·ie, and wished to sec me. As he was a panicular· favorite of mine, I left rny canoes in charge of the men, a~ld passed "ith a ~u ide to the chief's temporary village. I found h~m ex.tt·cmely unwell, with what I conceived to be a dropsy, fo1· ':Is abdomen was very much swollen. J le seemed gratified at the ~rght of me, and observed, " That he was poor and pitiful, for the reason that he vas a friend to the Americans. lie said that Chout: au after he had anived at their villages last fall, had treated him hke a child, and had taken on to \ Vashi!1gton his younger brother .Na:uma, or the min t!Jat 'walks, and intended making him chief ol 1 ?e nation ; that Chouteau told him he was a bad mrzn, was an Amcl'lcar~, but that the Spaniards were going to war with America, and that m a short time they would claim all this country ngain." That he prevented the traders allowing a credit, whereby his family were much distressed, as I clearly perceived, for they were even flestitutc of a whole blanket. |