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Show APPENDIX TO l)AHT II. tem branch) and the Lu Platte; on its south western side, it produces the Rio Colorado of California ; on its cast the Arkamaw, and on its south the Hio del Norte of North :Mexico. I have no hesitation in asserting, that I can take a position in the mountains from whence I can visit the source of any of those rivers ir~ one day. . . Nnmerous have been the hypothesis formed by vanous natmn-lists, to account for the vast tract of untimbered country which lies between the waters of the Missouri, 1\lissi s~i ppi, ancl the westel'll Ocean, ft om the mouth of the Iutter river· to the t18° nonh latitude. Althou~h not flattering myself to be able to elucitlate that, which numbers of highly scientific characters, haYe acknowlcgcd to be Gcyond their depth of research ; still, I would not think I had donC' my counu·y ju~tice, clid I not give birth to what few lights my examination of those internal deserts has enabled me to acq11ire. In that va::.t country of which we spenk, we find the soil gencndly dr·y and sandy, with gravel, and discover that the n10ment we approach a stream, the land becomes more humid with small timber; I thercl'ore conclude, that this country never was timbered, as from the eal'licst age, the aridity of the soil haYin ~ so few water courses running- throug-h it, and they being princip~dly dry in summer, has never ail'onled moistorc sufllcient to support the ~;rowth of timber. In all timbered lund, the annual discharg·e of the leaves, with the continual decay of old trees and brancl1es, creates a mamu·e and n1oisturc, which is preserved from the heat of the sun nut being J)<.rmitted to direct his rays perpcndiculal'ly, but only to shed them obliquely through the foliage. But here a barren soil, parched and <lt·ied up for eig·ht months in the yenr, presents Jteid1er moisture not' nnu·ition sufllcient, to nounsh the timl><;r. These vast pl ains of the westem hemisphere, may become in time equally cekbratcd as the ~:.~ndy desa!'ls of Africa; for I saw ill my route, in various l)hces, tracts of many leagues, whet·e the witH.lllad thrown up the s.md~ it1 all the fan ciful forms of the oceau's rolling '' o.we, and 011 which not a speck of vegetable rnatter existed. llut from these immense prairies may arise one great advanta~c to the United ~tates, \ iz: The re!ltriction or Otll' population to some certmn limits, and thereby a continuation or the union. Our· citizens being so prouc to rambling ami extending themselves, on the frontiers, will, through necessity, be constrained to limit ~hci.r extent on the we~t, to the border·s of the Mis!louri and I\lis~issJppt, while tllcy lcav the prairies incapable or culti\ation to the w:mderin[; and un<.iYilizcd aborigines of the cuunu·y. Tl1c Ostl0e Indians APPENDIX TO PART ll. ,,ppear to huvc emigrated from the north and west, and from their· speaking the same lan~ua~e with the Knns, Otos, .Misc;olll'ies, and Mahaws ; togcthet· with the g"l'eett similarity of manners, morals, autl cmtoms, there is left no room to doubt, but that they were originally the same nation; but scpct\ltCd by that f;reat law of nature, sel fprese r·vation, the love of freedom, anclthe ambit ion of various charactC'rs, so jnhei'Cilt in the breast of man. As Jtations purely erratic must depend sol ·lyon the chase fot' subsisten ce, (unless pastot·al, which i~ not the case with out· savages) it requires large tracts of country, to aO<Jrd subc;istetiCe for a very limited number of souls; consequently, self-pt·<·~el·vation oblig s them to expand th e me; ·Jvcs over a larg·e ancl cxtensi,·e district. The power of certain chief'> becomin g- unlimited, ancl tlwit· rule seYet·e, added to the p~~s~icm.He Jove or lil>cl'ty, and the ambition of other ynnn;{, bold, and clcu·ing characters, who step f(>rw~trd to head the nnl conlent s, nnd like the tribes of hrae l, to lr>atl th ·n1 throttglt the wi ldcl'Jless to a new land; the land of prornise, which i1uwed with 111ilk and honey. (alias abounded with deer and buiT~do ) These characters soon succeed in 'leading· forth a new colony, and in process of time estabiishin~ a n<'W nation. The l\lahaws, 1\Iissomies, and Otos, remained on the banks of the Missouri river, such a di.,tance up, as to be in the reaclt of tlwt powet-ful enemy, the Sioux, who with the aiel or the sm<.dl pox, which the for·nter nations unfortunately contracted by thcit· connection with the whites, have reduced the l\1ahaws , fot·mcrly a brave and powerful nation) to a mere cypher, and obliged the Otos ancl l\lissouries to join their forces, who now form but one nation. The Kanses ancl Osage, came i~uthcr to the cast, and thereiJy avoided the Sioux, but fell i11to the hands of the [owas, Sacs, Kickapous, Potowatomies, Delawares, Shawanec;e, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Chactaws, At·kansaws, C.Hidocs, and T ctaus; and what astonished me extremely, is that they have not been entirely destroyed by those nations. Hut it must only he attributed to their i~not·ance of the enemies' force, their want of concert, wat·s between themselves, and the great renown the invaders always acquire by the boldness of the Cnteq>risc, Oil tlte minds or the in\·aded. Their g-ovc r·nmcnt i ~ oli~archical, but still par·takes of the natme of a t•cpublic, l'ot· al~hough the power nominally is ,·ested iu a small numbet· of cltids, yet they never Ultdcrtakc any muller of importance, withouL lirst ussembling· the warriors, and proposing the subject in council, there to be discu<;c;cd and decided 0 11 l>y a majority. |
