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Show APPENDIX TO PART II. On tl1e 30th the river was frozen up, and towards CYcning the -water had ran on~, and left the bed of the ri\'CL' covered with icc. This circumstance determined me to lcare my canoes and cout·sc the river by land. Accordingly, on the 3 I st of October, after haYing thrown away all my clothing and provision, except half a dozen tlll cups of hard corn Jot· each tmm, I slung my rille on my shoulder, and with my bntfalo robe at my back und circum ferrntor in my hand, I recommenced my mnrch with a li~·ht and cheerful heatt. My only apprehension was the meeting with detached bands of the Pawnees, who, I am confident, would have brought me and my five men to action, and the consequent::e was very obvious. On the 1st, 2d, and 3d of No,·embcr I marched over high and barren hills of sand, and at the close of each day, passed strongly impre~nated salines, and perceived the shores of the rivet· to be comJ> Ictcly frosted 11 ith nitre. The face of the country, as I descended, looked more desolate than above, the eye being scarcely able to dis· cern a tree; ancl if one was discovered, it proved to be a solitary cotton-wood, stinted iu growth by the sterility of the soil. The cve11ing of the 3tl instant I encamped on the bank of the river, without a tree or even a shrub in view. On the 4·lh we experienced a he,t\'Y rain; but hunger and cold pressed me forward. After marching ten miles I reached a small tree, where I remained in a continued rain for two da) s, at the expiration of which time havin~ exhausted my fuel, 1 had again to push off in a severe storm, and formed my camp at the mouth of a bold running- stream, whose nol'them bunk was skirted by a chain of lofty ridg-es. On the 8th, in the morning, it having- cleared up, I began my 111arch cal'!y, and it appeared as if we had just g·ottcn into the region of game, fot' the herds of buffalo, elk, goat, and deer snrpasscd credibili. y. I do solemnly assert, that, if I saw one, I saw more than nine thou~and buffulos during the day's march. On the lOth, in the evening·, after a severe day's march, I encamped 011 the ba11k of a larg-e creek, and discovered. for the first ti111e, 011 the ri\'er, a ~pecics of wood differing from the cotton tree. I tts!:>ure you the ~~ ~· In was more agreeable than a person would imagine: it w,ts like meeting with au old acquaintance, from whom you l1ad been sepanncd a length of time; I C\'en bt•gan to think myself apprmximating· civilized settlem nt'i, although I was just entering on the hu11ting g-I'Ound of the Osages. The hufhdo and goats dis..~ppcat·ed on the 12th, or 1 athe1· we llau passed thcir rauge and entered that of the deer only. O~tr APPENDIX TO PAH.T II. .". ,.,. ma1·ches now lay thl'ough rich nat·row bottoms, from one hundrctl and fifty, to two hundred yards wide. On the 15th discovering timber sufikicntly large to fol'ln canoes, I felled a couple of trees, and commenced sjilitting out. I would h:1ve proceeded further by land, but as my men were ,dmost worn out with fatjgue, and as the g·arne gTcw scarce, I concl i' eel it most adviseable to rest lor a shot·t time, a11d kill my winter's '>lore <>f rneat. This I efTcctccl by the 24th, and on the same clay completed the canoes. On the 25th I ap;ain attempted the navig·ation of the river, but was as unfortunate as at first, fot· my boat gTounded, aftet· floating a few hundred yards, and the men were consequently compelled to ply \1 ith their shoulders instead of their paddles. The followin ~ day I passed the Ne~racka, at wbo~c mouth commence the crag·g·y cliffs, which line a great part of the shores of the Arkansaw. On the 28th the proYision canoe oversat, and I lost nearly all my stock of meat; this accident was rcncle rcc.lthe more d i 'i ll'cs~ing hy an almost total loss of my ammunition, which unfortunately was in the same canoe. On the 30th, I fell in with a bancl of Grand Osages, who were in pursuit of bu{T'.do cows; the chirf of the party insisted on my t·emaining with him a d .~y, and sent ou' his young· men to hunt for me. In the afternoon two Incli <tns of the Litt l<.: Os.1ge nation joined us, with a horse and mule, and brou g-ht ute a mcs'>ag-c from Tuttasuggy, or ~he IVind, who it appcan:d was lying very ill, about twenty miles across the prairie, and " ·ishccl to see me. As he was <1 particulat• favorite of mine, I lcii my canoes in cbar ~c of the men, nnd passed \\ith a ~uidc to the chid's temporury vill.t~e. 1 found him extremely unwell, with what I conceived to be a dropsy, l·or his abdomen was very much swollen. lie sC' emcd r; ratified at the sight of me, and observed, " That he was poor ami pitiful, for the reason that he was a friend to the Amcrict~ns. lie said that Chouteau after he had arrived at their villages lac,t f.ll, had tre.ttcd him like a child, and had taken on to \rV .~shi! l~ ton his youn~c r Lrothcr Ni:zuma, Ol' tht• rain that rrualkN, and in tellderl n1aking· him chief of the n.~tion ; that Chouteau tolcl him he was a bad man, was an Amel'ican, but th<.tt the Spani.~t·ds were going to war with Atnericu, and that in a short time they \\ Ould claim all this coutllt'Y again." Tltat he prercnt('d the tl'd<lers allowing a CITdit, "ht:reb) hi!:> l:nnily were much distre:,secl, as I clcudy perceived, for they were even desti~ tute of a whole blanket. |