Part 23 (1/2)

weight each, put up separately, and tied together There are, generally, about sixty large skins in a pack; if they are se beaver skin weighs about two pounds--sometimes190] 2 Otters: 200 to 300 skins

3 Buffalo cow skins: 40,000 to 50,000 Ten buffalo hides go to the pack

4 Canadian weasel (_Musetela Canadensis_): 500 to 600

5 Martin (pine or beech martin): about the same quantity

6 Lynx; the northern lynx (_Felis Canadensis_): 1,000 to 2,000

7 Lynx; the southern or wild cat (_Felis rufa_): ditto

8 Red foxes (_Canis fulvus_): 2,000

9 Cross foxes: 200 to 300

10 Silver foxes: twenty to thirty Sixty dollars are often paid for a single skin

11 Minks (_Mustela vison_): 2,000

12 Musk-rats (_Ondathra_): fro to Captain Back, half a million of these skins are annually imported into London, as this animal is found in equal abundance as far as the coasts of the Frozen Ocean

13 Deer (_Cervus Virginianus_ and _macrotis_): from 20,000 to 30,000

Beyond Council Bluffs, scarcely any articles are bartered by the Indians--especially the Joways, Konzas, and the Osages--except the skins of the _Cervus Virginianus_, which is found in great abundance, but is said to have fallen off there likewise very considerably

The elk (_Cervus Canadensis_, or _major_), is not properly comprehended in the trade, as its skin is too thick and heavy, and is, therefore, used for home consumption The buffalo skin is taken, as before observed, from the cows only, as the leather of the bulls is too heavy The wolf skins are not at all sought by the company, that is to say, they do not send out any hunters to procure theht not to create any dissatisfaction, and then they are sold at about a dollar a-piece The Indians, however, have frequently nothing to offer for barter but their dresses, and painted buffalo robes

The support of so large an establish excursions into the prairie; and Mr Mc Kenzie, therefore, maintained here several experienced hunters of a mixed race, who made weekly excursions to the distance of twenty or ht the buffalo herds, and, after they had killed a sufficient number, returned home with their ood, especially the tongues, which are sreat numbers, and then sent down to St Louis

The colossal marrow-bones are considered quite a delicacy by the hunters and by the Indians The consu 191] this animal is immense in North America, and is as indispensable to the Indians as the reindeer is to the Laplanders, and the seal to the Esquimaux It is difficult to obtain an exact estimate of the consu and driven further inland In a recent year, the Fur Company sent 42,000 of these hides down the river, which were sold, in the United States, at four dollars a-piece

Fort Union alone consumes about 600 to 800 buffaloes annually, and the other forts in proportion The numerous Indian tribes subsist almost entirely on these ani a sufficient supply for their clothing, tents, &c, and the agents of the Company recklessly shoot down these noble ani the least use of theue Whole herds of them are often drowned in the Missouri; nay, I have been assured that, in some rivers, 1,800 and more of their dead bodies were found in one place Complete dams are formed of the bodies of these animals in some of the morasses of the rivers; from this we may form some idea of the decrease of the buffaloes, which are now found on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, where they were not originally met with, but whither they have been driven

Besides the buffalo, the hunters also shoot the elk, the deer, and, occasionally, the bighorn The former especially are very numerous on the Yellow Stone River All other provisions, such as pork, haar, coffee, wine, and other articles of luxury for the tables of the chief officers and the clerks, are sent from St Louis by the stea Indian nations Vegetables do not thrive at Fort Union, which Mr Mc Kenzie ascribes to the long-continued drought and high winds

The neighbourhood around Fort Union is, as I have observed, a wide, extended prairie, intersected, in a northerly direction, by a chain of rather high, round, clay-slate, and sand-stone hills, fro view over the country on the other side of the Missouri, and of its junction with the Yellow Stone, of which Mr Bodhest points, and at certain intervals of this nals, set up by the assiniboins, of blocks of granite, or other large stones, on the top of which is placed a buffalo skull,[360] which ere told the Indians place there to attract the herds of buffaloes, and thereby to ensure a successful hunt The strata of sand-stone occurring in the above-mentioned hills are filled, at least in part, with i the species still growing in the country[361] A whitish-grey and reddish-yellow sand-stone are found here In all these prairies of North America, as well as in the plains of northern Europe, those reranite, are everywhere scattered, which have afforded the geologist subject for 's Expedition to St Peter's River[362] ranite in the prairies of Illinois; they are found in abundance in the north, about St Peter's [pg 192]

River, in the State of Ohio, &c Other boulders, however, of quartz, flint, slate, &c, evidently formed by water, are found everywhere in the prairies The hills were partly bare, and very feere in blossorass, a which there were numerous round spots with tufts of _Cactus ferox_, which was only partly in flower Another _cactus_, rese _mammillaris_, with dark red flowers, yellow on the inner side, was likewise abundant Of the first kind it seems that two exactly similar varieties, probably species, are found everywhere here; both have fine, large, bright yelloers, so, are often whitish, and the outer side of the petals, with a reddish tinge; but in one species, the staht yellow, like the flower itself, and, in the other, of a brownish blood red, with yellow anthers The true flowering tiins at the end of June

The scene of destruction, which has often been s, recurs everywhere in the prairie, and the great dogs of the fort frequently seek for such animal remains Between the hills, there are, soundo maple, elm, bird-cherry, and some others, in which , blackbird, &c, build their nests The king-bird and the red thrush are likewise found Of mammalia, besides those in the river, namely, the beaver, the otter, and the reat numbers of the pretty little squirrel, the skin of which is ular spots between them (_Spermophilus Hoodii_, Sab), which have been represented by Richardson and Cuvier The Anglo-Around squirrel; and the Canadians, _l'ecureuil Suisse_ Froenuine squirrel, and, therefore, rather different from the true marmot arctomys The burrows, in which these aniround The entrance is not er than a mouse hole, and has no s

Besides these, there are several kinds of offer are likewise seen; this is a kind of large sand rat, living underground, of which I did not obtain a specimen

Not far above and below the fort there oods on the banks of the Missouri, consisting of poplars, s, ash, elundo maple, &c, with a thick underwood of hazel, roses, which were now in flower, and dog-berry, rendered almost impassable by blackberry bushes and the burdock (_Xanthium strumarium_), the thorny fruit of which stuck to the clothes In these thickets, where we collected many plants, the mosquitos were extremely troublesome In such places we frequently heard the deep base note of the frogs; and in those places which were not dao; likewise _Gaura coccinea_ (Pursh), and _Cristaria coccinea_, two extremely beautiful plants; and, on the banks of the river, the white-flowering _Bartonia ornata_ (Pursh), and the _Helianthus petiolaris_ (Nutt), which were everywhere in flower, &c &c

[pg 193] In the forest, a pretty se wood rat, already mentioned Of birds, there are soeon, nuineus_), thrushes, several smaller birds, the beautiful bluefinch, first described by Say, the American fly-catcher, and several others The whip-poor-will is not found so high up the Missouri The river does not abound in fish; it produces, however, two species of cat-fish, and soft shell turtles, but which are not often caught

The clieable We had often 76 Fahrenheit, and stor with heavy rains Other days in theto 56 Winds prevail here the greater part of the year, and therefore the temperature is usually dry The weather, while ere there, was uncoenerally the wettest season; the summer is dry; autumn the finest ti continuance The snow is often three, four, or six feet deep in es are used, and the Indians wear snow shoes The winter of 1831-1832 had been remarkably mild in these parts The Missouri had scarcely been frozen for three days together; but the spring, however, set in very late On the 30th of May, 1832, the forests were still without verdure; and there was, in that month, such dreadful weather, that an Indian was frozen to death in the prairie: a snow storirl, who escaped with one of her feet frozen In general, however, the climate is said to be very healthy There are no endemic disorders, and the fine water of the Missouri, which, notwithstanding the sand ht and cold, does not a little contribute to e There are no physicians here, and the people affirm they have no need of them Persons, e questioned on the subject, said, ”We don't want doctors; we have no diseases” In the preceding spring, however, there had been more sickness than usual on the Missouri, and at the time of our visit, the approach of the cholera was feared Colds are, probably, thesudden, the dwellings slight and ill built, and the people exposing themselves without any precaution