Travels in North America, From Modern Writers

The town of Cuscowilla stands in an extremely pleasant situation, upon a high, swelling ridge of sand-hills, within three or four hundred yards of a large and beautiful lake, which continually washes a sandy beach, under a moderately high, sloping bank; terminated on one side by extensive forests of orange-groves, and overtopped with magnolias, palms, poplars, limes, live oaks, and other trees. The ground, between the town and the lake, is adorned by an open grove of tall pine-trees, which, standing at a considerable distance from each other, admit a delightful prospect of the sparkling waters. The lake abounds with various kinds of excellent fish and wild fowl.

The inhabitants of Cuscowilla have each a small garden attached to their dwellings, for the purpose of producing corn, beans, tobacco, and other useful articles; but the plantation which supplies them with their chief vegetable provisions, is near the great Alachua savannah, and about two miles distant. This plantation has one common enclosure, and is worked and tended by the whole community: yet every family has its particular part, marked off when planted; and this portion receives the common labour and assistance, until the corn, or other articles cultivated upon it, are ripe. Each family then gathers and deposits in its store-house its own proper share, setting apart a small gift or contribution for a public granary, which stands near the centre of the plantation.

Mr. Bartram made several excursions to places in the vicinity of Cuscowilla and the Alachua Swamp. In one of these, he came to a little clump of shrubs, where he observed several large snakes, entwined together. They were each about four feet in length, and as thick as a man's wrist. Mr. Bartram approached, and endeavoured to irritate them, but they appeared perfectly harmless. Numerous herds of cattle and deer, and many troops of horses were seen peacefully browsing on the grass of the savannah, or strolling through the groves on the surrounding heights. Large flocks of wild turkeys were also observed in the woods.

At some distance from Cuscowilla, is an Indian town called Talahasochte, which Mr. Bartram some time afterwards visited. It is delightfully situated on the elevated east bank of a river called Little St. John's. The habitations were, at this time, about thirty in number, and constructed like those of Cuscowilla; but the council-house was neater and more spacious.

The Indians of this town have large and handsome canoes, which they form out of the trunks of cypress-trees: some of them are sufficiently commodious to accommodate twenty or thirty persons. In these canoes they descend the river, on trading and hunting excursions, as far as the sea-coast, to the neighbouring islands and shores; and they sometimes even cross the Gulf of Florida to the West India Islands.

In this neighbourhood are seen many singular and unaccountable cavities. These are funnel-shaped; and some of them are from twenty to forty yards across at the rim. Their perpendicular depth is, in many instances, upwards of twenty feet.

At this time, nearly the whole of East Florida, and a great portion of West Florida, were in the possession of Indians; and these chiefly a tribe called Siminoles, an apparently contented and happy race of people, who enjoyed, in superabundance, the necessaries and the conveniences of life. With the skins of deer, bears, tigers, and wolves, together with honey, wax, and other productions of their country, this people purchased, from Europeans, clothing, equipage, and domestic utensils. They seemed to be free from want or desires: they had no enemy to dread; and, apparently, nothing to occasion disquietude, except the gradual encroachments of the white people.

Mr. Bartram returned to the trading-store, on the bank of the river St. John; and, about the end of September, he reached the place from which he had commenced his voyage.

We must now proceed, across the southern states, to the mouth of the Mississippi, for the purpose of tracing the course of that astonishing river, and describing the most important places in its vicinity.

Fourteen Day's Instruction.

UNITED STATES CONTINUED

The River Mississippi

The Mississippi has its source in about forty-six degrees thirty minutes of north latitude; and terminates in the Gulf of Mexico, at some distance below the town of New Orleans. Its length, in a direct line, exceeds one thousand seven hundred miles; and it falls into the sea, by many mouths, most of which, like those of the Nile, are too shallow to be navigable. For a considerable distance, its banks are low, marshy, and covered with reeds; and are annually overflowed, from the melting of the snows in the interior of the country. The inundation usually commences in March, and continues about three months; and the slime which it deposits on the adjacent lands, tends, in a very important degree, to fertilize the soil. This river is navigable to a great distance; but, at spring-tides, the navigation is difficult, on account of the strength of the currents, and the innumerable islands, shoals, and sand-banks, with which it is interspersed. Vessels of three hundred tons burden can ascend it as high as Natchez, four hundred miles from the sea; and those of lighter burden can pass upward, as far as the Falls of St. Anthony, in latitude forty-four degrees fifty minutes.

New Orleans, the capital of the state of Louisiana, is situated on the northern bank of the Mississippi, and is a place of great commercial importance. It was founded in the year 1717, and now contains near thirty thousand inhabitants. In 1787, it had eleven hundred houses; but, nine hundred of these having been consumed by fire, it has since been rebuilt on a regular plan, and a more enlarged scale. Most of the houses are constructed with wooden frames, raised about eight feet from the ground, and have galleries round them, and cellars under the floors: almost every house has a garden.

Louisiana having, till lately, been a French colony, the French language is still predominant at New Orleans. The appearance of the people too is French; and even the negroes, by their antics and ludicrous gestures, exhibit their previous connexion with that nation. Their general manners and habits are very relaxed. Though New Orleans is now a city belonging to the United States, the markets, shops, theatre, circus, and public ball-rooms, are open on Sundays, in the same manner as they are in the catholic countries of the old continent. Gambling-houses, too, are numerous; and the coffee-houses and the Exchange are occupied, from morning till night, by gamesters. The general stile of living is luxurious. The houses are elegantly furnished; and the ladies dress in an expensive manner.

Provisions are here of bad quality, and enormously dear. Hams and cheese, from England; potatoes, butter, and beef from Ireland, are common articles of import. The rents of houses, also, are very extravagant.

The country around New Orleans is level, rich, and healthy, and has many extensive sugar-plantations. And, for the space of five leagues below, and ten above the town, the river has been embanked, to defend the adjacent fields from those inundations of the Mississippi which take place every spring. The land, adjacent to the town, yields abundant crops of rice, Indian corn, and vegetables.

There is a regular communication, by means of steam-boats and other vessels, between New Orleans and the towns on the banks of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and other rivers, in the distant parts of North America.

The scenery of the Mississippi, to the distance of one hundred and fifty miles and upwards, from New Orleans, is very uninteresting. The country is a dead flat; so that the banks of the river, and most of the adjacent grounds, are annually overflowed. In the vicinity of Natchez it becomes more varied and pleasing.

Natchez is a town in the state of Mississippi, near the banks of the river, and about four hundred miles from its mouth. It contains about thirty dwellings, most of which are whiskey-shops, gambling, and other houses, where an excess of profligacy prevails, which is not usual in the United States.

Mr. Fearon visited Natchez in the year 1817; and in the port there were twenty-five flats, seven keels, and one steam-vessel. The flats are square covered vessels, of considerable capacity, used for carrying freight from Pittsburgh, on the Ohio, and other places below that town, down to New Orleans. Their construction is temporary and of slight materials; for they are broken up at New Orleans, as not sufficiently strong to be freighted up the river. The keel is a substantial, well-built boat, of considerable length; and, in form, somewhat resembles the floating-bath at Blackfriars' Bridge.

Observing a great many coloured people in these boats, Mr. Fearon concluded that they were emigrants, who had proceeded thus far on their route towards a settlement. The fact, however, proved to be, that fourteen of the flats were freighted with human beings intended for sale. They had been collected in the United States, by slave-dealers, and shipped, up the Mississippi, to Kentucky for a market.

There are, at Natchez, numerous stores, and three-fourths of the goods at every store are articles of British manufacture. Shopkeeping is here profitable, and mechanics are highly paid. Lotteries are very prevalent at Natchez. When Mr. Fearon was here, there was a lottery for building a Presbyterian church; and the scheme was preceded by a long address, on the advantages of religion, and the necessity of all citizens supporting Christianity, by purchasing tickets in this lottery!

The streets of Natchez were literally crammed with bales of cotton for the Liverpool market. These are carried to the water-side in carts, each drawn by two mules, horses being here little used. During Mr. Fearon's residence at this town, he twice visited the State legislature, which was composed of men who appeared any thing but legislators. Their place of meeting was in a superior kind of hay-loft; and the imitation of the forms of the British parliament were perfectly ludicrous.

Between Natchez, and the mouth of the Ohio, there is not one spot which could be recommended as a place for an Englishman to settle in. Throughout the whole of this space, the white population are the victims of demoralizing habits. The native Indians present, of course, nothing but a picture of mere savage life; and the negro slaves suffer even more misery than commonly falls to the lot of their oppressed and degraded condition. What a foul stain is it upon the American republic, professing, as they do, the principles of liberty and of equal rights, that, out of twenty states, there should be eleven in which slavery is an avowed part of the political constitution; and that, in those called free, New England excepted, the condition of blacks who are indentured, for terms of years, should practically amount to slavery!

Beyond the state of Louisiana, the Mississippi divides the Missouri territory from the territory of Mississippi; and, north of that, from the states of Tenessee and Kentucky. About the 37th degree of north latitude, and on the western bank of the river, is a town called New Madrid. This place, from the advantages of its situation, about forty-five miles from the mouth of the Ohio, may at some future time become of considerable importance. The Ohio, at the place of its junction with the Mississippi, is about a mile in width, and is navigable, for vessels of considerable burden, to a distance of more than a thousand miles.

Beyond the Ohio commences the Illinois territory. Here the general face of the country is flat; but, in some parts, the land is high and craggy. It abounds in deer, wolves, bears, squirrels, racoons, and foxes; in wild turkeys and quails; geese and ducks, partially; and hawks, buzzards, and pigeons in tolerable abundance; and the rivers contain several species of fish. In the prairies there are rattlesnakes. The woods supply grapes, pecan nuts, (similar to our walnut,) and hickory nuts. Hops, raspberries, and strawberries, here grow wild. Limestone abounds; and salt, copper, and coal have all been found in this district.

The seat of the territorial government is Kaskaski, a town which stands on a plain, near the western bank of the Mississippi, and contains about one hundred and fifty houses. This place has been settled somewhat more than a century, and its inhabitants are chiefly French. Some parts of the district of Illinois are occupied by Indians. The other inhabitants are, first, what are here termed "squatters," persons half civilized and half savage; and who, both in character and habits, are extremely wretched: second, a medley of land-jobbers, lawyers, doctors, and farmers, a portion of those who traverse this immense continent, founding settlements, and engaging in all kinds of speculation: and third, some old French settlers, who are possessed of considerable property, and who live in ease and comfort.

About seventy miles north of Kaskaski, and on the opposite side of the river, is a town or large village, called St. Louis. It stands on a rock or bank of considerable height, in a beautiful and healthy situation, and is surrounded by a country of exuberant fertility. The inhabitants of this place are chiefly employed in the fur-trade, and seldom occupy themselves in agriculture.

Narrative of a Voyage from St. Louis to the source of the Mississippi.By Zebulon Montgomery Pike

Major Pike, at that time a lieutenant in the American army, was employed by the government of the United States, to make a survey of the Mississippi, from the town of St. Louis, upwards, to its source. In pursuance of his instructions, he embarked, in a keel-boat, at this place, on the afternoon of Friday the 9th of August, 1805; and was accompanied by a serjeant and seventeen private soldiers of the American army.

As far as the mouth of the river Missouri, he says, the eastern shore of the Mississippi consists of a sandy soil, and is covered with timber-trees of various kinds. The western shore is, for a little distance, composed of high land, bordered by prairie or natural meadow-ground; after which bottom-land occurs, with timber similar to that on the eastern shore. The current is rapid, and, at low water, the navigation is obstructed by sand-banks.

Beyond the entrance of the Missouri, the stream is gentle, as far as the mouth of the Illinois; but there, owing to extensive sand-bars, and many islands, it becomes extremely rapid. From the Illinois to the Buffalo River, the eastern shore exhibits a series of gentle eminences; but, on the west, the land is a continued prairie. Timber is found on both sides; generally hackberry, cotton-wood, and ash. The Buffalo river enters from the west, and is about a hundred yards wide at its mouth.

On the 14th of August the voyagers passed a camp of the Sac Indians, consisting of three men, with their families. The men were employed in spearing and landing a large fish. Mr. Pike gave them a small quantity of whiskey and biscuit; and they, in return, presented him with some fish. The Sacs are a tribe of Indians which hunt on the Mississippi, and its confluent streams, from the Illinois to the river Jowa; and on the plains west of them, which border upon the Missouri. They are much dreaded by other Indians, for their propensity to deceit, and their disposition to commit injury by stratagem.

On the ensuing day, the voyagers reached the mouth of Salt river, a considerable stream, which, at high water, is navigable for at least two hundred miles. From the Illinois to this river, the western shore is either immediately bordered by beautiful cedar-cliffs, or the ridges of these cliffs may be seen at a distance. On the east the land is low, and the soil rich.

On the 16th of August they passed the house of a Frenchman, on the western side of the river. The cattle belonging to this person appeared to be in fine order, but his corn-land was in a bad state of cultivation. Three days afterwards their boat was damaged by striking against a vessel carrying timber and planks down the stream. While they were engaged in repairing it, three canoes, with Indians, passed on the opposite side of the river. The men in the canoes called out, in English, "How do you do?" wishing for an invitation to come over; but this was not given, and they proceeded on their voyage.

Beyond Salt river the western shore of the Mississippi is hilly, but the eastern side consists of lowland, timbered with hickory, oak, ash, maple, and other trees. The navigation here is easy, and the soil on both sides tolerably good.

On the 20th of August the voyagers, with great difficulty, passed the Rapids des Moines. These are eleven miles in extent; and, with successive ledges and shoals, reach from shore to shore, across the bed of the river. Mr. Pike had here an interview with four chiefs, and fifteen men of the Sac nation, accompanied by a French interpreter, and an agent who had been sent from the United States to teach them agriculture. These men assisted him in his progress up the Rapids; and, in recompense for the service, they were presented with some tobacco, knives, and whiskey.

At some distance beyond the Rapids the voyagers had a beautiful prospect, at least forty miles in extent, down the river. Their average daily progress appears to have been betwixt twenty and thirty miles.

Above the river Jowa, which is one hundred and fifty yards wide at its mouth, the shore of the Mississippi consists of high prairie, with yellow clay-banks, and, in some places, banks of red sand: the western shore also is prairie, but bounded by wood. About ten miles up the Jowa is a village of Jowa Indians. This people subsist chiefly by hunting, but they cultivate some corn-land. Their chief residence is on the small streams in the rear of the Mississippi. From the Jowa to Rock river, there are, on the west, beautiful prairies, and, in some places, rich land, with black walnut and hickory timber.

On the 28th of August the vessel was much injured in passing up a series of rapids nearly eighteen miles in extent, and, in some places, reaching from shore to shore. Four days after this they arrived in the vicinity of some extensive lead-mines, which belonged to a Frenchman named Dubuque. The only animals they had hitherto seen were a few wild turkeys and some deer.

From the lead-mines to Turkey river, the Mississippi continues nearly of the same width, and the banks, soil, and productions appear precisely similar. On the bank of the Turkey river is a village of Reynard Indians, who raise there a considerable quantity of corn. The Reynards reside in three villages on the Mississippi, two of which Mr. Pike had already past. They grow corn, beans, and melons; and they annually sell many hundred bushels of corn to the inhabitants of the United States.

On the 2d of September, Mr. Pike and some of his men landed for the purpose of shooting pigeons; but the guns were no sooner fired, than a party of Indians, who were on shore at a little distance, ran to the water, and escaped in their pirogues or canoes, with great precipitation. After this the voyagers passed the mouth of the Ouisconsin river, which enters the Mississippi in latitude 43 degrees 44 minutes, and is nearly half a mile wide. This river is an important source of communication with the great American lakes, and is the route by which all the traders of Michillimackinac convey their goods to the Mississippi.

On the 6th of September, a council was held with a party of Puant or Winebagoe Indians, and one of the Sioux chiefs. The former occupy seven villages, and are supposed to be a nation who originally emigrated from Mexico, to avoid the oppression of the Spaniards. They are reputed to be brave; but their bravery resembles the ferocity of tigers, rather than the deliberate resolution of men. They are so treacherous that, it is said, a white man should never lie down to sleep in their villages, without adopting the utmost caution to preserve himself from injury. The Sioux are a powerful nation, the dread of whom is extended over all the adjacent country. They are divided into numerous bands, headed by celebrated chiefs. Few of them cultivate land; but they chiefly live on the production of the chase, and on a kind of bread which they make from wild oats. This species of grain is here produced in such abundance, that a sufficiency for their subsistence is easily collected in the autumn, without any trouble whatever in cultivating the land.

Not long after their interview with these Indians, the voyagers reached the Prairie des Chiens. The houses of this village, about eighteen in number, are arranged in two streets, along the front of a marsh. They are chiefly built of wood; are daubed on the outside with clay, and white-washed within. The furniture in most of them is decent, and, in those of the most wealthy inhabitants, displays a considerable degree of taste. The Prairie des Chiens was first settled under the protection of the English government, in the year 1783; and derives its name from a family of Reynards, who formerly lived there, and were distinguished by the appellation of Dog Indians. It is a place of resort for Indian traders and others, who reside in the interior. Mr. Pike here engaged two interpreters to accompany him; one of whom was to perform the whole voyage, and the other to sail with him as high as the falls of St. Anthony.

On the 9th of September he had an interview with a party of Sioux Indians. When he went towards the shore to meet them, they saluted him by firing three rounds from their muskets, loaded with ball. On landing, Mr. Pike was met by the chief, and invited to his lodge. This invitation he complied with, having first stationed some of his men as guards, to protect him in case of danger. In the lodge he found a clean mat and a pillow arranged for him to sit upon; and the complimentary pipe of peace was placed before him, on a pair of small crutches. The chief sate at his right hand, and the interpreter at his left. After they had satisfied each other of their mutual good wishes, and Mr. Pike had accepted the pipe, dinner was prepared. This consisted of wild rye and venison.

Mr. Pike was afterwards conducted by the chief to a dance, the performance of which was accompanied by many curious gestures. Men and women danced indiscriminately. They were all dressed in the gayest manner imaginable. Each had, in his hand, a small skin of some kind of animal. They frequently ran up, pointed their skin, and gave a puff with their breath; on which the person blown at fell, and either appeared lifeless, or in great agony; but afterwards slowly recovered, rose, and joined in the dance. This was understood to be of a religious description; and the Indians believed that they actually puffed, into each others bodies, something which occasioned them to fall. For persons to be permitted to take a part in these dances, it was requisite that they should make valuable presents to the society, give a feast, and be admitted with great ceremony. When Mr. Pike returned to his boat, he sent for the chief, and presented him with a quantity of tobacco, four knives, half a pound of vermilion, a quart of salt, and several gallons of spirits.

At some distance beyond this place, Mr. Pike was shewn several holes, which had been dug in the ground by the Sioux Indians. These were, in general, of circular shape, and about ten feet in diameter; but some of them were in the form of half moons. When this people apprehend an attack from their enemies, or discover an enemy near them, they dig into the ground, with their knives, tomahawks, and wooden ladles; and, in an incredibly short space of time, sink holes that are sufficiently capacious to protect both themselves and their families from the balls or arrows of their foe.

Though the part of the river which the voyagers were now traversing was nearly two thousand miles distant from the sea, the width of the stream was supposed to be at least two miles.

The wet season had commenced, and rain fell, in considerable quantity almost every day. In this part of his voyage, Mr. Pike was accompanied by a Mr. Frazer and two other persons, with three birch canoes. On the 16th of September, they passed the mouth of the Sauteaux or Chippeway river, a deep and majestic stream, which has a communication, by a short passage, with the Montreal river, and, by this river, with Lake Superior. The shores of the Mississippi were here, in many places, bold and precipitous, forming a succession of high perpendicular cliffs and low valleys; and they exhibited some of the most romantic and picturesque views imaginable. But this irregular scenery was sometimes interrupted by wide and extensive plains, which brought to the minds of the voyagers the verdant lawns of civilized countries, and almost induced them to imagine themselves in the midst of a highly-cultivated plantation. The timber of this part of the country was generally birch, elm, and cotton-wood; and all the cliffs were bordered with cedars. The prevailing species of game were deer and bears.