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Kb' !!; Hi This Work, originally prepared and published by the '' Society for Proinoting the Education of the Poor in Ireland, held in Kildare Place, Dublin,'' has been repriided by their permission, and illustrated ivith neiv cuts, for the use of The Society for Pro- luoting Christian Knowledge, W\ N, Am. I ^1' rRAYELS IN NORTH AMERICA. If: 1^ It matters not how fond a man may be of tra- velling about ; perhaps there is not one who has returned home after a long absence, without feeling a sensible satisfaction. In every spot he sees an old acquaintance, whilst he recognises, with pleasure, every face that was familiar to him before his departure, even though the indi- vidual himself was a perfect stranger. He even remarks, with interest, (if he had been an inha- bitant of a city,) the improvements that a few years, or perhaps months, have produced — the new buildings that have been erected, the old ones that have been thrown down, the streets that have been enlarged, and even the houses that have changed their possessors. Some of those persons with whom he was formerly ac- quainted, he indeed misses in his daily walks, and, on enquiry, he is told they are dead. Others, having embarked in different pursuits, have shifted their residence ; and others still, whom X TRAVKLS IN NORTH AMKIllCA. lie never before saw, occupy their places. Some have sunk in the world by unforeseen distress ; many hy imprudently living beyond their means; and some by the exposure of their dishonest practices ; whilst, on the other hand, it is no less true than satisfactory to the industrious, that worldly success has seldom failed to attend on those who are not wantini^ to themselves. It is not surprising, therefore, that George Phili})s, after an absence of nearly two years in South America, whither commercial business had first led him, and curiosity had afterwards detained him, thought a long time must elapse before he would again exchange the comforts of his native city for tl e hardships and the privations neces- sarily to be undergone, when a man travels in a foreign country, particularly ifit be but partly civilized. He had visited the most remarkable places on that vast continent, and though the barbarism of the inland tribes had prevented him from traversing s the middle districts, he liad gained either from books, or from those who liad themselves travelled over the country, a very adequate knowledge of the rest. He had seen the far-famed mountains of Cotopaxi and Chim- borazo, the ranges of the mighty Andes, the rivers Amazon, the Oronoco, the La Plata, the valuable silver mines of Potosi ; and, having thus gratified his curiosity, he resolved to devote himself steadily to business, perfectly aware how much he owed to the unremittincj kindness of his partners, for with the greatest readiness they Some stress ; ncans ; ihoiiest : is no js, that end on It is Miilips, South ad first ctaincd fore he > native i neces- els in a partly arkable iffh the ed him le liad sc who , a very id seen Chim- es, the ita, the nif thus devote ire how ness of .'ss they TRAVELS IN XOKTII AMKUICA. 3 had dispensed with Ins personal assistance in the counting-house, during the whole period of his absence. However, it has been often said, that to know one's self is the most dilHcult of all sciences, and it will not be wondered at that Philips was mistaken, when he thought he would never again feci a desire of visiting foreign lands. For two years after his return, he continued to bestow liis unremittinjj attention on the business of the fnm in which he was a partner. Active and in- tclligf^nt as he was naturally, travelling had opened his mind and sharpened his understand- ing, and he was deservedly esteemed excellently well informed upon commercial affairs ; his part- ners also W'Cre active in business, and, as every transaction was governed by the most unshaken integrity, it may be well believed that they pros- l)ered. At the end of this period, however, Pliilips again felt the w^ish of enlarging his sphere of observation, by visiting the same quar- ter of the world, but not the same scenes which he had before seen ; for whereas he had formerly explored the region of South America, he now felt the most eager desire to examine that of North America, and as much as possible not only to become acquainted with the United States, but with the manners of the Indian tribes which lie scattered through its more westerly districts. It was not with Philips as with some giddy men, who no sooner entertain a wish than they are impatient to g II i HV ;*\ B 2 I, ^1 'II i!|i ii TRAVELS IN NOUTH AMERICA. foiLitlJcn it, lie could liavo t( rn coast of Nl Spain. " In this way," thought he, as he traced his future course U})on the map, '* I shall gain a knowledge of that nu- merous cluster of islands which arc called the West Indies, and having landed in the kinirdom of New ^^pain, my acquaintance with North America will be resumed almost at the Isthmus of Panama, wliich divides it from South America, and should the Almighty grant me health, I may then shape my course northwards, according to circumstances.'' He was too upright, however, to expect the same share in the commercial profits of the house, which would have been justly due to him had he continued to give his personal assistance to the management of its affairs. His proposal was an equitable one, and therefore acceded to, after some friendly altercation, in which one side desired to act with generosity, and the other with a duL regard to justice. It was this : — that during his absence he should be what is called r RAVELS IN NOUin AMEiacA. his plan hut the to chock Uy coni- his ah- c to the •1 ^vhicli nds was touching Linds, to •])ort on lis vvay," ISC U})on tiiat nu- ullcd tlie \inLnlom 1 North Isthmus rri erica, , I may rding to )cct the of the to him sistance proposal eded to, ch one le other : — that s called an anonymous partner, drawing annually a fair and lihcral jxr-ccntage on his capital, with a clear uiulerstanding that on his return he should take up the same situation in the firm from which ho was now for a time to absent himself. His expedition would most probably occupy him more than two years ; but he not only engaged to transmit regular accounts of his proceedings, whenever opportunity should occur, but to men- tion in these letters what course he intended to take, so thai in case any circumstances should require his presence in Europe, he might receive the earliest intimation ; and in addition he was to look after some sums of money due to the firm by persons residing in St. Domingo, besides making any commercial speculation which cir- cumstances might render advisable. It was on the last day of the old year that Philips embarked at Cork, in the south of Ire- land, on board his friend's vessel, and it may well be supposed that, being of a serious turn of mind, he was impressed with this ce'ncidencc between the period of the year and the circum* stances of his situation. He was leaving behind the year that was drawing to a close, and the friends and connexions with whom his early life had been spent ; he was about to enter upon another year, and upon a new scene, and it might be, he would never see the close of that year, or return to the scenes he was quitting. Earn- estly, therefore, did he offer up his prayers to God, that He woidd guide and counsel him, that ■i ■*« ' I ii B 3 6 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. I I I . I Ir I ^li f i It ili! ! f i' I He would protect him from secret and open dan- ger, and (iiially receive him into His kingdoin. Phihps was a rchgious man : liis parents had early imbued him with a fondness for devotion, and though some ungodly persons might be found to mjdve light of it, the reader will not think the \vorse of him, that, obout to absent himself for so long a period, and to pass a part of his time at least in the remote and imperfectly explored parts of North America, he reflected with pain that he was voluntarily withdrawing himself from those places where Christians can offer up in a house of worship their united prayers. He resolved, however, to do all that he could to supply his loss ; he brought with him a small portable copy of the Holy Scriptures, in order that he might read therein, and be warned from it of his duty, both to Him whose revealed will it contained, and to his fellow-creatures, whom it commanded him to love as himself, \ i . When the vessel set sail the weather was clear and mild, but soon afterwards they had a succession of storms and fogs, whicli obscured the sun, and gave Philips every moment the ap- prehension that the vessel in which he was a pas- senofcr would run aboard some other, and either founder or be materially damaged. Other fear than this Philips had not, for he had now been often enough at sea to feel ail a seaman's secu- rity, when he is sailing in what they term a good sea-boat ; and in truth, the hard gales they met on the passage, sufliciently te^nPcd the truth r !i|! i t 1 a "■ c v'l c 1 b h •ji c - b w tl 1; tl St .1 w f w 1 82 1 til tl] >M TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. pen dan- njjtloiTi. rents had devotion, ; be found tliink the nisclf for f his time explored with pain T himself I offer up ers. He could to n a small , in order ned from aled will ?s, whom Ither was y had a ibscnred It the ap- las a pas- id either ;her fear low been 's secu- term a lies they lie truth of the technical expression — that she can I'tce in all weathers. lie knew that the captain was an experienced seaman, and liis crew steady, and thus felt no alarm at the immense mountains of waves which sometimes struck the sliip, and sometimes hung curling over the sides, as if ready to burst and pour a deluge upon the deck. At one period, her top-masts, yards, and differ- ent parts of the rigging were carried away, her sails were split, her quarter boards stove in ; every thfng that was loose on deck washed away ; yet in an incredibly short time the hardy sailors had repaired the damage, and the good ship was holding on her course, as if no- thing adverse had befallen her. In the first voyage that our traveller had made across the Atlantic, he had observed with won- der the effect of the trade wind, which, at a certain latitude, always blows from East to West ; but it now appeared more striking to him per- haps from the boisterous weather with which he contrasted it. For three weeks the vessel had been tossed about at the mercy of the waves, when, by degrees, the wind began to subside, the sea became calm and smooth as a lake, and the captain announced that they had passed the stormy latitude, and would shortly feel the trade wind. In this expectation every preparation was made — the top-gallant- masts were set, the sails made ready, and an awning prepared for the quarter deck, all which indicated to l^hilips that steady hreezes, warm regions, and pleasant •i- ■ t \ II ! I !|r|i 8 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. sailing, were reckoned on. The crew were also, according to custom, set to clean, paint, and adorn the vessel ; or, as the seamen call it, to give her a new jacket, in order that she might appear to advantage in the harbours of the West India Islands ; and in this all the sailors have a degree of pride — every one wishing that his vessel may become the object of admiration. Indeed it amused Philips to see how far this spirit was carried : from head to stern not a plank-rope, mast, or yard, ring, bolt, or even nail, escaped — every thing received a full-dress coat of paint, or was made new with a black varnish of tar. The barrels, the buckets, the handle of the pump, were painted ; and, that nothing might be omitted, even the inside of the water-buckets received a coating. The change was delightful, for the vessel lay upon the water without motion, and this calm continued for two days, until every one began to wish for a little wind to carry them on their voyage. It was on the 23d January that Phi- lips was observing from the deck the smooth sea around, when looking towards the eastern ho- rizon, he saw a vessel moving towards him with full sails ; a few moments after, the sky dark- ened, a gentle ripple spread over the hitherto still and smooth surface of the water, and a breeze came on so steady, that almost without being sensible of any motion, the vessel advanced at the rate of five miles an hour. In a moment every hand was busy in preparing and setting TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. ew were m, paint, :n call it, jhe might rs of the lie sailors shing that Imiration. V far this jrn not a ;, or even full-dress h a black ickets, the and, that jide of the vessel lay this calm )ne began 1 on their that Phi- nooth sea tern ho- him with ^ky dark- hitherto a breeze ut being anced at moment setting every possible sail, for it was the trade wintl, and experience told the seaman that once arrived in this latitude all his labour is over, the vessel scuds constantly before the wind. The sails re- main spread ni^ht and day, no chani^e is neces- sary, occasional bracing only is required, and in this way she will proceed from IGO to 200 knots (or miles) in twenty-four hours. It was on the 10th of February that ** land" was shouted from the mast head ; but it was the practised eye of a sailor alone that could have discerned it. Philips looked in vain for it, and when at length he discerned what was said to be Barbados, it looked more like a cloud forming a long dark streak a little above the horizon. This streak grew gradually more and more dis- tinct, till breaking, as the vessel advancf^d, it be- came unequal, assumed the form of mountains, and at length the land became distinctly visible. The island of Barbados, which our traveller was now approaching, is one of a great many islands, called the West Indies, which lie scat- tered dirough the wide sea separating the con- tinents of North and South America, and wash- ing the eastern side of the narrow isthmus of land that joins them. As they are too numerous for mention, it will be sufficient to say, that the chief of them sweep in a circular line to the north-west, from the north-eastern part of South America, near the river Oronoco ; they are, Trinidad, Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, Dominica, Gua- 10 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMEIIICA. I i ! I i n 111 tlaloupe, Antigua, St. Christopher, St. Bartholo- mew, extending througli nearly six hundred miles of latitude. From the most northerly and westerly of this circular range of islands, Philips found that a straight line running westward would pass through the large islands of Porto Rico, St. Domingo, and Jamaica, and that to the north of St. Domingo, a chain of small islands, five hundred in number, (many of which, however, are only rocks and cliffs,) reached as far as the coast of Florida, on the south coast of North America, thus establishing a chain, as it were, between the north-eastern extremity of South America, and the south-eastern province of North America. Though the name of West Indian Islands, however, is given to the whole of those composing this vast range, some of those which have been already enumerated are known by other denominations ; that numerous cluster, for example, last mentioned, is sometimes called the Bahamas, whilst the several islands from Trinidad to Domiaica, were denominated the Windward Islands by the Spaniards, who dis- covered them about three hundred years back, and thence northward to Porto Rico, the Lee- ward Islands, from the circumstance of their position with respect to those who were sailing with a trade wind from Spain westward. It was night when they made the entrance of the harbour of Bridgetown, the capital of the Island of Barbadoes, and, as a smart breeze was blowing from the land, they were obliged to TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 11 3artliolo- hundred lerly and s, Philips westward of Porto 1 that to of small of which, cached as h coast of hain, as it remity of 1 province le of West the whole e of those ire known IS cluster, nes called mds from nated the , who dis- ears back, , the Lee- j of their ere sailing d. ntrance of tal of the )reeze was bliged to lie-to till morning. This, however, which was at first considered a disappointment, gave Philips an opportunity of admiring the beautiful scenery which the day-light presented to him. I'hc har- bour is a fine open bay, capable of containing five hundred ships : many ships were riding at anchor, and a number of boats and small craft were sailing to and fro. Through the shipping at the bottom of the bay were seen numbers of neat cottages, surrounded by tropical trees, re- markable for the richness of their foliage. On the south-west stands the town, and beyond it verdant fields of sugar, coffee, and cotton, coun- try houses, clusters of negroes' huts, wind-mills and sugar-mills ; in short, nothing appeared wanting to complete the beauty of the landscape. The island of Barbadoes is about twenty-one miles in length, and fourteen in breadth, most of it being under cultivation ; the population con- sists of about 20,000 whites and people of co- lour, and G0,000 negroes ; these last are slaves, who are the property of their masters, and work without wages : but it is only necessary to see the indolent manner in which they labour, to be con- vinced that it is not only cruel, but unwise, to exact this kind of service from our fellow-crea- tures ; for, as Philips remarked, half the num- ber of hired labourers would easily have per- formed as much work in a given time as a dozen of these oppressed beings. Bridgetown, the capital, contains about 1:200 houses, built mostly of brick, with ornamented J*; 'd 1$ t ■• '•f*- ^^.^ ri ■i TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. balconies ; tlic streets are wide, and the neigh- bouring low grounds, which were ibrmerly often ovcrHowed by tlie spring tides, being drained, the town has in consequence become more healthy; but, like all the rest of the West India Islands, it is subject to hurricanes, of which we in Ireland can have no idea. These hurricanes are a sudden and violent storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, attended with a swelling of the sea, and sometimes with an earthquake. Whole fields of sugar canes are whirled into the air, and scattered over the country. The strong- est trees of the forest are torn up by the roots, and driven about like stubble, the wind-mills are swept away in a moment, and even the huge copper-boilers and stills, of several hundreds weight, are wrenched from the ground and bat- tered to pieces ; even the houses afford no pro- tection, the roofs being torn off at one blast, whilst the rain causes torrents, which rise seve- ral feet and rush in like a flood upon them. ^ It is now above fifty years since the most vio- lent of them happened, and yet so great was the damage done by it, that the town has not since recovered from it — four thousand of the inhabit- ants perished ; and so great was the force of the wind, that it not only blew down the strongest walls, but even lifted some heavy cannon off the ramparts, and carried them some yards distance ; and the injury done to property was computed at not less than one million three hundred thou- sand pounds. I " I ll I of I .n I wl TRAVELS IN NOUTII AMERICA, 1^ le neigh" ily often drained, le more est India ^hich we urricanes ndj rain, swelling thquake. I into the e strong- [he roots, -mills are the huge hundreds and bat- no pro- )ne blast, ise seve- lem. Tiost vio- was the not since inhabit- ce of the strongest )n off the istance ; omputed ed thou- As tijc vessel in which Philips was had but a short time lo stnv at 13ar!)a(locs, he thought it better to live aboard, makini;, liowever, daily excur.sions in all directions ; and in this way he had frequent opportunities of observing the ha- bits of the people. On one of these occasions he ibund that it was the custom to bring the ani- mals alive to the market, to be killed after the different joints were sold, and that the meat is often slaughtered, dressed, and brought to table, in the course of a few hours. He was not long, indeed, withcut perceiving that the extreme heat of the weather rendered it very difficult to keep meat, and yet it always revolted hiin to eat of the animal which he knew to have lived so short a time before. But there was no subject which possessed so painful an interest as the treatment of the slaves. These, the reader will understand, are unhappy Africans, who, hav- ing been torn away from their native country by traders who deal in this unchristian traffic, and carried to the West Indies and the United States of America, are sold to masters, who oblige them to work without wages, and flog them with the greatest cruelty for the slightest fault, oftentimes, indeed, without cause. Fre- quently did he see them labouring in the plantations under the direction of an overseer, who with a whip kept them to their work. It is true, that this inhuman traffic is no longer sanc- tioned by Great Britain, and that any of her sub- jects engaging in it are liable to the severest c ■"I • r u TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. punisliment. It is also true, tliat the laws of the United States proliibit it, and that some other European powers have promised to follow the example of England by abolishing it, but such a measure could only prevent any further impor- tation of slaves from Africa ; it could not go so far as to emancipate those who had been pur- chased, some at the cost of 60/. 70/. and 80/., and therefore, in their persons as well as in the l^ersons of their children born before the passing of the act, slavery still continues. What right, thought he, has one man over another, to make him thus toil like a beast of burden without wages? Are we not all come from the same pa- rents ? Have we not a common nature? Is not God the Father of us all ? It is said that these unfortunate beings are ignorant ; well, let us instruct them, and they will become better — but let us not treat them as if they were not men. It is said also that they are sold to Eu- ropeans by their own countrymen, who take them prisoners in their wars with one another, and that it is the custom of their country to make slaves of such ; but the fact is, that it is the white men who engage in this trade who encourage those uncivilized people to go to war, and these wars will continue so long as we continue to purchase their captives. A few days after he had made these reflections, he happened to meet an African funeral, and though he saw in it much to reprove, he was far too sensible not to ascribe the blame to their I TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 15 laws of Tie other How the It such a r impor- iot go so sen pur- md 80/., IS in the ; passing lat right, to make without same pa- ure? Is said that well, let better — Yere not to Eu- ake them ler, and o make he white icourage nd these itinue to flections, jral, and J, he was e to their owners, who did not teach them better. The corpse was conveyed in a neat small hearse, drawn by one horse. Six boys, twelve men, and forty-eight women walked behind in pairs, but not indeed as mourners. Instead of sorrow, or even seriousness, they followed talking and laughing, jumping, and sporting with each other in high festivity. " Such,'* thought Philips, "is the conduct of these ignorant people, who think of death, perhaps, as only a release from slavery. When the procession arrived at the gate of the burying ground, the corpse was taken from the hearse and borne by eight negroes, not upon their shoulders, but upon four white napkins placed under the coffin. The body was carried directly to the grave, and though Philips ob- served thoy said no prayers over it, it was laid down and covered with the earth with great decency and decorum, the clay being first put into a basket, and then gently strewed over it ; during the whole of which time an old negro woman continued singing a wild African song. When the funeral was over, every one gathered round the grave, and, as if addressing the de- ceased, called aloud, " Gooil night, good bye — me soon come to you ;" then each scattering a handful of clay over the grave, they all dispersed and went away. In Barbadoes the land is cultivated in open fields ; hedges, walls, and all the usual fences seem to be unknown, nor can the eye discover c 2 . IS 1 »,• !.Ti « '.T ■i. iii'l 10 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMKUICA. any distinct separation of the (lifFcrent estates ; and altljoiifrli the whole face of the codntry is for the most part well cidtivated, it has a naked and nnintcresting appearance from tlie want of wood, of which tlu re is not a sufTIciency to be ornamc ntal to the country. Anxious, during his short stay at Barhadocs, to 5;ce whatever the Island af lorded worthy of a traveller's notice, Philips made frc(juent excursions of some miles through the country ; the usual conveyance on these occasions beinij a sort of simple horse- ch.'use, with a leather roof like the head of a gig. Nothing was to him more revolting than the custom of being attended by slaves on foot, who run by the side of these carriages, and whose duty it is to keep up with the horse the whole way, in order to be ready to hold the rein whenever the rider chooses to alight or stop ; but we in this country can have no idea of the hardships these poor people undergo — and all this they endure under a burning sun, which even the rich and great with all their luxuries and means of self-indulgence, find almost insupportable. In Barbadoes, as well as throughout the West Indies, the rains make the only distinction of the seasons — the trees are green the whole year round ; they have no cold, no frosts, no snows, and but rarely some hail. The storms of hail, however, are very violent when they happen, and the hail- stones very large. Lying, as these Islands do, so near the middle parts TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 17 estates ; jdntry is a naked want ot* icy to be uring liis tever the s notice, mie miles yance on le liorse- lead of a ting than 5 on foot, iocs, and horse the hold the t or stop ; ea of the — and all lich even nd means table, bout the istinction he whole rosts, no e storms len they Lying, lie parts of the eartli, the heat would be intolerable, if the sea- breeze, rising gradually each day as the sun advances, did not blow in uj)on them from the sea and refresh the air. — On the other band, as the night advances, a breeze begins to blow smartly from the land, and it is a most curious circumstance that it proceeds, as it were, from the centre of each island in all directions at once. To this account of the cli- mate, it may be added, that the rains are by no means so moderate as with us. Our heaviest rains are but dews comparatively. They are rather like floods of water poured out from the clouds with prodigious impetuosity — the rivers rise in a few hours, new rivers and lakes are formed, and in a short time all the low country is under water. Thougb the West India Islands produce cof- fee in great abundance, together with the plant from which cotton is obtained, and the root called ginger, the great article of West India com- merce is sugar. This is the juice extracted from the sugar-cane, by bruising them in vast mills, and then boiling it to a proper thickness. This, when suffered to cool gradually, is the brown sugar of this country. From the syrup which is found at the bottom of the coolers after the sugar is made, and which is called molasses, a strong spirit called rum is distilled, and from the scummings of the sugar an inferior one is produced. The tops of the canes, and also the c 3 I ,: 18 TRAVELS IN NOUTH AMKRICA. It'avcs wliicli prrow on tlic joints, make very ir^md food for tlic'ir cattle, and t\w ri'liisi; of tlu? cams, after f(rin(lin;f, serves for fuel, so that no part of this excellent ]>lant is witliout its use. In tlie West India Islands an estate or plan- tation is not valued by the number of acres of wbicb it consists, but rather by the stock the owner bas on it ; — the windmills, the boilintr, coolin' n TRAVELS IN NOllTtl AMERICA. lava appeared boiling up over the sides and flowing down the mountain like a torrent of fire. After running for a short distance, it met with a rising ground which stopped its course for a few minutes, but at length receiving fresh supplies from behind, it parted and drove on, forming the figure of V in grand illumination. In four hours this stream of fire reached the sea, as we observed from the reflection of the fire, and the hissing noise it made as it rolled into the water. At three o'clock the following morning, the first earthquake was felt, and this was succeeded by a shower of stones which fell on the roofs of the houses, and threatened to bury us under them. We sought shelter in the cellars, under rocks, or any where, for every place was licarly the same ; and the poor negroes, flying from their huts for safety, were knocked down or wdunded, and many of them killed in the open air. Had these stones been heavy in proportion to their size, but few could have escaped death, for they were in many places as large as a man's head, but thanks be to Providence they were very light, being what is called Pumice. This dreadful shower lasted upwards of an hour, and was again succeeded by cinders from three until six o'clock in the morning. Earthquake followed earth- quake at short intervals, the surface of the ground being agitated like water which is shaken in a bowl." " We know," continued he, " that these awful catastrophes arise from natural causes, TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. ii3 :::^: (les and t of fire. 2t with a or a few supplies forming In four a, as we , and the le water. the first jeded by )fs of the er them. ;r rocks, ;arly the 3m their ^'dunded, Had to their for they I's head, ry h'ght, dreadful as again o'clock 1 earth- i ground ien in a at these causes, r. ) i 1 from water rushing in great quantities into those depths where sulphur and iron are contained ; and it is also well known that they have the most beneficial results, defending the earth from, or else checking the violence of earthquakes, which, but for those eruptions, would in the neighbourhood of volcanos always cause the most calamitous effects ; but most impressively do we learn from them the Omnipotence of that Being who rules the universe, and whilst he permits such dreadful visitations sometimes to occur, retains them within bounds, and prescribes the extent to which they shall proceed." The vessel in which Philips was a passenger was now ready to sail for St. Domingo, and he gladly obeyed the captain's summons to prepare for liis departure. He had now nothing to de- tain him, having fully gratified his curiosity, but the duty of taking leave of the friends from whom he had received kindness. Before twelve hours had elapsed, the vessel had hove her an- chor, and was sailing towards her destination under a steady breeze. In fact, there was no course more direct than that on which he was now proceeding, for the trade- winds constantly blow in one direction, and all that is necessary for ships steering westward is to spread the sails, and set the helm to the due point. During the voyage, and indeed whilst he re- mained at Barbadoes, he had not been incurious ; he endeavoured to gain all the information pos- 1 • I ! ; 21 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMLIUCA. siole concernin*^ those other islands vvliich it was not in liis power to visit, and it was fortunate for him he could not have applied to a more competent person than the cajjtain, who had been many years in the West India trad^^^and knew every one of them, he said, as well as he knew the parts of his own ship. '* As you have been so long in these seas," said Philips, " 1 suppose you can give me some account of the present state of Domingo, to which we are going?" ** That I can," replied the captain, ** for I was on the spot at the time the revolution broke out in 1791. At that period, the whole island, which is nearly four hundred miles long, and in some places one hundred and fifty broad, was divided between France and Spain — that por- tion belonginsj to the latter being of the two mucli the more extensive as well as fertile. The population amounted to about 150,000 whites and people of colour, and half-a-million of negro slaves. So great a disproportion, you may imagine, was dangerous ; and it proved so ; for the blacks, irritated I believe by cruel treat- ment, rose upon their masters and rendered the whole French part of the Island a scene of mas- sacre and devastation. The enormities com- mitted on both sides during the war that ensued were great, but at last the whites were expelled, and a regular government was formed of the blacks, who chose one of their own number as their chief. Soon after this they quarrelleu TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 25 I ■> .} i among tlioniselves ; but lliere is no use in de- tailiu'r tlicir dissensions. When vou land vou will both bear and see many proofs of the wick- edness oHiuman nature, when it is not restrained and directed by reli^non. At present they are at peace with each other, and we may hope they will continue so, lor they are now labouring strenuously towards the improvement of their coiuitry. Schools have been established upon the plan of the British School Society, and I my- self in a late voyage actually bad several young men passengers who came from London for the j)urpose of organizing these scbools. 'i'bey have also a college where the different sciences are taught by European professors, and there is every reason to suppose that, at no very distant period, this nation of blacks will contain as great a proportion of well-educated people as any country in Europe.*' The next subject on wbich the captain was able to satisfy Philips, was concerning Porto Kico, within view of which they sailed in their run to St. Domingo, and wbich was distant from the latter place sixty miles to tbe eastward. He had read that at the time of its discovery by Christopher Columbus, it was supposed to con- tain 000,000 inhabitants, who received the Spaniards amongst them as beings of a superior order; irritated, however, by the cruelty of their invaders, they for a long time carried on a war against them, but were at length exterminated. At present it is inhabited by whites and their t i . 1 ; ( :' > ■ I,: ■) -f ■f '- £■■>*'■ 2Cy TRAVl^LS IN NORTH AMERICA. !!! negro slaves, like tlie other islands, and is ex- tremely fertile — being beautifully diversified with woods, hills, and valleys, and watered by streams that descend from the mountains. It is 140 miles in length from east to west, and thirty- six in breadth from north to south. The mea- dows are so very rich, that the cattle originally introduced into the country from Spain and the other parts of Europe, have multiplied so ex- ceedingly as to become an article of trade, the inhabitants exporting great quantities of them. Its principal traffic, however, is in sugar, ginger, cotton, salt, and fruits. At the expected time from his embarkation, Phili[)s landed at the town of St. Domingo, the capital of the vyhole island, and it possessed no small interest in his eyes as being the oldest city in the Western World, having been built by the celebrated Columbus in the year 1496. Pre- vious indeed to leaving Europe, our traveller hoped to touch at the island of Guanahani, or St. Salvador, which was the first land discovered by that illustrious navigator, and of forming to himself, upon the actual spot where the scene took place, a more lively idea of the astonish- ment and admiration of the poor Indians, when they saw the ships, which they at first mistook for living creatures, filled with beings so differ- ent from themselves ; and the joy of the Spa- niards, as they knelt on the shore to return thanks to the Almighty, who had guided them in safety over the vast ocean four thousand i! ' i! M.kf TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 27 miles from home, and disclosed to them a New World. — This desire, however, so natural in one like Philips, he feared he could not gratify. Gnanahani, or St. Salvador, or Cat Island (for it is known by the three names) being one of that vast chain of islands called the Bahamas, which stretch from the northern tropic along the east coast of Florida in North America, and therefore it lay too much to the northward of his course. He found St. Domingo a handsome city, built of a kind of marble found in the neigh- bourhood, and in the okl Spanish style, with flat roofs, the apartments being built round tlie four sides of the court-yard, which of course they en- close. The rain water is collected in cisterns, from these flat roofs, for supplying the wants of the inhabitants. The number of persons dwel- ling within the walls of the city is estimated at l.'2,000, and that of the neighbouring district at 10,000. Here, indeed, all his previous ideas were reversed : he had just left a place where black men are too often looked upon as an infe- rior race ; but in St. Domingo he found all the improvements of civilized life — education, po- lite manners, and even the very titles and grada- tions of rank, prevailing amongst those whom the ignorant or illiberal have been accustomed to look down upon as an inferior race, and Eu- ropeans permitted to enter the country, not on account of any imagined superiority they pos- sess over black men, but relying upon that pro- d2 1 4: t i tin SP If jl 28 TRAVELS IN NOKTil AMERICA. tection vvhicli every civilized nation will afford to a stranger. Eastward from tlie town there lies an immense plain, nearly ei«4luy miles in length and twenty in breadth, whieh is well adapted for the growth of every tropical production, and, from the number of rivers passing through it, capable of navigation to any extent. To the soutli also lies another plain, nearly of the same length and breadth, and so great is their tlrtility, that Philips heard many of the most intelligent inhabitants say, that they were capable of pro- ducing riiore sugar and other valuable commo- dities than all the British West Indies put toge- ther. The Spaniards, however, wanted industry, and suffered these fertile plains to be overrun by wild animals, such as swine, horses, and horned cattle, great quantities of which were formerly exchanged with the contiguous settlements of the French, for those articles of European ma- nufacture of which they stood in need. The climate Philips found to be moist, but the excessive heats were in part moderated by the sea-breeze, which regularly sets in about ten in the morning, and towards evening is suc- ceeded by the land breeze. The heaviest rains fall in May and June, and this alternation of heat and damp often renders the climate fatal to Europeans. In the dry season, the rivers may be crossed on foot ; but one tempestuous shower changes them into a flood, which rushes along with a force that sweeps away every obstacle : they abound with alligators, and also with turtle. ■'4 : TRAVELS IN NORTH A^SIK RICA. ft9 Philips liad often dealt in St. Domingo maho- gany as an article of commerce, and knew it to be closer grained, and more bcantifnlly feathered or marked than that which grew on the shores of Ilondnras Bay, which lies on the eastern coast of the province of tiie same name, and north of the Isthmus of Darien. However, he had arranged with his partners to send home a cargo of the Honduras kind and log-wood, and therefore as the vessel in which he came out was to stop some days in Domingo, he lost no time in chartering one of the many ships he found there in order to dispatch her to Ireland, after taking in a lading of this valuable article. For the purpose also of doing his business more satisfactorily, he proceeded in her across the Bay to Balize, a settlement which the British have made on its shores for the purpose of cutting down mahogany and log-wood. Arrived there, he found that the number of negro slaves amounted to three thousand, and that the cutting down of the woods which we have mentioned formed their sole occupation. Si)me of the tim- ber is rough-squared upon the spot, but this is generally suspended until the logs are rafted to the entrance of the different rivers. Some of the rafts which Philips saw consisted of two hundred logs, and they are often floated as many miles. It happens, however, not unfrequently, when the floods are unusually rapid, that the labour of a season is destroved by the breaking D 3 ' li i f. r „i T it .'X m iii) TUAVKLS IN NORTH AMERICA. ! I m asundin- of a raft, and the wliole of the mahogany being hnrrird ])r(ci|)itntc'ly to the sea. The gangs of n(^groes ein[)loyed in this work consist of from lO to 50, each Iiaving one at- tached to it called the huntsman, whose business it is to precede the gang at the proj)er season for the purpose of discovering where the tree is most abimdant ; and it is most surprising to see with wliat sagacity he will, without compass or guide, cut his way through the thickest and darkest foiests to the spot where previous ob- servation has sativsfied him that it is growing. The maliogany is always cut in blocks as long as the tree will permit ; the logwood tree, which is used by dyers to give a fine purple or black colour, is cut into logs about three feet in length, and sent into Europe in that form. Philips, therefore, had no difficulty in purchasing a cargo from the proprietors on most advantageous terms, after which he returned in his chartered vessel to Domingo, where she was to take in the remainder of her cargo. This once accom- plished, and hi« other buisiness being satisfacto- rily arranged, he soon embarked for .lamaica with his friendly captain, who was going there to take in a cargo of sugar, the produce of an estate belonging to one of the mercantile firm who had employed him. It was but 30 leagues from the west point of the island of St. Domingo, and, therefore, it required but little time to reach it. On this voyage, however, Philips did not lose TRAVrLS IN NOllTII AMERICA. 31 (lie opportunity of gaining some additional par- ticulars concerning tlie neighbouring islands, and as lie had not an opportunity of visiting Cuba, his enquiries were chiefly directed to ob- tain inlbrmation on the subject of its climate, appearance, &'c. and the captain informed him that Cuba is at its greatest extent 7G4 miles in length, and l.'^l' miles in breadth; the interior of the country is mountainous, and is well wa- tered, and the soil luxuriant ; it has been com- puted that no less than two hundred rivers fiow down from the mountains into the plains. At the foot of these mountains the country opens into extensive meadows, which afford pasture to numerous herds of cattle, the skins of which are to them a valuable article of trade, and of which they annually export about ten or twelve thousand. The principal town is called the Havannah, and is built on the northern coast of the island, that situation being chosen because the channel between Cuba and the main land of North Ame- rica was found the most convenient passage for merchant vessels bound for Europe from Mexico, in consequence of which the Havannah was built on that side of the island as a port to receive them. Philips enquired if the harbour was a capacious one. " 1 have seen a thousand vessels lying there at once," replied the captain, ** and so secure, that you would have thought the an- chors that held them superfluous ; such a fine depth of water does it afford, and so sheltered „f TT 32 TRAVLLS IN NORTH AMERICA. is it from the winds !'' The entrance into the harbour, howover, is so narrow a channel, that only one vessel can come in at a time ; in con- sequence of which, it rrccjuently happened durinpf the war, that when vessels purj'ied by the enemy were llyinj^ into this port lor refuge, those in the rear were generally captured. 'J he town is situated on the western side of the harbour, and both are strongly fortified. The public buildings and almost all the houses are built of stone, and the town contains a population of about 25,000 souls. The importance of this place to commerce lias caused it frecpiently to be taken and retaken by ditterent nations ; it has jnore than once been alternately in the possession of France and Eng- land, and now rests with Spain : " and well," said the 'captain, '* may they prize that spot of land, for the bones of Columbus lie buried there." Arrived at Jamaica, Philips found himself once more amongst his countrymen, and being well known to many of the merchants, he had no difficulty in procuring the best accommoda- tion the town afforded. A lofty range of mountains, called the Blue Mountains, runs through the whole of this island from east to west, dividing it into two parts. — On the north side of the island, the country is one scene of richly wooded hills and valleys ; and no part of the West Indies abounds with so many streams as Jamaica — every valley has TUAVKLS IN NOilTU AMKUICA. 33 into ilie icl, that ill con- d durinjj by the (^e, those he town harbour, B public built of iation of )mmerce I retaken nee been ind Eng- Id well," spot of buried hinfiself d being he had mmoda- le Blue s island jarts. — untry is valleys ; ds with ley has iis rivulet, every hill its cascadt, and at one j)art of the northern shore of the islaiul, whenj the rocks overhang the ocean, no less than eiglit waterfalls are seen at the same time. The coun- try on the southern side is of a different nature — the rocky mountains stretch down nearer to the shore, and at their foot are extended vast j)lains, covered with plantations of sugar -cane, coffee, bread-fruit tree, and rice. The island also produces several kinds of fruits — the pine- apple, tamarind, cocoa-nut, Spanish gooseberry, prickly ])car, and many others. The principal town is Kingston, which con- tains a population of 33.000 persons, of which number there are not less than 18,000 slaves; it is a wealthy, commercial town, situated on the southern coast of the island, and being built on a plain which rises with a gradual ascent from the shore to the foot of the mountain, enjoys both the sea and mountain breezes, and is consequently esteemed one of the most healthy towns in the West Indies. The ascent on which it is built, however, has one inconveni- ence attending it, that it admits, during the wet season, a free passage to the torrents of rain, which rush through the streets with such im- petuosity as to render them impassable, even to wheel-carriages, and carry down quantities of mud and rubbish to the wharfs which are built on the beach. The cedar trees of Jamaica are remarkably fine, as are also the mahogany trees. The island I'. Mi- \T 31. TRWKLS IN Nl.RTn AMERICA. Ill m 4^'^' iiii also produces several other useful kinds of tim- ber. TIio cabbage mc, remarkable for the hardness and durability of its wood; the palma, which yields an oil, - ich ejteemed by the na- tives both in food and medicine : the soap tree, whose berries answer all the purposes of soap in washing ; the mangrove and olive-bark, useful to anners : and tlie logwood so much used by dyers. These, and its rich productions of sugar, indigo, and coffee, render Jamaica the first commercial island in the West Indies. Of the latter commodity alone, the :;uantity ex- ported yearly is estimated at 28,500,000 lbs. weight, and the island may well be considered one of the mosi valuable possessions Great Bri- tain holds in that quarter of the world. 'J'he governor is an English nobleman of high rank, and European habits rmd customs have made considerable progress there, even to the adop- tion of English names to their towns and pro- vinces. Strange enough it was to Philips's ear, to hear them talk of Surrey, Middlesex, and Cornwall, at a distance of four thousand five hundred miles from the British shores. Here our traveller took leave of the captain, vvho, havini? completed all his business in the Western World, was about to return to Europe with a cargo of sugar. He was now to pursue his course alone, and it may well be believed, that he saw the vessel sail out of the harbour of Kingston, just as a man setting out upon a dis- tant and perilous journey takes leave of a friend fli TRAVELS IN NORTH AMLUICA. 35 \vlio has accompanied bini part of his way. As loiifT as he remained a passenger in this vessel, he t'clt as if the distance uhicli separated liim from Europe was diminished ; hir crew were mostly his countrymen, he had seen them in his n:itive city, and their presence constantly re- minded him of home : but for the future he was to meet none but strangers, many of wliom had never even heard of Ireland, whilst .he uncivi- lized manners of the Indian tribes, among whom in all probability he nould pass some time, gave him no assurance of protection. From Kingston to Vera Cruz, which lies on the eastern coast of New Spain, the distance was not great, and with the assistance of the friendly trade winds, our traveller soon reached it in one of those small craft, which are constantly plying between the two places. Vera Cruz, thoi5gh not the capital of Mexico, is its princi- pal sea- port town, and the seat of all the com- merce of that kingdom. It is also one of the earliest settlements which was made in this part of the world by the Spaniards, when they con- quered the country, under Ferdinand Cortcz. It was with some interest t'hat Philips found bimseliin this land of gold and silver, and his lirst object waT to visit the mines for which the country is so justly celebrated ; he was also de- sirous of seeing the city of Mexico, which is the capital of the country ; and he therefore deter- mined to proceed directly thither, a distance of about eighty-four leagues. The quantity of •"'If I'-' l''^ o VI iiCy TRAVKLS IN NORTH AMERICA. I ! i ;■ silver annually pxtracted from the mines of Mexico, is computed to be ten times more than what is furnished by all the mines of Europe together, though he could not but think how dearly such wealth was purchased, when he saw the toil which the Indians endure who are em- ployed in these works. A European miner, accustomed to see labour so much lightened by the use of machinery, >vould scaicely believe it possible that all the metal dug out her^; is car- ried up to the mouth of the mine in loads on men's backs. The shafts or pits are run in a slanting direction down into the earth, and flights of steps are cut in the sides by which the carriers pass up and down in their works. Files of fifty or sixty of these poor wretches are con- stantly to be met with in these mines, and in coming up the steps, they are obliged, from the heaviness of their burdens and the steepness of ;-ie ascents, to bend the body forwards, sup- porting themselves as they go along on a short walking-stick, net more than a foot in length. They are observed likewise to traverse these flights of steps in a zig-zag direction, crossing the way from side to side, a.j a horse is known to do in going up a steep hill, it being much less oppressive to them than if they came straight up the f^eclivity at once. Latterly, in some of the mines, mules have been employed for this part of the labour, and have been so well trained that they go up and down the shafts with the greatest safety. The persons employed in TllAVKLs IN N OUT 1 1 AMKIUC A. .37 these mines are, however, neither forced la- bourers, slaves, nor criminals, but are free to engage in the works or not as they please ; and, however severe their toil may be considered, their pay is good. Each man generally earns from five to six dollars a-week : this is the waijes of the mirier ; but the carriers who bring up the loads of ore, receive 5 shillings for a day's work of six hours, though, from the dearness of pro- visions, this hire is not more than a much smaller sum in a country where the soil is better culti- vated. The mines of Mexico have been more celebrated for their riches than those of Potosi in South America ; notwithstanding which they are remarkable for the poverty of the mineral t!r ; . cain — that is, so great is the quantity of c^ross mixed with it, that out of 1600 oz. of silver ore, not more than 3 or 4 oz. of pure sil- ver can be obtained. It ir; not, therefore, so much from the richness c " the ore, as from its great abundance, that these mines derive their celebrity. Having now witnessed the pro- cess of drawing out the metal from the mine, of roasting, and afterwards separating it pure from the earthy mattor with which it is ir'xed, it may well be sup o'swi that Philips next visited the mint, where ; 3 wrought into coin, and which is well worthy Ue attention of travellers, from the order and activity which prevail in all the operations of the works. Here are nearly four hundred workmen in constant employment ; and so great is the activity which prevails, that i t ? '■ '. Jir- !'# 1 I \ IIP' H f i J?!; ■ r-ln .38 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. SO, 000,000, piastres, which is equal to 7j mil- lions sterling, is the average amount of the quan- tity yearly C(;ined there. From the mineral productions of this country Philips naturally turned his attention to the ve- getables, and though he found, for the most part, those which are common in the West Indies, he likewise met there many of the fruits and flow- ers of Europe. Peaches, cherries, apples, and pean;, grow there in the greatest abundance ; and the natives are remarkable for their fond- ness for tlowers. ^n the fruit market of Mex- ico, their shops a^ dstefully decorated with them ; and, though a grave and melancholy peo- ple, having none of the vivacity which usually prevails in the Indian character, they take great delight in these simple pleasures. The town of Mexico, of which the population is estimated at liiO,000 souls, is the oldest city of America, and was built on a group of islands in a lake called Tezcuco, which are connected together, and with the main land, by several bridges ; the new parts of the town, however, have been built on the main land, and the whole city now forms an extent of four miles in length. The streets are spacious and regular, and the public buildings good, particularly the hospitals and prisons. The manufactures carried on in Mexico, though they are not considerable, have of late years been very much on the increase ; those of weaving cloths, printing calicoes, and likewise I > 7^ mil- he quan- ; country the ve- lost part, ndies, he md flow- pies, and indance ; eir fond- of M ex- ted with holy peo- h usually ike great )pulation dest city f islands nnected several lowever, le whole n length. and the lospitals fexico, of late Ithose of likewise i Mexican Wuuiuu of Rank. i ,► . i •t TIIAVLLS IN NORTH AMERICA. 39 all kinds of silversmiths* works, are the principal trades flourishing there. It was at this city that Philips had the good fortune to hear of an expedition, which the go- vernment of the United States was about to send into the Western and inland parts of North America, for the purpose of exploring that hi- therto undiscovered region. The Continent of North America, the reader should be informed, is divided into two great parts — the civilized and the uncivilized, the former lying principally to the East, and inhabited by those colonists i'rom Europe, who first settled there in the year 1()07, and have since gradually, but uninter- ruptedly, been stretching westward and inland from the coast; the latter extending from thence to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, where the Russians have established a few trading settle- ments. — The situation of the line, however, which should mark the separation between both it would be difficult to determine in such a work as this, since it must be evident that this line is constantly shifting as the Indians retire, and settlers advance into the interior, and that a considerable tract on the borders is still wan- dered over by savage tribes, although here and there the traveller will meet with a farming set- tlement belonging to a colonist. It will be suf- ficient therefore to sav, that the greatest breadth of North America being nearly 8000 miles, two great rivers, the Mississippi and the Missouri, join at 1368 miles from the entrance of the E 2 i$ - i. ' h i-\ ■|i;;v yli'ia;' 40 TUAVEI-S IN NOKTll AMERICA. -» ! i iifl united stream into the sea, the former river flowing from the East, the latter from the West — thus forming a Y, and that all the country that is situated on the right hand, as you look up the rivers represented by the letter, is pos- sessed by the United States of North America and is inhabited by a civilized people, vihilst the tract between the branches, and on the left of it, is wandered over rather than inhabited by various rude nations of Indians, who chiefly subsist by hunting. 'J'he object, therefore, of the expedi- tion was, to ascend the stream of the Missouri to its source ; and, crossing the great western ridge of mountains, to proceed down one of the rivers at the opposite side, to its mouth, and thus to acquire a knowledge of these remote districts hitherto unknown, to establish an intercourse with the nations who occupy them, and to intro- duce among them those arts of which they are utterly ignorant ; and as it was under the au- thority of the Government of the United States, it may well be supposed no expense or care was to be spared in its accomplishment. Happily for Philips, one of the persons who were to conduct the enterprize was then in Mexico upon some private business, and to him, therefore, he applied for permission to join it; nor was he long in obtaining it. Captain Lewis saw him active, intelligent, and fearless, and as such was the character he wished to engage in the expedition, he not only complied with his re- quest, but in compliment to the mercantile house 12 TRAVELS IN NORTH A:^1 ERICA. 41 I ill wliich lie was a partner, assured him lie would have every attention |)aid to liis accommodation. (There is no saying, thouglit Philips, of what in- estimable value is a good character, or in how many unexpected instances a man will derive advantage from it.) He also, in the kindest manner, offered him a passage from Vera Cruz to New Orleans, which is situated near the mouth of the Mississippi, from whence they could pro- ceed together up that river to St. Louis, where the party selected for the expedition was to assemble. This was an opportunity too favourable to be disregarded, and therefore, in a few days, behold liim along with his new friend, steering across the gulf of Mexico to the mouths of the Missis- sippi ! Nor were they long in making their j)assage, (though the distance was fully 1300 miles between the two parts,) the gulf- stream, as it is called, which always sweeps in a rapid current round the shores of New Spain and the Fioridas, carrying them rapidly along. The town of New Orleans, where Philips soon arrived with his new acquaintance, is the capital of the state of Louisiana, which was formerlv a French colony, but now forms a part of the United States of America, and lies on the western side of the great river Mississippi, one hundred and five miles from its mouth. Here he found all the marks of a city rising fast into commercial importance, it being the great mart for the produce of the western part of the United States of America, to which the Mississippi E 3 1 f a ,o TRAVM.S IN NOllTII AMERICA. I • J-, '' i'i 1 |:| Mk forms tlie only outlet to the sea ; indeed, the quantity of goods brought into it Irom this quar- ter is immense. The iiouses were built of wood a few years ago. but those recently erected are, for the most part, of brick. In 1802, the po- pulation consisted of ten thousand souls — it now amounts to forty thousand ; and its exports were, in 1817, valued at four millions sterling. In the i^ame year, about one thousand flat- bottomed boats and barges arrived from the Upper Country, bringing its productions ; and the number of steam-vessels navigating the Mississippi and the Ohio, which flows into it, amounted to twenty, a prodigious number indeed, when the time that has produced this improve- ment is taken into account, but ^till not less than the vast extent of country through which the Mississippi, and the rivers which fall into it, direct their course. As Philips was now about to traverse a con- siderable portion of the vast continent of North America, his first object was to form to himself some precise idea of its geography, and happily he found no dilficulty in discovering the grand features, (its mountains, rivers, and lakes,) by which it is distinguished. In his journey through South America he had seen the immense chain of the Andes, which stretches from the Straits of Magellan in the South to the Isthmus of Darien in the North, sending oft' to the East great lateral ridges of mountains to feed with their streams the Oronoco, the Amazon, and the 'JKAVlil.S IN NORTH AMI! UK A. 4^ Plate rivers ; his visit to Mexico had also satis- fied him from inspection, tliat the same range of iTiounlains spreads through the kingdom of New Spain, and he now found that they continued their course through North America, under the name of the Rocky or Stony Mountains, running in part parallel to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, at the distance of about fi^'e hundred miles, and separating the rivers which flow into the Pacific Ocean, which lies to the West of America, from those which run in an opposite direction towards the Atlantic Ocean. As Philips looked there- fore Northwards from New Orleans, he saw the commencement of this chain to his left, and af- terwards found that it extended quite through North America from south to north, until it reached the shores of the Frozen Ocean. But there was also another range of mountains lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean, called the Allegany or Apalachian Moun- tains, preserving throughout a nearly equal distance of two hundred and fifty miles from the Atlantic, a space too small for the uniting toge- ther of many rivers, and hence these streams — such as the Potomac, the Susquehana, and the Delaware, make their way, each in its own se- parate channel, to the sea. Between these two great chains, the Rocky Mountains on the west, and the Allegany on the east, the country is extended into an immense valley from 12 to 1500 miles in breadth, and here tlierefore it is that we find the largest rivers, the I ; I '. I < t {;;'A ;^: 41 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMKUICA. I f '■■■ I !i K Mississippi, and tlic Missouri, toi:^(?tlu)r vvitli tljoir tributary streams ; tlioiigh these two join toge- ther, tlicy are each to be considered rivers of the largest class — the Missouri, before its junction, being calculated to extend to the enormous length of three thousand miles, and the Missis- sippi being two thousand miles long from its source to its mouth ; the Missouri receives all the rivers which flow eastward from the Uocky Mountains, and the Mississippi all those that flow westward from the Allegany ; and it will give some idea of tbe great extent of these tributary streams to say, that one of tbem, the Ohio, is the channel which receives the waters from a district about four times as large as Great Britain and Ireland. "i'his immense valley, however, does not extend fartber North than the 50th degree of latitude, being bounded by a ridge of high grounds, which separates tbe waters of the Missouri from tbose which flow northwards, and shuts in, as it were, the immense district which we have mentioned as bounded by the Rocky Mountains westward, the Allegany Moimtains eastward, and the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Eastward of this ridge the continent is still further divided bv another grand feature — namely, that hne of lakes, of which, in the course of Philips's travels, we shall have occasion to speak more at large. Having thus, therefore, ascertained generally the country through which he was about to pass, and made such preparations as were pointed out TKAVl.LS IN NORTH AMKKU A. '{.] to him, and vritten to his partners to mention the journey he had in contemphition, and also to ini'orm them, that if it pleased Providence to prolong his life, it would most probably be two years before he would have another opportunity of communicating to them his movements, he and his friend embarked in a steam-vessel at New Orleans, and though the current ran rapidly against them, it was surprising what way they made, owing to the great size of the steam-en- gine which impelled them. We shall not, how- ever, detail this voyage minutely, as it afforded nothing very material. It will suffice to men- tion, that for the first eighty miles he found the cultivation of the sugarcane much attended to — the »-ichest plantations extending down on both si(? o the banks. He had also an opportunity of icuiarking the great appearance of thriving and indefatigable industry, which every where presented itself. At Natches, which was 320 miles northward from New Orleans, the steam- boat stopped 10 disembark some of its passengers, and the commodities which they had with them, and he found it a neat handsome town, extreme- ly well situated for a commercial station, having a fertile and well-cultivated country in its rear, which produces great quantities of cotton. Its population amounted to five thousand souls ; and it seemed to him no weak proof of the spirit of the inhabitants, that there were two printing presses in the town, at each of which some of the most useful European works were in a course 4 ■ - 4C TKAVKLS IN NORTH AMERICA. irs of publication. Protroding thence for three Iiundred and fifty miles, he met one of the largest steaiii-vessels that ply between New Orleans and the Western States. Ii was no less than four hundred tons burden, and had descended the Stream of the Ohio from Pittsburgh, and from the place where it entered the Mississippi to that where Philips saw it, a distance of one thousand nine hundred miles, in twenty days. — 'J'he next halting station wbere our traveller had J»ki opportunity of making some observations was the flourishing town of New Madrid, on the west branch of the river, and seventy miles below the mouth of the Ohio, where that stream flows into the Mississippi. The Ohio, though but a tributary stieam, would, in Europe, be considered a river of great magnitude. Its na- vigable length from Pittsburgh is nine hundred and fifty miles, and its main breadth is not less than five hundred yards. To mention the names of the towns which have lately risen up along its banks could not interest, as Philips*s course lay in a different direction, and he was unable to visit them ; it is sufficient to say, that there are eight, every one of them a station for promoting an intercourse with remoter districts. The town of St. Louis, where the steam ves- sel arrived fifteen days after its departure from New Orleans, from which it is distant 1350 miles, and where Philips and his companion found all ready for setting out upon the expe- dition, is built on an elevated, pleasant, and \.h TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 47 healthful situation oijly eighteen miles below the junction of the Missouri with the Mississippi ; to Phi'ips' great surprise it contained no less than three thousand inhabitants, but this was accounted for, when he considered how advan- tageously it lay with regard to the United States, being as it were at the junction of these three great rivers, the Missouri, Mississippi, and the Illinois, the first flowing from the west three iiiousand miles, and the two latter from the east country, and being thus the point of intercourse between these head waters and the Gulf of Mexico : he found it indeed in a state of rapid improvement, fast increasing in population and trade, and promising in a very few years to be- come a large city, and the centre of an extensive trade. As the expedition which Philips had now joined was one from which much interesting in- formation was expected concerning the interior of the American Continent, as well as much fu- ture advantage to the inhabitants of the United States, by establishing a commerce with the na- tive Indians for their furs, every thing was pn- vided, as we have mentioned, which could con- tribute to its success ; besides the leaders of the party. Captain Lewis, and Captain Clarke the other commander. Philips on his arrival at St. Louis found twenty- three robust active young men, who had volunteered to accompany them, two French watermen, an interpreter and his wife, to enable them to hold communication with 8 i • > W^' \ =1:1 . .1 1 1 i ■:> 48 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. m '*!!' the Indian tribes tliey might njeet with in their course, a hunter, and a black servant belonging to captain Clarke. From these, three were ap- pointed Serjeants, and in addition, six soldiers u*nd nine watermen were to accompany them in order to assist in carrying the stores, and in re- pelling the attack of any hostile tribes of In- dians. These stores were divided into seven bales, and one box was filled with a small por- tion of each article, in case any accident should befal the others ; they consisted of a great va- riety of clothing, working utensils, locks and ammunition. To them were added fourteen packages and bales of presents for the purpose of conciliating the friendship of the Indians, comprising richly laced coats and other articles ♦of dress, medals, flags, knives, tomahawks, or- naments of different kinds, particularly beads, looking-glasses, handkerchiefs, paints, &c. ; the •party also were to embark in five boats, and two horses were at the same time to be led along the 'banks of the river for the purpose of bringing home game, or for hunting in case of scarcity. It was on the 19th of May, 18 — , the expe- dition set sail from St. Louis, and for the first twelve days they met with various settlements and farms, which bore the marks of neatness and industry ; but after this they passed into a country where none were to be met with but wandering Indians, and the country bore but little marks of cultivation, though every thing announced the fertility of the soil. It was on TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 4J> the first of June they reached the moutli of tlie Osage, a considerable river which flows from the west, and falls into the Missouri, one hundred and thirty miles' distance from the mouth of the latter river. Here they stopped for a couple of days in order to repair their oars. The Osage gi\ s its name to an Indian tribe, which inhabits its banks to a considerable distance ; their number was about one thousand three hundred warriors, as they are called, for Philips found that neither women nor children werv^ ever numbered : those only being men- tioned who were able to carry arms. They consist of tbree tribes — the Great Osages, of about five hundred warriors ; the Little Osages, of half that number ; and the Arkansaw band, of six hundred. The last were a colony of Osages, who had left them a few years before, under the command of a chief called Bigfoot, and settled on the Arkansaw river. (This rises in the mountains westward and after a course of two thousand miles falls into the Mississippi.) Let the reader understand from this the advan- tages of civilization ; this tribe has made con- siderable advances in agriculture, but hunting being with them, as with the Indians in general, their chief support, they soon exhaust a country of its provisions, and therefore are obliged to separate whenever their numbers increase, so that our traveller computed that their hunting parties, consisting of a few hundreds, used to range through as many miles of country as would r ) 50 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. '1 -H have sufficed for the support of millions, had they employed themselves exclusively in agri- culture. The Osage Indians are so tall and robust as almost to deserve the name of Giants, few of them appear under six feet, and many of them are above it. Their shoulders and coun- tenances also are broad, which tends to increase the ferocity of their appearance. The next morning, Philips was walking on the river bank with one of the hunters, when he observed two women, as he at first conceived, carrying a tub of water suspended on a pole. — His companion, however, made him remark that one of them had more the appearance of a man than a woman. He told him also that there- were several others amongst the tribe, who, like the one before them, were condemned for life to associate with the squaws or women, to wear the same dress, and to do the same drudgery. — When the Osagcs go to war, they keep a watchful eye over the young men, and such as appear to possess courage are admitted to the rank of warriors or brave men. But if any exhibit evident marks of cowardice, they are compelled to assume the dress of wo- men, and, as no opportunity is ever afterwards afforded them to recover their char.jcter, their condition is fixed for life. The men do not as- sociate with them, nor are they allowed to marry, and they may be treated with the greatest in- dignity by any of the warriors, as they are not suifered to resent it. When we are considering the habits of these IS, had n agri- all and Giants, many of d coun- increase :ie next er bank ^ed two ig a tub ipanion, lem had woman, il others re them, ^ith the !ss, and lagcs go ; young age are ve men, vardice, of wo- jr wards , their not as- marry, est in- re not »f these TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 1 uninstnicted savages, it must not surprise us that many of them should exhibit a cruel and blood-thirsty disposition. It is customary among their fighting men to register every exploit in war, by making a notch for each on the handle of their tomahawks or hatchets ; and they con- sider themselves rich or poor, not according to their possessions, but according to the number of notches. At their war-dances, any warrior that chooses may relate his actions. A post is fixed up in the centre to represent the enemy, and into this he drives his tomahawk when in the act of describing how he struck him to the ground, and he concludes by repeating what he said to the wounded man, which is always to the following eflTect — " My name is Cashegrr, I am a famous warrior, and am now going to kill you ; when you arrive at the land of spirits, you will see my father there — tell him it was Cashe- gra that sent you there." How cruel is man ! thought Philips, as he witnessed one of the war- riors boasting of his actions, and shewing the scalps of those whom he had killed. It is Ciiristianity only which teaches him peace and good-will to his fellow creatures. This mode of living by the chase enables the Indians to kill great quantities of animals, the furs of which they sell to the Europeans, who give them in excliange iron, hardware, rifles, and ammunition. These latter commodities assist them in their hunting expeditions ; but it is a great pity that they should find the traders with F 2 5^v i' f^. o2 TKAVia.S IN NORTH AMERICA. I- ..1; a M '1 I whom they barter always ready to let them lave as much rum as they desire — for, like all irbarous ni ways drin II rum as ti»ey ciesire tions, they are fond of spirits, and L to excess when they have the liquor. Frequently the party met boats and rafts be- longing to traders, who, having passed some time in those places favourable for hunting, and purchased skins from the Indians, were now de- scending the river to St. Louis with their car- goes. One of them, named Rogers, was coming from the Sioux Nation, where he had resided twenty years, and had succeeded in gaining their confidence; he therefore appeared to Captain Clarke to be a very useful person to accompany the expedition, and was fortunately easily induced to return with them. The general rate at which the party pro- ceeded was about ten miles a-day ; nor must this be thought little, when it is considered that considerable labour was requisite to make way against the current of the river, which was ex- tremely rapid. Another difficulty they bad daily to encounter arose from bars of sand, which the force of the stream continually washes down from the banks at both sides and causes to shift from place to place. When the boats struck on one of them, the effect would have been to upset them immediately, if the men did not jump out and hold them steady till the sand was washed from underneath them. The general appearance of the country was as if it had been divided ' TRAVELS IN NOUTII AMERICA. n*^ t them like all its, and vc the ifts be- 1 some [ig, and low de- '\r car- coming resided ng their Captain )mpany nduced ty pro- r must ?d that ke way as ex- had sand, ivashes uses to struck een to tjump ^^ashed arance ivided into distinct farms or large tracts of pasture ground, divided by narrow stripes of woodland which grow along the bo.ders of the small streams which run into the river. The huntinnf party along the banks was occasionally relieved by others from the boats, so that all had their share of exercise. It may well be supposed that Philips generally accompanied these, and that his enquiring mind found continual occupation in examining tue animals and productions of the country. On one day he found a nest of rattle- snakes, three of which he killed, but the rest, being more active, escaped, These serpents give the most deadly bite, a bag of poison being con- tained in the gum, out of which a small quan- tity passes through a hollow tooth lying above this bag into the wound, and causes death generally in a few hours after. On another day Philips came to a large pond, where he saw a number of young swans, some of which were quite black. ** It is a common opinion in Eng- land," said Philips, on his return to the boat, " that all swans are white, but 1 shall be able on my return to assure them that a black swan is by no means a prodigy." As the party pro- ceeded on their course. Philips had frequent op- portunities of observing the great windings of the river ; on one occasion the distance made by the boats between morning and evening, was twelve miles ; and yet when they had cast an- chor. Philips went ashore, and having pursued some game in an easterly direction for about a F 3 f 5i TKAVKLS IN NORTH AMEKlCyV. in ♦ 1 •I V. M I quarter of a mile, found himself exactly at the same point of land which they had left in the morr.mg. They had proceeded for some time without meeting any Indian tribes, though they occa- sionally came across a few straggling hunters, and indeed, without the occurrence of any thing remarkable, for the events of each day were almost similar. But the leaders of the expedi- tion wanting now to open a communication with the natives for the purpose of gaining their friendship, to Philips's great surprise. Captain Lewis ordered the surrounding meadows to be set on fire. This, he found, however, was no injury to property in a country whtre the long thick grass grows to rankness for want of animals to consume it ; and besides that, it was the customary signal used by the traders to ap- prize the Indians of their arrival. It is also used between different tribes to indicate any event which they have previously agreed to an- nounce in that way, and as soon as it is seen it collects the whole neighbouring people, unless they apprehend that it is made by their ene- mies. This signal soon brought down the Sioux, to the number of five chiefs and seventy men and boys. Like all the other Indians whom they had hitherto met, they came almost naked, hav- ing no covering except a cloth across the loins, with a loose blanket or buffalo's skin thrown over them. When they appeared first in sight, \/ at tlie t in the without y occa- lunters, y thing ly were expedi- nication ng their Captain s to be was no he long ^ant of t it was to ap- is also fttc any to an- seen it unless ir ene- DUX, to en and n they 1, hav- i loins, hrown sight, IRAVtLS IN NOKTII AMLRICA. iJ.) a Serjeant was dispatched to meet thein with a present of tobacco, corn, and a few kettles, and to inform them that they would be received the next morning. In return for these he was pre- sented with a fat dog, ready cooked, of which he partook heartily and found it well flavoured. The Sioux, therefore, encamped for the night in tents of a conical form, covered with buffalo skins, painted with various figures and colours, Avith an opening in the top for the smoke to pass through, each of which contained from ten to fifteen persons, ai.d in the interior was compact and handsome, having a place for cooking detached from it. On the next morning the fog was so thick that the party coulJ not see the Indian camp, though it was near at hand, but it cleared ofF at eight o'clock. The chiefs, therefore, were re- ceived at twelve under a large oak tree. The conference was opened by Captain Lewis deli- vering a speech, with the usual advice for their future conduct. He then presented to the grand chief a flag, a medal, and a string of wampum, to which was added a chiefs coat, that is, a richly laced uniform, and a cocked hat, and red feather. To the inferior chiefs were given medals, tobacco, and several articles of clothing. '1 hey then smoked the pipe of peace together, and the chiefs retired to a bower formed of bushes by the young men, when they divided among each other the presents, and smoked and deliberated on the answer to be given to their new friends i m j^.' m 'i M oO TRAVELS IN NORTIT AMERICA. on the next day. The young people exercised their bows and arrows in shooting at a mark for beads, which were distributed to the best marks- men, and in the evening the whole party danced to a late hour. The next day, the chiefs met after breakfast, and sat down in a row with pipes of peace, highly ornamented, and all pointed towards the seats intended for Captains Lewis and Clarke. When they arrived and were seated, the grand chief, whose name in English was Shake-hand, rose and spoke at some length, approving what had been said on the preceding day by their new friends, and promising to follow their advice. Philips observed that the chiefs in general spoke very little : indeed they considered talka- tiveness a great mark of a narrow capacity ; the younger men also never expressed their opinion before their elders, and were altogether silent when they were agreed, conceiving it quite un- necessary to consume time in discoursing on what had already received all the reflection which age and experience could give. The conclusion of all their speeches recited the distresses of their nation — they begged the Americans, their new friends and visitors, to have pity on them, to send them traders ; that they wanted powder and ball, and seemed anxious to be supplied with what they called their great father's milk, meaning whiskey or rum. Mr. Rogers was here prevailed on to remain behind for the purpose of accompanying some of the Sioux Chiefs down Ui TRAVELS IN NORTH AMliRlCA. Ji the river to St. Louis, and from thence to the United States, where they could enter into a treaty of peace and commerce with the go- vernment. Ill person, the Sioux Indians are stout, well ])roportioned men, and have a certain air of dig- nity and holdness ; they were fond of decora- tions, and used paint, porcupine quills, and fea- thers. Some of them wore a necklace of white bears' claws, three inches long, and closely strung about their necks. They had only a few I'owling-pieces, being generally armed with bows and arrows. Like most savage nations these Indians are fond of war ; but they have another enemy to contend with, which thins their numbers still more considerably — the small pox, which they first caught from the traders, has oftentimes de- populated the most thickly inhabited villages. Indeed, in the course of the expedition the party heard the names of several tribes which existed hut a few years before, but had altogether, or almost, disappeared from this cause. One tribe had been reduced from two hundred fighting men to fifty, for they knew no remedy for it, either in the way of prevention or cure, and the appearance of the disorder, which is known at times to cover the body from head to foot with one sore, only increased the terror which its deadly nature excited. It was at this period of their journey that the expedition was threatened with hostility by the ^Wt ■f i 1 58 TRAVELS IN NORTH AMKRICA. 'ill' ill ii' Teton Indians, who had collected in great num- bers on the bank to oppose their advancing. By using mildness, however, and steadiness, and at the same time ])resenting them with a few rolls of tobacco, peace was made, and the party was suffered to proceed. The following day the weather was extremely inclement and the waves high, but this did not prevent two or three squaws from rowing out to the boats in little canoes, made of a single buBalo skin, stretched over a frame of boughs interwoven like a basket. Every thing on board excited their admiration ; but the object which appeared to astonish them most was the black servant York, a remarkably strong stout negro. They examined him closely and rubbed his skin with water, in order to wash off the paint ; nor was it until the negro unco- vered and showed his short hair, that they could be persuaded that he was not a painted white man. — They had never before seen a man of that colour, and therefore, as soon as the account spread of his being aboard, the people flocked to see him in great numbers. It has been already mentioned, that the Indians in general are fond of whisKey, and that those with whom they trade too often encourage this liking, by providing them with large quantities in exchange for their skins. — Philips, however, now became ac- quainted with a tribe that never made use of spirituous liquors of any kind, the intemperance of the traders who brought it to them having in fact disgusted instead of tempting them. The 1 y- TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 59 ur- nieaning Americans at first supposing that it was as agreeable to them as to the other Indians, offered them whislcey, but they refused it with a remark that wouUl have done credit to many people, who think themselves far more civilized than these ignorant savages. — ** They were prised,' they said, *' that their father, nn the President or Chief Governor of the United States, should present to them a liquor that would make them fools ;" and, on another occa- sion, they observed to the interpreter, that no man could be their friend who would lead them into such folly. Proceeding still onward up the river, and holding a conference with the tribes of Indians that dwell upon the banks, the expedition at last found the cold becoming so severe, that they could no* think of advancing further till the end of the winter. It was now November, they therefore sought a convenient spot for huilding a fort, but were obliged to relinquish their intention, the timber in the neighbourhood not being in sufficient quantity for the purpose. They were thus obliged to continue advancing further up the stream. In the evening that they formed this resolution, a prairie, by the incau- tiousness of the Indians, was set on fire, and so swiftly did the long grass burn, that the whole plain was in a few minutes enveloped in flames. A man and woman were burned before they could reach a place of safety, and several others narrowly escaped destruction. Amongst those u GO TRAVKLS IN NOKTII AMKKKA. '■ ,. ii • ■' 'b ■ h III 14 i| g Hi i (■:■ i ;i; v.'lio escaped was a boy, who owed liis preser- vation to tlie presence of mind displayed by his mother, who seeing no hopes of carrying off* her son, threw him on the ground, and covering him with the fresh hide of a buffjdo, escaped herseh' from the flames. As soon as the fire had passed she returned and found him untouclied, the skin having prevented the flames from reaching tiie spot where he lay. It was about tliis time that Phihps was awakened one night by the serjeant on guard, to see that striking appearance in the sky called the Northern light, of which he had often heard, but never before had an opportunity of behold- ing, for it is not visible except in such high latitudes. Looking out towards the North, he saw a large space of the sky occupied by a light of a pale but brilliant white colour, which rising from the horizon extended itself to a great distance above it. After glittering for some time, its colours became overcast and al- most obscured, but again it burst out with re- newed beauty. — The uniform colour was pale, but its shapes were various and fantastic. At times the sky was lined with light-coloured streaks, rising perpendicularly from the horizon, and gradually widening into a body of light which sometimes advanced, and sometimes re- treated, assuming various forms. So much in- terested was Philips in this beautiful appearance, that he never once left the deck till towards morning, when it faded away. TUAVhLS IN NORTH AMEKlCA. 61 The weather liad now become so cold, (it was the commencement of January) that the party suffered much, and, finding it impossible to pro- ceed further, they soon, with the assistance of the Indians, erected a fort or strong block-house, where they resolved to remain till the weather should moderate, the more particularly as it was situated in the neighbourhood of one of the Indian villages, the inhabitants of which ap- peared well disposed towards their visitors ; and also, because they found wood there in great abundance for the erection of their house. The cold, however, did not prevent several from going out each day with the Indians, to hunt the buffaloes, vast numbers of which resort at this time to the extensive pasture lands that over the whole face of the country. It was worthy of remark, however, how much more patient of cold the Indians were than their new acquaint- ances. One young man had by chance separated from the hunters, and remained abroad the whole night, with no other covering than his leggings and buffalo robe ; his feet, however, were frozen, and it required some time before the circulation of the blood could be restored to them. When he first came in, several persons ignorantly proposed to set him before a good blazing fire, thinking it the best way of restoring warmth to his limbs. Philips, however, soon dissuaded them from this measure, by assuring them that such a plan would infallibly bring on a mortification in his feet, and perhaps cause his o 02 TRAVELS IN NOUTII AMERICA. I ^t A* •X' ' 'U': i ! ' 'Ml :m death, unless he permitted the mortified parts to be cut ofFby a surgeon. He desired, however, that they should be gently rubbed with snow and afterwards put into cold water, and thus by gradually restoring warmth, the man in a short time perfectly recovered. About this time an Indian who had also been missing, came to the fort, and although his dress was thin, and he had slept on the snow without a fire, he had not suf- fered from the cold. It is a singular custom with the Indian tribes to break up from, their villages when the winter season commences, and in a body to pass into those parts favourable for the chase. Nearly half of a very numerous tribe passed the fort on one occasion, to hunt for several days. Nor did the men go alone, for women, children, and dogs — all had left the village together, and hav- ing found a convenient spot near the fort, pitched their tents there, and began to prepare for their hunting operations. In this labour all the family bear their part, and the game is equally divided amongst the families in the tribe. When a sin- gle hunter returns from the chase with more than is necessary for his own consumption, the neighbours are entitled, by custom, to a share of it ; they do not, however, ask for it, but send a squaw, who, without saying any thing, sits down by the door of the tent, till the master under- stands what she wants, and gives her a part for her family. But there is a mode of hunting the buffalo, TRAVELS IN NORTH AMERICA. 63 arts to wever, )w and ms by 1 short ime an to the he had ot suf- I tribes winter iis into Nearly he fort Nor n, and li hav- )itched r their family ivided a sin- more , the gofit; end a down nder- irt for iffalo, n peculiar to the spring season, which it will in- terest the reader to explain. At the close of the winter, when the river is breaking up, and the ice is floating down in large quantities from the cold latitudes, the surrounding plains are set on fire, and the buffaloes are thus tempted to cross the river in quest of the fresh grass, which im- mediately succeeds to the burning ; on their way they are often seen standing upon a piece of ice which floats down the river. The Indians now select the most favo'irable points for attack, and as the buffalo approaches, throw their darts with astonishing agility across the ice. The animal is thus rendered unsteady, and his footsteps in- secure, so that he can make but little resistance, and the hunter, who has given him his death- blow, paddles his icy boat to the shore and se- cures his prey. It was about the middle of April when the cold became so much moderated, as to permit the expedition again to proceed up the river. — They now were warned by the Indians to be- ware of the white bears, which they would meet in great numbers. They themselves never venture to attack this fierce animal but in parties of six or eight persons, and even then are often defeated with the loss of one or more of their number. Having no weapons but bows and arrows, and the bad guns with which the traders supply them, they are obliged to ap- proach very near to the bear, and, as no wound, except through the head or heart is mortal, they G 2 i>>)i Uy t 64f TRAVELS IN NORTH AMKRICA. 1 1 i-M % 1 ^ .^ I frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim. He rather attacks than avoids a man, and such is the terror that he has inspired, that the Indians prepare themselves for the contest with as much form as if they were going to make war on a neighbouring nation. Hitherto Philips had seen none very desirous of encountering him ; but although to a skilful rifleman the danger is much diminished, yet the white bear is a terrible animal. He was one morning ashore with a hunter, when they saw two at a short distance. They immediately fired at them, and each wounded his mark ; one of them made his es- cape, but the other turned upon Pliilips, and pursued him seventy or eighty yards, but, being badly wounded, it could not run so fast as to prevent his reloading his piece, which he again aimed at it, and a third shot from the hunter brought it to the ground. It was a female not quite full grown, and weighed about six hundred j)()unds. Near the spot where she at first shewed herself. Philips found three small cubs, which in fact had been the cause of her advan- cinshonee, le expe- ; of that jiiety to 1 ere fore, lis usual ter of a topped, xatnple, holding nfolded is is the Indians lins — as ?s ; still with an panion, Any iiusket, of the ear his i pack some beads, a lookin^ij-i^lass, and a feiv trinkets, which he had brou^^dit for the purpose, and, leav- ing his ^un, advanced unarmed towards the In- dian, who remained in the same position till he came within two hundred yards of him, when he turned his horse, and be<^an to move otI\sl()vvly ; Captain Lewis then called out to him in as loud a voice as he could, repeating the word, *' Tabba- bone," which, in the Shoshonee tongue, means white man ; but, looking over his shoulders, the Indian kept his eyes on Philips and the other, who still advanced without considering the im- propriety of doing so at such a moment. A si