the Cavaniol, about three miles apart, on the west side of the river; the latter is to all appearance much the highest, and presents a tabular summit. The extensive and verdant meadow, in every direction appeared picturesquely bounded by woody hills of different degrees of elevation and distance, and lacked [145] nothing but human occupation to reclaim it from barren solitude, and cast over it the air of rural cheerfulness and abundance.

7th.] The Pottoe and the Arkansa were now at their utmost elevation, and their waters of a pale or milky colour, in consequence of being swelled by the northern streams. The sand-bars and beaches were entirely submerged, and the river still also continued augmenting on the 8th.

On the 9th, I again rode out to Cedar prairie, accompanied by the Doctor, and one of the soldiers, whose intention was to hunt. Several deer were discovered, but all too shy to be approached. We spent the night about the centre of the first portion of the prairie, which is divided into two parts by the intersection of a small wooded rivulet; and though the evening was mild and delightfully tranquil, the swarms of musquetoes, augmented since the recent freshet, would not permit us to sleep.

It is truly remarkable how greatly the sound of objects, becomes absorbed in these extensive woodless plains. No echo answers the voice, and its tones die away in boundless and enfeebled undulations. Even game will sometimes remain undispersed at the report of the gun. Encamping near a small brook, we were favoured by the usual music of frogs, and among them heard a species which almost exactly imitated the lowing of a calf. Just as night commenced, the cheerless howling of a distant

wolf accosted our ears amidst the tranquil solitude, and the whole night we were serenaded with the vociferations of the two species of whip-poor-will.

The dawn of a cloudy day, after to us a wakeful night, was ushered in by the melodious chorus of many thousands of birds, agreeably dispersing the solemnity of the ambiguous twilight.

Amongst other objects of nature, my attention was momentarily arrested by the curious appearance of [146] certain conic hillocks, about three feet high, generally situated in denudated places, and covered over with minute pebbles; these on closer examination proved to be the habitations of swarms of large red ants, who entered and came out by one or two common apertures.

On the wooded margin of the prairie, the doctor and myself were gratified by the discovery of a very elegant plant, which constitutes a new genus allied reciprocally to Phacelia and Hydrophyllum.17

CHAPTER IX

Journey to Red river - Prairies and mountains of the Pottoe-Pass the dividing ridge — Kiamesha river — Arrival on the banks of Red river - The murder of a Cherokee; attempts to obtain redress - Wild horsesCharacter, geological structure, and rare vegetable productions of the prairies - Return to the garrison at Belle Point.

MAY 16th.] This morning I left Fort Smith with major Bradford and a company of soldiers, in order to proceed across the wilderness, to the confluence of the Kiamesha

170 I have given it the trivial name of Nemophila, as, in this country, it now constituted the prevailing ornament of the shady woods.— NUTTALL.

and Red river.177 The object of the major was to execute the orders of government, by removing all the resident whites out of the territory of the Osages; the Kiamesha river being now chosen as the line of demarkation.178

On this route we again proceeded through Cedar prairie, and, after traversing two tiresome ridges of sandstone hills, scattered with oaks and pines, we encamped in the evening near to the base of the Sugar-loaf mountain, having travelled about 25 miles in [147] a south-west direction. After passing the two ridges and crossing two brooks, one of them called James' Fork, we kept westwardly towards the banks of the Pottoe, and found the whole country a prairie, full of luxuriant grass about knee high, in which we surprised herds of fleeting deer, feeding as by stealth.

The Cavaniol, now clear of mist, appeared sufficiently near to afford some more adequate idea of its form and character. A prominent point which appears on its summit, is, I am told by the Cherokees who accompanied us, a mound of loose stones, thrown up either as a funeral pile or a beacon by the aborigines. The natives and hunters assert that subterraneous rumblings have been heard in this mountain. The Sugar-loaf, covered to its summit with trees and shrubs, is composed of sandstone, and appears now accompanied by three other less elevated conic eminences, all mutually connected at the base by

177 The orthography of this Indian name is still unsettled; after various permutations it seems to have assumed the form Kiamichi. The river joins Red near the southeast corner of Indian Territory. In 1824, Fort Towson was built ten miles from its mouth.- ED.

178

The Osage had claimed the territory south of the Arkansas to its mouth, but had gradually been pushed back. In October, 1820, the land between the Canadian fork of the Arkansas and the Red was given to the Choctaw.— ED.