Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, Performed in the Years 1819 and '20, by Order of the Hon. J. C. Calhoun, Sec'y of War: Under the Command of Major Stephen H. Long. From the Notes of Major Long, Mr. T. Say, and Other Gentlemen of the Party, 2. köide

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Longman, Hurst, Pees, Orre & Brown, 1823
 

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Page 341 - Hemp-bird (Fringilla tristis). The tints, and the distribution of the colours of its plumage resemble, in a considerable degree, those of the autumnal and less brilliant vesture of that well-known species. It may, however, be distinguished, in addition to other differences, by the black tip of its tail-feathers, and the white wing spot. The head is capped with black; the cheeks are dusky; the bill yellow, with a black tip; iris burnt umber; neck above, and half its side, back, and rump olivaceous,...
Page 161 - Cumancias, letans, or some of the western tribes. The number of red lines traced on the painted skull indicated the number of the party to have been thirty-six; the position in which the skulls were placed, that they were on their return to their own country. Two small rods stuck in the ground, with a few hairs tied in two parcels to the end of each, signified that four scalps had been taken.
Page 218 - ... the first spot of level ground we could find. We had neither provisions nor blankets; and our clothing was by no means suitable for passing the night in so bleak and inhospitable a situation. We could not, however, proceed without imminent danger from precipices; and by the aid of a good fire, and no ordinary degree of fatigue, found ourselves able to sleep during a greater part of the night.
Page 218 - About five in the afternoon we began to descend, and a little before sunset arrived at the commencement of the timber, but before we reached the small stream at the bottom of the first descent, we perceived we had missed our way. It was now become so dark, as to render an attempt to proceed extremely hazardous, and as the only alternative, we kindled a fire, and laid ourselves down on the first spot of level ground we could find. We had neither provisions nor blankets; and our clothing was by no...
Page 312 - ... of soil and exposure, can with difficulty be carried to the same magnificent extent. Here are hundreds of acres, covered with a movable surface of sand, and abounding in vines, which, left to the agency of the sun and the winds, are, by their operation, placed in more favourable circumstances than it is in the power of man, to so great an extent, to afford. We indulged ourselves to excess, if excess could be committed in the use of such delicious and salutary fruit, and invited by the cleanness...
Page 215 - He had turned aside and lain down to rest, and afterwards pursued his journey by a different route. From the summit of the peak, the view towards the north-west and south-west is diversified with innumerable mountains, all white with snow; and on some of the more distant it appears to extend down to their bases. Immediately under our feet, on the west, lay the narrow valley of the Arkansa, which we could trace running towards the north-west, probably more than sixty miles.
Page 312 - ... as to conceal every part of the stem. The fruit of these vines is incomparably finer than that of any other, native or exotic, which we have met with in the United States. The burying of the greater part of the trunk, with its larger branches, produces the effect of pruning, inasmuch as it prevents the unfolding of leaves and flowers on the parts below the surface, while the protruded ends of the branches enjoy an increased degree of light and heat from the reflection of the sand. It is owing...
Page 76 - To obviate a national calamity so formidable, any person was at liberty to offer up a prisoner of either sex, that by his prowess in war he had become possessed of.
Page 173 - Towards evening the air became more clear, and our view of the mountains was more satisfactory, though as yet we could only distinguish their grand outline, imprinted in bold indentations upon the luminous margin of the sky. We soon remarked a particular part of the range divided into three conic summits, each apparently of nearly equal altitude. This we concluded to be the point designated by Pike as the Highest Peak.
Page 210 - After clambering with extreme fatigue over about two miles, in which several of these dangerous places occurred, we halted at sunset in a small cluster of fir trees. We could not, however, find a piece of even ground large enough to lie down upon, and were under the necessity of securing ourselves from rolling into the brook, near which we encamped, by means of a pole placed against two trees.

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