Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1843-08-04
r.er.r from Jn5. .assstseboS.


a.;svilIe Journal Of the 9Th con-
1ny i. following letter from MI Audi.
,sins 'ls o,To;,holoei,t, 10 his friend and
b t'n,;r u' Mr.. W. g. Blackwell Of that city
F'''' Missouri Rlvrr, May gath. ls4s.
~, william As we happen 70 De fast
D ,s Internal bar il this most Internal 'riv-
OF OF :, md likely TO remain an hour or'wo'
eft. T., ' i've You few hints Of the country
Sn VI, g.. e. came that surrounds us. itis four
snu "" ';acc we reached the country of elk,
'ai ',o.e. b,faloes. wolves. wild cats and
sn. :. sort of varmin,s. Oh. my dear fell
o'''' ,h., you were with US! How you
io"' ~ ~ mock over all these animals We
"ou nar abou, $50 miles below Fort Pier
IT. ~, establishment, Of the American Fur
re, ~ and about l 400 miles above
s :, Ifou;s. Our passage has been some.
~ s., tedious ON account of the extremely
W. ~ and swift. current which. when com
" assaa 70 ,ha, below the Ohio, is a perfect
p n;,, ,s; and its present size and power
40 s]mos, beyond description. ! he low
l,uds We passed, for many hundred miles.
s.,e or had been submerged, Houses,
,,.os &c.. were all floating away, and eve'
~ man, woman. child and beast. was for
.sa 70 seek The highlands for safety. Not
,,ow was al work. and if any crop la
crown. i, must be unusually late. The
mud was deposited in places 9 or feet
deep, and immense piles of wood were
yojng down stream. Notwithstanding all
his The Omega kept cracking away and
whenever we wooded, our guns began
rocAing away and never failed to tumble
down something We have found an as.
puishng quantity of birds and quadrupeds
many very many rare and some entirely
newt never saw SO many rabbits and
marriages. To give you all idea, upwards
If 30 rabbits and aome squirrels were shot
in less than three hours. The grounds
hogs were equally numerous but KEEP. to
their holes.
Our collections and savings of good
skins far exceed my an,icipa.ions at star
ling, and have some hopes Of making
lecent Trip of it for the sake Of science,
ou. i, will be dear one to my poor purse.
However, God willed it SO. and abide
With gratitude and pleasure. Most Of the
wolves are white and Of very large size.
The shores of the river are s,rewed with
dead bufaloes, male. female and young,
ssd,he wolves. ravens and buzzards gorge
themselves with tie tainted flesh before
cG' eyes.
Almost every green spot along the hill-'
sides has lis gangs of buffaloes, and so ma
ny dead are found that no doubt thousands
/ Of Item died from the severity of the past
winter and the consequent want OF food
The aneIopcs are beautiful small annimats
and run like the wind. but not so fast as a
rifle ball. We have found but few flows
eIsasyet; there are many springs OF mag
nesa, abundance of sallpe,re on the sur.
| face, sarphar and oxide Of iron. but no
gnof fossil remains yet. The prairies
around us are the most arid and dismal
rou can conceive Of, composed as they arc
d'andy gravel upon which tufts Of coarse
g1ss grow al intervals of few feet. /,
only in the ravines and low alluvial
grounds that the grass seems to flourish.
In fac, these prairies $50 calIed) look more
ike grea. deserts, frequently without wood
or water for go or 100 miles at stretch.
But, notwithstanding you seldom look up
on them without seeing mullludes Of bnf,
hloe,, winding their way 10 The greenest
spot on this wilderness waste, or follow
ing single file, their beaten track to some
refreshing stream.
W. have passed the region of wild tur.
keys, and paroquets, but almost all the
land and water birds found ceast of the
AIIeghanies are here, and many that are
never seen there. Ia .oo .sss 81 sz5s
May 3l.-We are now within S miles
effort Pierre. blu. have a bad passage 10
solhrough We were two days working
over Sc. eral patty connected bars. IL
miles below this Yesterday several gem
sncn from Fort Pierre came on board 10
us. find them all extremely kind
md wiling to render US all the assistance
Nslble. We walked across the great
9 %, and camped out one night and day.
"eS'lled black tailed deer, and finer
Unison Unison never ate. On our return they
wiz be TAT and good, and we will then fire
ava! upon them.
-, June ls.-We arrived here Fort Pier.
y MS afternoon and leave for the Yell
wv, o'ane ,o-morrow- Your sincerely
'"1c''Fu Trend John ]. Audubon.