 | Travels in the interior of North America. |  |
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
Immense additions have been made of late years to our knowledge of the extensive continent
of North America. A large portion of that country, which, only a few years ago, was covered
with almost uninterrupted primeval forests, and a scanty, scattered population of rude barbarians,
has been converted, by the influx of emigrants from the Old World, into a rich and flourishing
State, for the most part civilized, and almost as well known and cultivated as Europe itself.
Large and flourishing towns, with fine public institutions of every kind, have risen rapidly, and
every year adds to their number. Animated commerce, unfettered, unlimited industry, have
caused this astonishing advance of civilization in the United States. The tide of emigration is
impelled onwards, wave upon wave, and it is only the sterility of the North-west that can check
the advancing torrent.
We already possess numerous accounts of these daily-increasing States, and there are many
good statistical works on the subject. We have even excellent general works on the physical
state of this continent, among which Volney's "Tableau du Climat et du Sol des Etats Unis,"
holds a high rank. Little, however, has yet been done towards a clear and vivid description of
the natural scenery of North America: the works of American writers themselves on this subject,
with the exception of Cooper's and Washington Irving's animated descriptions, cannot be taken
into account, as, in writing for their countrymen, they take it for granted that their readers are
well acquainted with the country.
For this reason I have endeavoured, in the following work, to supply this deficiency to the
best of my ability, and have aimed rather at giving a clear and faithful description of the country,
than at collecting statistical information. Hence these travels are designed for foreign, rather
than for American readers, to whom, probably, but few of the details would be new.
There are two distinct points of view in which that remarkable country may be considered.
Some travellers are interested by the rude, primitive character of the natural face of North
America, and its aboriginal population, the traces of which are now scarcely discernible in most
parts of the United States; while the majority are more inclined to contemplate the immigrant
population, and the gigantic strides of civilization introduced by it. The account of my tour
through a part of these countries, contained in the following pages, is chiefly intended for readers
of the first class. I have avoided the repetition of numerous statements which may be found in
various statistical publications; but, on the contrary, have aimed at a simple description of nature.
As the United States were merely the basis of my more extensive undertaking, the object of which
feature, and it is impossible to expect, from a few months' residence, an opinion on the
social condition and character of that motley population.
The indulgent reader, following the author beyond the frontier of the United States, will have
to direct his attention to those extensive plains—those cheerless, desolate prairies, the western
boundary of which is formed by the snow-covered chain of the Rocky Mountains, or the Oregon,
where many tribes of the aborigines still enjoy a peaceful abode; while their brethren in the
eastern part of the continent are supplanted, extirpated, degenerated, in the face of the constantly
increasing immigration, or have been forced across the Mississippi, where they have for the
most part perished.
The vast tracts of the interior of North-western America are, in general, but little known,
and the government of the United States may be justly reproached for not having done more to
explore them. Some few scientific expeditions, among which the two under Major Long produced
the most satisfactory results for natural history, though on a limited scale, were set on foot by the
government; and it is only under its protection that a thorough investigation of those extensive
wildernesses, especially in the Rocky Mountains, can be undertaken. Even Major Long's expeditions
are but poorly furnished with respect to natural history, for a faithful and vivid picture of
those countries, and their original inhabitants, can never be placed before the eye without the aid
of a fine portfolio of plates by the hand of a skilful artist.
In my description of the voyage up the Missouri, I have endeavoured to avail myself of the
assistance of an able draughtsman, the want of which I so sensibly felt in my former travels in
South America. On the present occasion I was accompanied by Mr. Bodmer, who has represented
the Indian nations with great truth, and correct delineation of their characteristic features.
His drawings will prove an important addition to our knowledge of this race of men, to whom so
little attention has hitherto been paid.
After mature consideration, I have judged it desirable to throw the account of my voyage
on the Missouri itself into the form of a journal, as the daily notices were numerous, but the
variety very trifling; so that the patience of the reader will unfortunately be tried a little in this
part of the narrative. In those uninhabited, desert countries the traveller has nothing but the
description of the naked banks of the river, and the little diversity they afford, interrupted at
times by the adventures of the chase, and occasional meetings with Indians; the reader will therefore
excuse many observations and unimportant descriptions, which would have been omitted if
the materials had been richer in variety. I need still more indulgence with respect to many
observations on natural history, but for this the loss of the greater part of my collections will be
a sufficient excuse. The cases containing them were delivered to the Company, to be put on
board the steamer for St. Louis, but not insured; and, when the steamer caught fire, the people
thought rather of saving the goods than my cases, the contents of which were, probably, not
considered to be of much value, and so they were all burnt. This may be a warning to future
travellers not to neglect to insure such collections.
Though the main object of my journey, namely, to pass some time in the chain of the Rocky
Mountains, was defeated by unfavourable circumstances, I should have been able, but for the
loss of my collections, to communicate many new observations, especially in the department of
zoology, which are now more or less deficient. The accounts of the tribes of the aborigines, and
among them, and was able to have daily intercourse with them. Authentic and impartial
accounts of the Indians of the Upper Missouri are now especially valuable, if the information that
we have since received is well founded, namely, that to the many evils introduced by the Whites
among those tribes, a most destructive epidemic—small-pox—has been added, and a great part
of them exterminated: according to the newspapers, the Mandans, Manitaries, Assiniboins, and
Blackfeet have been swept away except a small remnant. The observation of the manners of the
aborigines is undoubtedly that which must chiefly interest the foreign traveller in those countries,
especially as the Anglo-Americans look down on them with a certain feeling of hatred. Hence
we have hitherto met with little useful information respecting the Indians, except in the recent
writings of Edward James, Long, Say, Schoolcraft, M`Kenney, Cass, Duponceau, Irving, and a
few others; and as good portraits of this race have hitherto been extremely rare, the faithful
delineation contained in the portfolio of plates accompanying this work will be interesting to
the friends of anthropology and ethnography.
Several men, of great eminence in the learned world, have had the kindness to contribute
to the publication. President Nees Von Esenbeck has undertaken the determination and
description of the plants which I brought home; Professor Goldfuss, of Bonn, that of some fossil
shells; Professor Göppert, of Breslau, that of the impression of fossil plants from Mauch Chunk;
Professors Valenciennes at Paris, and Wiegmann at Boston, the comparison of some zoological
specimens with those in their cities; and Lieut.-Col. W. Thorn, the construction of the map;
for which obliging assistance I beg leave to offer to these gentlemen my sincere thanks.
| Travels in the interior of North America. | |