Having examined those features of the country, which appeared worthy of notice at Tippecano, we again embarked at one o'clock, P. M.

The banks of the Wabash below the junction of the Tippecano, present the most delightful aspect, being an uninterrupted succession of forest and prairie, disposed in gentle swells, and watered by numerous clear brooks, whose entrances we now witnessed with greater frequency. The channel of the river is often parted by small woody islands, of the deepest verdure. The river appears to have worn its channel deep into the sandstone stratum; indicated by the increasing body of loose sand along its shores, and by those compacted sand bars, which constitute almost exclusively, a lengthened border to every island :—a character which is first distinctly observed below the entrance of the Tippecano. And here also, we began to observe a change in its conchological productions. We collected a number of that immense variety of Unios, which characterize the lower parts of this stream.

At seven o'clock in the evening we encamped in a large* bend of the river, having descended during this, and the preceding day, about ninety miles. The evening was so chilly, that we suffered little annoyance from insects, and we here first passed a night without the use of our musqueto nets. By the grass and brush lodged on the branches of trees, the river, during its periodical floods, appears to rise about twenty feet. Its general course, until near the junction of the Vermillion, is west; afterward southwest, and south, &c.

13th. In those sand bars and islands, which have been mentioned, are found considerable numbers of turtle's eggs; which are sought with great avidity by the natives. The manner of hunting them, is by sharpening a stick, and searching in the sand, or among the small pebble

stones. In one spot, we discovered seventeen eggs of the round kind, and in another, six of an elongated form. These eggs are sometimes scratched up by the raven.*

At a late hour in the evening, we passed the mouth of Vermillion River, a considerable stream tributary from the right bank. This point is about ten miles north of the limit to which the settlements have extended. Here Gen. Harrison built a blockhouse, on his march against the hostile Indians in 1811, and left his sick under a sergeant's guard. When the attack began upon his camp at Tippecano, a soldier, seized with panic, deserted his post, and never ceased from his flight until he reached this place, where he reported, that the whole army was defeated and massacred by the Indians, with many other particulars, suggested to his frightened imagination at the moment. He advised the sergeant to abandon his post, and fly with the utmost speed. What is most remarkable in this incident, is, that the sergeant conceived the whole story to be a fabrication, and seized the man as a deserter.

.

14th. We left our encampment, in a heavy fog, at five o'clock. The air was now so humid, and vision so obscured, that we frequently came quite near to flocks of brant and ducks, which appeared in unusual numbers along this part of the river, and we also noticed the wild turkey on shore-facts which are the more worthy of remark, as we now supposed ourselves within he precincts of the settlements. Tracks of the red deer and otter were also still observed upon the sand, and prove that these animals are not the first to be extirpated on the approach of men

Of the geological character of the shores, it will be sufficient, in this place, to observe, that they continue to be alluvial. Fragments of mineral coal, worn by the

* Corvus Corax.

water into the form of flattened pebblestones, have been remarked upon the sand, both yesterday and to-day; from which we infer, that this substance occurs, in situ, in the high grounds contiguous, whence it is probably carried into the Wabash by the small brooks.

Soon after the dispersion of the fog, we had the satisfaction to observe a dwelling-house on shore, being the first seen in our descent of this stream, and presently a second, and a third. In fine, we now found ourselves within the settlements..

At nine o'clock in the morning, we landed, for breakfast, in front of a small village called

CLINTON.*

This incipient town is composed of eighteen families, emigrants chiefly from the state of Pennsylvania, who have pushed themselves thus far into the wilderness, and who, we may infer from the fertility of the soil, will doubtless, in a few years, reap the just reward of their enterprise. To a question put to one of the principal inhabitants, whether he did not regret his change of residence, he gave a prompt negative. They have erected a flour-mill, on a stream which enters the Wabash a little below the village, and we were here shown a specimen of stonecoal, of the bituminous kind, procured from beneath the soil in that vicinity. This settlement is in Parke county, Indiana.

* So named, as we were informed, in honour of Gov. Dewitt Clinton, of New-York.

1.

CHAPTER VII.

Terre Haute.

Proceed down the Wabash. Fort Harrison. Notices of Natural History. Reach Merom. Trait of National Character. Pass the Boundary between Indiana and Illinois. Reach Vincennes. Anecdote. Conchology. Pass White River. Notices of Mineralogy. Incrusted Shells. Scarlet Insect. Pass the Bonpas. Birkbeck's Settlement. Harmony.

AFTER a detention, somewhat prolonged by necessary repairs to our canoe, which had been injured upon a concealed tree, during the heavy fog of the morning, we left Clinton at ten o'clock, A. M. The eligible site of Fort Harrison,* on the left bank of the river, a few miles farther down, induced us to devote a short time to

*This fort was assailed by the Shawanoes, Miamis, and Weas, during the night of the 4th Sept. 1812, when the garrison was so weakened by disease and by other causes, that not more than fifteen able-bodied men were fit for duty. The Indians set fire to, and burned down one of the block-houses, and kept up a constant firing until about six o'clock the next morning. Capt. Z. Taylor, who commanded the work, very justly merited and received the notice of government for his courage and conduct upon this occasion.

its examination; when we again embarked, and at half past two o'clock, in the afternoon, landed at

TERRE HAUTE.

This town can date its origin no farther back than 1816, when it was first surveyed into lots, at the instance of Mr. Bullitt, of Kentucky, and some other gentlemen. It is now the seat of justice for Vigo County, Indiana, and contains a spacious brick court-house, a jail of squared timber, a public land-office, a post-office, and about eighty dwelling-houses. Its site, as the name imports, is elevated, and a walk through the town excites a sensation of novelty, which is, perhaps, the result of the careless and imperfect manner in which the buildings have been put up. To this remark, however, there are some exceptions, as we witnessed several dwellings finished in a neat and substantial manner. To the doors and walls of the inn, where we called, an unusual number of advertisements of constables' sales were affixed; a proof that there is considerable embarrassment among the inhabitants. The harvest of wheat and oats, which is now gathering, is stated, however, to be abundant ; and is calculated to produce a sensible effect upon the condition of the labouring and mercantile classes.

We limited our stay at this place to an hour, and, proceeding on our voyage, encamped, a little after sunset, about twenty miles below. The river maintains a fine width, and equable current; and the character of its banks, for agricultural purposes, is, perhaps, nowhere surpassed. Among the forest growth, on the bottom lands, blackwalnut, hagberry, spicewood, and papaw, are conspicuous; and the branches of these trees are often interlaced with the vine: Upon the prairies, oaks predominate; but the immediate margin of the river is