490 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



American trees as might be of economic importance. In the autumn 

 of 1785 he embarked for New York, accompanied by his young son; 

 here he spent a year and a half collecting plants and starting a botanical 

 garden in Bergen County, New Jersey; he found, however, that the 

 southern climate was more suitable for many of his plants, and he ac- 

 cordingly removed to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1787, where he 

 established another garden, about ten miles from the city. During this 

 year he explored the mountains of the Carolinas ; the next he journeyed 

 through the swamps of Florida, and the next he visited the Bahamas, 

 and again searched the mountains for plants of economic importance — 

 especially ginseng. In 1792 he collected around New York and in 

 New Jersey; thence he went up the Hudson to Albany and along Lake 

 Champlain, reaching Montreal June 30, 1792. From Montreal he 

 went to Quebec, and thence by way of the Saguenay to Hudson's Bay. 

 He then returned to Philadelphia, where he proposed to the American 

 Philosophical Society an exploration of the great western territory, by 

 way of the Missouri River. A subscription was begun for the purpose, 

 and Thomas Jefferson drafted detailed instructions for the journey. 

 Michaux, indeed, is stated to have started west and to have proceeded as 

 far as Kentucky when he was overtaken by an order from the French 

 government to relinquish the journey for a political mission. This 

 mission seems to have had for its object the control of Louisiana by the 

 French, through the aid of the trans-Allegheny Americans. In carry- 

 ing out this plan Michaux made a journey in 1793 to Kentucky by way 

 of the Ohio River, and returned over the "Wilderness" road, and 

 through the valley of Virginia. Early in 1791 he made another ex- 

 tensive tour in the southern states and the North Carolina mountains. 

 In 1795-6 he made a much longer journey, going from Charleston to 

 Tennessee, thence through Kentucky to Vincennes, Indiana, where he 

 stayed from August 13 to 23. From here he went to Kaskaskia, and 

 from there he visited Cahokia and the vicinity. Upon looking over his 

 " Flora Boreali Americana " we find several species of plants men- 

 tioned therein as coming from the Missouri River. It seems quite 

 probable then that he must have visited some locality near this river 

 during this trip, as this is the only visit to this section of which we 

 find any mention in his journal. He mentions St. Louis as being in a 

 prosperous condition, but makes no further allusion to it. Except for 

 the evidence of these few species as given in his " Flora," we should not 

 know that he had gone west of the Mississippi River, and this, of course, 

 is somewhat uncertain, as it is very possible that some person at Caho- 

 kia, who may have been on the Missouri River, had out of curiosity 

 picked up some strange plants and happened to bring them to Cahokia 

 at the time Michaux was there. He made a short visit here and then 

 Went to Fort Massac, near the mouth of the Tennessee River, and from 



