IgOl] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 315 



of Pike's " First fork" where our party was divided Major 

 Long, our commander, with eleven others of our number pro- 

 ceeded in the direction of 7vW river, & the remaining ten of us, 

 continued our journey down the Arkansaw. \Ve met several 

 parties of the little known natives who wander in that remote 

 region, of whom some received us with hospitality, & the 

 conduct of others tended to excite our vigilance. But, con- 

 trary to our expectations, we had the good fortune to avoid 

 hostilities with any of them. When within two hundred miles 

 of Fort Smith three of our men deserted from us, carrying with 

 them our best horses, and all my manuscripts, consisting of 

 five books. We soon after arrived at Fort Smith, <\: were in a 

 few days joined by Major Long & party, who had descended 

 Canadian river. These rivers are not navigable for large boats, 

 & the country within about 500 miles of the Mountains is des- 

 titute of timber and miserably poor, thus furnishing us with 

 an excellent frontier in that direction, which is totally unfit for 

 the tillage of civilized man, & \vhich may for ages afford an 

 asylum to the cruelly persecuted indian and its immense herds 

 of Bisons at present so numerous there. I experienced much 

 difficulty in preserving the insects which I collected, many of 

 them are interesting, though they are not numerous. The 

 Secretary of war has ordered our collections to be deposited in 

 the Philadelphia museum* subject to his orders, an arrange- 

 ment which was anticipated from the commencement of our 

 expedition. I am now engaged in describing the new species 

 of w T hich I find there are many amongst them. But the greater 

 portion of them are inhabitants of Pennsylvania, as well as of 

 the Missouri and Arkinsaw countries. In these descriptions I 

 shall of course preserve the names already adapted by your 

 father in his "Catalogue," & by yourself in your letters to 

 me, as far as I can ascertain them from my cabinet which has 

 been so much enriched by your liberality. 



I obtained some very interesting insects from near the Rocky 

 mountains. Of these I may mention several species of the 



* Not the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences, but a place of 

 amusement known as Peale's Museum, whose collections subsequently 

 became scattered under various ownership after the fire which destroyed 

 a portion of them. W. J. F. 



