THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 



1843 



I LEFT home at ten o'clock of the morning, on Satur- 

 day the nth of March, 1843, accompanied by my son 

 Victor. I left all well, and I trust in God for the privilege 

 and happiness of rejoining them all some time next autumn, 

 when I hope to return from the Yellowstone River, an 

 expedition undertaken solely for the sake of our work on 

 the Quadrupeds of North America. The day was cold, but 

 the sun was shining, and after having visited a few friends 

 in the city of New York, we departed for Philadelphia in 

 the cars, and reached that place at eleven of the night. 

 As I was about landing, I was touched on the shoulder by 

 a tall, robust-looking man, whom I knew not to be a sheriff, 

 but in fact my good friend Jediah Irish, ^ of the Great 

 Pine Swamp. I also met my friend Edward Harris, who, 

 with old John G. Bell,^ Isaac Sprague, and young Lewis 

 Squires, are to be my companions for this campaign. We 

 all put up at Mr. Sanderson's. Sunday was spent in 

 visits to Mr. Bowen,^ Dr. Morton,* and others, and we had 

 many calls made upon us at the hotel. On Monday morn- 

 ing we took the cars for Baltimore, and Victor returned 

 home to Minniesland. The weather was rainy, blustery, 

 cold, but we reached Baltimore in time to eat our dinner 

 there, and we there spent the afternoon and the night. 



^ See Episode " Great Pine Swamp." 



2 The celebrated taxidermist. Bom Sparkhill, New York, July 12, 1812, 

 died at the same place, October, 1879. 



8 J. T. Bowen, Lithographer of the Quad, of N. A. 

 * Samuel G. Morton, the eminent craniologist. 



