478 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



abandon their old practices : and 

 if any one attempts to reason vvitli 

 them on the subject, tlieir con- 

 stant reply is, 'As it was good 

 enough for our forefathers, it is 

 good enough for us ; ' whence it 

 appears that e\en veneration for 

 ancestry may become an evil. They 

 cultivate maize, wlieat, oats, bar- 

 ley, beans, (])haseolus) pumpkins, 

 water and musk melons, and to- 

 bacco and cotton for their own 

 use. Apples and peaches are very 

 fine ; the former abundant, and 

 do not require to be engrafted. 

 They pay great attention to gar- 

 dening, and have a good assort- 

 ment of roots and vegetables. 

 Notwitlistanding their want of 

 industry, there is an appearance 

 of comfort and independence in 

 their villages, as, from the rich- 

 ness of the soil, and fineness of 

 the cliuicite, the labours atten- 

 dant on agriculture, and attention 

 neces.saiy to their cattle, are com- 

 paratively tiivial. They have 

 abundance of horses, cows, and 

 hogs, all which rim at huge on tiie 

 prairies, as they have no inclosuies 

 but for the purpose of agricidture. 

 They mow a little grass on the 

 prairie, which they make into hay, 

 and give it to their horses and 

 cattle when the ground is coveicd 

 with snow : at other times they 

 leave them to piovide for them- 

 selves. The hf)gs sustain tliem- 

 selves on strawberries, hazlenuts, 

 hickory nuts, acorns, and roots ; 

 and must be occasionally sought 

 for in the woods, to prevent them 

 from becoming entirely wild. On 

 these occasions, the pr(jprietor lills 

 his saddle bags with the ears of 

 Indian corn, with which he mounts 

 his horse, generally witli his lille 

 on his shoulder. If he finds them 



within three or four miles of his 

 house, he thinks himself fortii- 

 iiate ; but it sometimes happens 

 that he is two days in ' hunting 

 them up,' as they term it. When 

 he finds them, he throws down an 

 eai- of corn, which they devour, 

 and lie rides gently towards home, 

 with the whole herd screaming 

 after him. When tliey are almost 

 inclined to give up the chase, he 

 tlirows down another ear, which 

 practice he continues until he 

 brings them into his yard, u here 

 he shuts them up, and feeds them. 

 Here they remain until the morn- 

 ing wiien he again feeds them, 

 marks the young pigs, sets them 

 at liberty, and probably does not 

 see them again for a fortnight or 

 tliree weeks. That each planter 

 may identify his own hogs, he 

 marks them in the ear, and in each 

 townshi]) an office is established, 

 in which these marks arc register- 

 ed ; they are either holes or slits, 

 or both, differently arranged ; so 

 that no two marks are alike ; and 

 it is against the laws of the ter- 

 ritory to expose the carcase of a 

 hog for sale without having the 

 ears upon it. 



" St. Louis, the capital of this 

 territory, is very pleasantly si- 

 tuated on the Mississippi, about 

 eighteen miles below the mouth of 

 the Missouri, in latitude 38° 5' and 

 longitude 89° 55' W. It has a 

 decided advantage over any of the 

 other towns, on account of its 

 being situated on a rock, but little 

 elevated above the high floods of 

 tlie ri\er, and immediately on its 

 border. Such situations are very 

 rare, as the Mississippi is almost 

 universally bounded either by high 

 peipendicular rocks or loose allu- 

 vial soil, the latter of which is in 



continual 



I 



