Pay i aoe. 
THe “ Hive oF THE BeE-HuNTER” has one ob- 
ject, which the author would impress upon such 
readers as may honor him with their attention. 
An effort has been made, in the course of 
these sketches, to give to those personally unac- 
quainted with the scenery of the southwest, some 
idea of the country, its surface, and vegetation. 
In these matters, the author has endeavored 
to be critically correct, indulging in the honest 
ambition of giving some information, while de- 
picting the germinating evidences of the great 
original characters national to these localities. 
The southwest, with its primeval and evergreen 
forests, its unbounded prairies, and its many and 
continuous rivers, presents contributions of nature, 
which the pilgrims from every land, for the first 
time, behold with wonder and awe. 
