144 NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION. 



the shower. We got up and whiled away the time as best we 

 could around the camp-fire. 



We embarked a few minutes before 5 A. M., the morning being 

 lowering and overcast, which eventuated in rain within an hour. 

 The atmosphere resumed its serenity, and the sun shone out at 

 noon. The river, as on the preceding day, has its course between 

 alluvial and diluvial banks, sweeping its way over the smooth 

 orbicular beds of the granitical age. The influx of rivers, the 

 occurrence of islands, which bear witness of their entire submer- 

 sion during the freshets, and the succession of bends, points, and 

 rapids — these changes, with notices of the wild fowl, forest birds, 

 and sometimes a quadruped, or a mass of boulders, absorbed my 

 notices, which it seems unimportant, at this time, to refer to. No 

 fixed stratification of rocks was encountered this day. 



We encamped at about eight o'clock, on the east bank, on an 

 open eminence, just below the rapids which mark the confluence 

 of Pine Eiver, having been in our canoes, with very brief and 

 infrequent landings, fifteen hours. At the points of landing, I ob- 

 served the rosa parviflora, and ipomea nil. As night approached, 

 we heard the monotonous notes of the caprimulgus virginianus. 

 We had also observed during the day, the bald eagle, king-fisher, 

 turdus polyglottis, teal, plover, robin, and pigeon. The nimble 

 sciuris vulgaris was also observed on shore. Boulders of sienite, 

 hornblende rock, silicious slate, sandstone, and quartz, served as 

 so many monuments to testify that heavy oceanic currents had 

 heretofore disrupted the northern stratification, and poured down 

 over these long and gradual geological slopes. 



High and open as our position was on this eminence, our old 

 friends the mosquitos did not forget us. Even the Indians could 

 not endure their continued attacks. A fine fellow of our original 

 auxiliaries, called laba Waddik, or the Buck, took this occasion to 

 give us a specimen of his English, exclaiming, as he came to the 

 camp-fire, "Tia!* no sneep !" putting the usual interchangeable 

 n of the tribe for the I in the noun. 



* An exclamation. 



