82 WILD SPOUTS IN THE FAR WEST. 



I passed the following night in the house of an 

 American family. The owner had a herd of remark- 

 ably fine cattle, as well as a fine breed of horses. Soon 

 after I was seated in the warm chimney corner, I 

 heard the gallop of a horse. It stopped at the house, 

 the door opened, and in stepped a very pretty girl, 

 with her httle riding-whip in her hand, and her color 

 heightened by the sharp ride ; she was received by all 

 with a warm welcome, and seemed to be the betrothed 

 of one of the young men, near whom she sat, and be- 

 gan to joke. 



Passing through Frederickstown, I reached Currant 

 river, the boundary of Missouri, on the 22nd of Janu- 

 ary ; the water was so clear, that although it was about 

 fifteen feet deep where I passed, the smallest objects 

 could be distinctly seen at the bottom. 



