THE MISSOURI RIVER JOURNALS 



175 



current very strong. Passed Nashville, Marlon, and 

 steamer " Lexington " going up. Jefferson City at twelve. 

 Passed the Osage River and saw twenty-four Deer oppo- 

 site Smith Landing; camped at sundown, and found 

 Giraud, the "strong man." Ran sixty-one miles. Met 

 the steamer " Satan," badly steered. Abundance of Geese 

 and Ducks everywhere. 



Tuesday, 17th. Calm and very foggy. Started early 

 and floated a good deal with the strong current. Saw 

 two Deer. The fog cleared off by nine o'clock. Passed 

 the Gasconade River at half-past nine. Landed at Pinck- 

 ney to buy bread, etc. Buffaloes have been seen mired, 

 and unable to defend themselves, and the Wolves actually 

 eating their noses while they struggled, but were event- 

 ually killed by the Wolves. Passed Washington and 

 encamped below it at sundown; a good run. 



Wednesday, 18th. Fine and calm ; started very early. 

 Passed Mount Pleasant. Landed at St. Charles to pur- 

 chase bread, etc. Provost became extremely drunk, and 

 went off by land to St. Louis. Passed the Charbonnidre 

 River, and encamped about one mile below. The steamer 

 " Tobacco Plant " landed on the shore opposite. Bell and 

 Harris killed a number of Gray Squirrels. 



Thursday, 19th. A heavy white frost, foggy, but calm. 

 We started early, the steamer after us. Forced by the 

 fog to stop on a bar, but reached St. Louis at three in 

 the afternoon. Unloaded and sent all the things to 

 Nicholas Berthoud's warehouse. Wrote home. 



Left St. Louis October 22, in steamer " Nautilus " for 

 Cincinnati. 



Reached home at 3 p. m., November 6th, 1843, and 

 thank God, found all my family quite well* 



* Audubon's daughter-in-law, Mrs. V. G. Audubon, writes : " He returned 

 on the 6th of November, 1843. It was a bright day, and the whole family, 

 with his old friend Captain Cummings, were on the piazza waiting for the 

 carriage to come from Harlem [then the only way of reaching New York by 



ii 



