﻿486 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  also 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  settlers 
  in- 
  the 
  valley. 
  .... 
  I 
  was 
  more 
  par- 
  

   ticular 
  than 
  I 
  should 
  ordinarily 
  have 
  been, 
  because 
  this 
  is 
  about 
  the, 
  

   last 
  stage 
  when 
  reliable 
  tradition 
  can 
  be 
  had." 
  

  

  This, 
  of 
  course, 
  affords 
  satisfactory 
  proof 
  of 
  the 
  former 
  existence 
  of 
  

   the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  about 
  Lewisburg, 
  which 
  forms 
  the 
  most 
  easterly 
  

   point 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  buffalo 
  has 
  been 
  positively 
  traced.* 
  

  

  The 
  foregoing 
  historical 
  evidence 
  is 
  sufficient 
  apparently 
  to 
  show 
  the 
  

   improbability 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  buffalo, 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  

   exploration 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  by 
  Europeans, 
  either 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  lakes 
  

   or 
  over 
  that 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  slope 
  adjacent 
  to 
  the 
  sea-coast 
  north 
  of 
  

   North 
  Carolina 
  ; 
  in 
  other 
  words, 
  within 
  the 
  present 
  limits 
  of 
  Canada, 
  

   New 
  England, 
  or 
  the 
  maritime 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  eastern 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  Appala- 
  

   chian 
  Highlands, 
  northward 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  southern 
  boundary 
  of 
  Vir- 
  

   ginia. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  that 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  its 
  absence 
  

   at 
  that 
  time 
  over 
  these 
  regions 
  is 
  almost 
  conclusive, 
  for 
  had 
  it 
  occurred 
  

   there, 
  there 
  is 
  every 
  reason 
  to 
  believe 
  that 
  proof 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  would 
  not 
  

   be 
  wanting 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  records 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  in 
  which 
  its 
  products, 
  

   and 
  especially 
  its 
  larger 
  animals, 
  are 
  so 
  often 
  minutely 
  enumerated. 
  

   We 
  have 
  also 
  seen 
  that 
  such 
  terms 
  as 
  buffes, 
  hnffles, 
  loild 
  bulls, 
  wild 
  

   cotvs, 
  loild 
  cattle, 
  and 
  vaches 
  sauvages, 
  not 
  only 
  do 
  not 
  necessarily 
  imply 
  

   the 
  presence 
  of 
  buffaloes, 
  but, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  have 
  been 
  repeatedly 
  

   employed 
  as 
  the 
  designation 
  of 
  both 
  the 
  moose 
  and 
  the 
  elk. 
  If 
  we 
  

   accept 
  these 
  terms 
  as 
  implying 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  buffaloes 
  in 
  the 
  region 
  

   under 
  consideration, 
  we 
  must 
  allow, 
  on 
  similar 
  evidence, 
  that 
  wild 
  goats 
  

   were 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  century 
  along 
  the 
  whole 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  

   Lawrence, 
  throughout 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Valley 
  and 
  in 
  Florida;! 
  thativild 
  

   sumie 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  Canada 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  Saguenay 
  Eiver, 
  and 
  

   in 
  the 
  Middle 
  States;! 
  also 
  tvild 
  horses 
  in 
  Ij^ewfoundland 
  prior 
  to 
  the 
  

   year 
  1600 
  ; 
  monlceys 
  and 
  apes 
  in 
  Virginia 
  ;§ 
  and 
  that 
  wild 
  lemons 
  formerly 
  

   grew 
  in 
  Southern 
  Michigan. 
  || 
  Goat 
  Island, 
  at 
  the 
  Falls 
  of 
  Niagara, 
  

   probably 
  derives 
  its 
  name 
  from 
  the 
  custom 
  of 
  calling 
  the 
  deer 
  that 
  fre- 
  

   quented 
  it 
  wild 
  goats. 
  The 
  name 
  of 
  Buffalo 
  Eiver 
  [Riviere 
  aux 
  Bceufs) 
  

   in 
  New 
  York,^ 
  and 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  on 
  Lake 
  Erie 
  now 
  called 
  Buffalo, 
  

   are 
  not 
  necessarily, 
  though 
  probably, 
  traditional 
  evidences** 
  of 
  the 
  occur- 
  

  

  * 
  In 
  respect 
  to 
  the 
  supposed 
  remains 
  of 
  Bison 
  amtricanus 
  from 
  the 
  Carlisle 
  boue- 
  

   caves, 
  Professor 
  Baird, 
  in 
  a 
  recent 
  letter 
  to 
  me 
  (dated 
  May 
  13, 
  1876), 
  expressed 
  some 
  

   doubt 
  as 
  to 
  their 
  being 
  referable 
  to 
  that 
  species. 
  A 
  re-examination 
  of 
  them 
  he 
  thinks 
  

   ■would 
  be 
  necessary 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  determine 
  "whether 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  bison, 
  and 
  if 
  

   so, 
  of 
  which 
  species." 
  During 
  my 
  recent 
  visit 
  to 
  Washington, 
  careful 
  search 
  was 
  

   made 
  for 
  the 
  specimens, 
  but 
  unfortunately 
  without 
  finding 
  them, 
  though 
  they 
  are 
  

   doubtless 
  still 
  stored 
  somewhere 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution, 
  and 
  

   "Will 
  some 
  day 
  be 
  found. 
  

  

  t 
  See 
  the 
  various 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  voyages 
  of 
  De 
  Soto, 
  La 
  Salle, 
  Hennepin, 
  Marquette, 
  

   and 
  others, 
  where 
  the 
  term 
  toild 
  goat 
  is 
  probably 
  used 
  for 
  deer, 
  but 
  sometimes 
  as 
  though 
  

   it 
  referred 
  to 
  a 
  distinct 
  animal, 
  both 
  wild 
  goats, 
  stags, 
  and 
  deer 
  being 
  mentionnd 
  in 
  the 
  

   same 
  sentence. 
  

  

  t 
  That 
  bears 
  were 
  mistaken 
  for 
  swine, 
  in 
  the 
  following 
  account, 
  is 
  of 
  course 
  evident 
  : 
  

   " 
  Wee 
  might 
  see 
  in 
  some 
  places 
  where 
  Deere 
  and 
  Hares 
  had 
  beene, 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  rooting 
  

   of 
  the 
  Ground, 
  we 
  supposed 
  wilde 
  Hogs 
  had 
  ranged 
  there, 
  but 
  we 
  could 
  discerue 
  no 
  

   Beast, 
  because 
  our 
  Noise 
  still 
  chased 
  them 
  away 
  from 
  us." 
  — 
  George 
  WeymoiitW 
  s 
  Voyage, 
  

   1605, 
  in 
  Purchas, 
  Pilgrims, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  1665. 
  

  

  § 
  See 
  Strachey's 
  Historie 
  of 
  Travaile 
  into 
  Virginia, 
  p. 
  36 
  ; 
  Hakluyt 
  Society, 
  volume 
  

   for 
  1849. 
  

  

  II 
  " 
  There 
  also 
  grow 
  in 
  the 
  Strait 
  [Detroit 
  River] 
  Lemon-Trees 
  in 
  the 
  natural 
  Soil, 
  the 
  

   Fruit 
  of 
  which 
  have 
  the 
  Shape 
  and 
  Colour 
  of 
  those 
  of 
  Portugal, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  smaller, 
  

   and 
  of 
  a 
  flat 
  Tas'.e, 
  They 
  are 
  excellent 
  in 
  conserve." 
  — 
  Charlevoix, 
  Letters, 
  p. 
  178. 
  

  

  H 
  Supposed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  present 
  Oak 
  Orchard 
  Creek, 
  Orleans 
  Co., 
  N. 
  Y. 
  See 
  Doc. 
  Coll. 
  

   Hist. 
  N. 
  Y., 
  Vol. 
  IX, 
  p. 
  886. 
  

  

  "* 
  Schoolcraft, 
  Hist. 
  Cond. 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  

   Part 
  IV, 
  p. 
  92. 
  

  

  i 
  

  

  