CHOCTAW LAW. 43 
beautiful prairies, rich in pasture, and covered with those 
beautiful flowers which always delighted us so much, (and 
through which we always roamed, making our selections,) and 
which we always parted from with regret, we came to a much 
more cultivated region. What first attracted our attention 
was a field of oats, a grain we had hitherto not met with, as 
the Indians raise nothing but corn. “ Aha,” said I, the “white 
man has had a hand in this,” and so it proved to be the case. 
Several settlers from the States, who have married squaws, 
live here, the fact evidenced by the greater quantity of land 
cultivated, greater variety in the crops, the growth of 
vegetables, greater neatness about their buildings, and a 
general appearance of industry and thrift. 
According to Choctaw law, no white man can marry until 
he has resided two years in the nation. He can then marry 
one of the tribe, and can fence in and cultivate as much as he 
pleases. There are many instances in the nation, and where- 
ever met with, the difference from the native is very per- 
ceptible and striking. 
Having learned, by the experience of the past, the phle- 
botomizing powers of the prairie-fly, we stopped at the first 
convenient place, and spent the rest of the day in making up 
muslin covers for our horses and mules, and during the day 
made some very interesting explorations and discoveries 
among the fossiliferous strata in the vicinity. 
The soil is limestone, marked by the pellucid water and 
luxuriant vegetation. It yields, in ordinary seasons, forty 
