PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 



In selecting from a large mass of notes and jour- 

 nals the materials of the following volumes, our de- 

 sign has been to present a compendious account of 

 the labors of the Exploring Party, and of such of their 

 discoveries as were thought likely to gratify a liberal 

 curiosity. It was not deemed necessary to preserve 

 uniformity of style, at the expense of substituting the 

 language of a compiler for that of an original observer. 

 Important contributions of entire passages from Major 

 Long and Mr. Say, will be recognized in various 

 parts of the work, though we have not always been 

 careful to indicate the place of their introduction. 

 Those gentlemen have indeed been constantly atten- 

 tive to the work, both to the preparation of the manu- 

 script and its revision for the press. 



In the following pages we hope to have contributed 

 something towards a more thorough acquaintance with 

 the Aborigines of our country. In other parts of our 

 narrative where this interesting topic could not be in- 

 troduced, we have turned our attention towards the 

 phenomena of nature, to the varied and beautiful pro- 

 ductions of animal and vegetable life, and to the more 

 magnificent if less attractive features of the inorga- 

 nic creation. 



