126 Expedition to the 



now seen in great numbers, we halted and the hunters went 

 out and killed several. Our camp was on the southwest side 

 of the river, under a low bluff, which separates the half 

 wooded valley from the open and elevated plains. The small 

 elms along this valley were bending under the weight of in- 

 numerable grape vines, now loaded with ripe fruit, the pur- 

 ple clusters crouded in such profusion as almost to give co- 

 louring to the landscape. On the opposite side of the river 

 was a range of low sand hills, fringed with vines, rising not 

 more than a foot or eighteen inches from the surface. On 

 examination we found these hillocks had been produced, ex- 

 clusively by the agency of the grape vines arresting the sand, 

 as it was borne along by the wind, until such quantities had 

 been accumulated as to bury every part of the plant except 

 the ends of the branches. Many of these were so loaded with 

 fruit, as to present nothing to the eye but a series of clusters 

 so closely arranged as to conceal every part of the stem. The 

 fruit of these vines is incomparably finer than that of any 

 other, either native or exotic, which we have met with in the 

 United States. The burying of the greater part of the trunk, 

 with its larger branches, produces the effect of pruning, in as 

 much as it prevents the unfolding of leaves and flowers on 

 the parts below the surface, while the protruding ends of the 

 branches enjoy an increased degree of light and heat from 

 the reflection of the sand. It is owing undoubtedly to these 

 causes that the grapes in question are so far superior to the 

 fruit of the same vines in ordinary circumstances. 



The treatment here employed by nature to bring to per- 

 fection the fruit of the vine may be imitated, but without 

 the same peculiarities of soil and exposure, can with difficulty 

 be carried to the same magnificent extent. Here are hun- 

 dreds of acres covered with a surface of moveable sand, and 

 abounding in vines, placed in more favorable circumstances, 

 by the agency of the sun and the winds, than it is in the 

 power of man, to afford to so great an extent. We indulged 



