Rocky Mountains. 317 



of the Red river of Natchitoches, and that our camp of Aug, 

 1st was within forty or fifty miles east from Santa Fe. In 

 a region of red clay and sand, where all the streams have 

 nearly the colour of arterial blood, it is not surprising that 

 several rivers should have received the same name, nor is it 

 surprising that so accurate a topographer as the Baron Hum- 

 boldt, having learned that a red river rises forty or fifty 

 miles east of Santa Fe, and runs to the east, should conjecture 

 it might be the source of the Red river of Natchitoches. 

 This conjecture, (for it is no more) we believe to have been 

 adopted by our geographers, who have with much confi- 

 dence made their delineations, and their accounts corres- 

 pond to it. 



In relation to the climate of the country on Red river, 

 we have received little definite information. The Journal of 

 the Exploring Expedition contains a record of ihermometric 

 observations for thirty -six days, commencing with June 1st 

 1806, and extending to July 6th. These were made between 

 Natchitoches and the Coashatay village, and the temperature, 

 both of the air and the water of the river, are noted three 

 times a day, at 6 A. M., and 3, and 9 P. M. They indicate 

 a climate extremely mild and equable. The atmospheric 

 temperature ranges from 72° to 93° Fah., that of the water 

 from 79° to 92°. The dailv oscillations of the mercurial 

 column aire nearly equal, and the aggregate temperature rises 

 slowly and uniformly towards midsummer. 

 , From Lockhart's settlement on the Saline river of Washi- 

 ta to Little Rock, on the Arkansa, is about twenty-five miles. 

 As we approached the Arkansa, we found the country less 

 broken and rocky than above. The soil of the uplands is 

 gravelly, and comparatively barren, producing almost exclu- 

 sively scattered forests of oak, while along the streams arc 

 small tracts of extremely fertile bottom lands. In some of 

 the vallies the cypress appears, filling extensive swamps, and 

 imparting a gloomy and unpromising aspect to the country. 



