Rocky Mountains. 319 



the Osages. They had exposed themselves during the heat 

 of summer to the pestilential atmosphere of the Lower Mis- 

 sissippi and Arkansa; and we were not surprised, when we 

 considered their former habits, to find they had suffered 

 most severely from their imprudence. They had all been 

 sick, and two or three of their number had died; the survi- 

 vors we understood were on the recovery. They had been 

 some time at Little Rock, the water in the Arkansa having 

 fallen so low as to render their further ascent impracticable. 



The village of Little Rock occupies the summit of a high 

 bank of clay slate, on the southwest side of the Arkansa. 

 Its site is elevated, and the country immediately adjoining 

 in a great measure exempt from the operation of those cau- 

 ses which produce a state of the atmosphere unfavorable to 

 health. It is near the commencement of the hilly country, 

 and for a part of the year will be at the head of steam boat 

 navigation on the Arkansa. The country in the rear of the 

 projected town is high, and covered for the most part with 

 open oak forests. 



3rd. We left Little Rock at an early hour, taking the road 

 towards Davidsonville. This led us, for about four miles, 

 through the deep and gloomy forests of the Arkansa bot- 

 toms. Here we saw the Ricinus palma chruti growing 

 spor>taneously by the road side, and rising to the height of 

 twelve or fourteen feet. We arrived at Little Red river 

 by about nine o'clock, the distance from the Arkansa being 

 not more than eight or nine miles. In the high and rocky 

 country about White river, we fell in, with the route which 

 had been pursued by Major Long and his party, and follow- 

 ing this we reached Cape Girardeau a few days after their 

 arrival. The distance from Belle Point to Little Rock, by 

 the way of the Hot Springs, is two hundred and ten miles, 

 from Little Rock to Cape Girardeau, three hundred, in the 

 whole five hundred and ten miles. 



Major Long's notes of a tour in the Arkansa Territory 



