WESTERN STATES. 



329 



bow-wood s a tree of extraordinary beauty, bearing a fruit like a large orange, most inviting in 

 appearance, but nauseous to the taste. Its wood is heavy, durable, and elastic, and is used by 

 the savages for bows ; it yields a dye like that of fustic. It grows only in Arkansas and the 

 immediate neighborhood. Tiie China tree has fine, long-spiked leaves of the most brilliant 

 verdure ; and in the flowering season the top is one great tuft of blossoms, in color and fra- 

 grance like the lilac ; the flowers are succeeded by reddish berries, upon which the robins 

 feed, and are said to become stupefied by their narcotic qualities. This tree is much cultivated 

 for ornament. The sugar-maple, dogwood, various kinds of oaks and walnuts, peccan, white 

 locust, &c., are common here. The most remarkable of the shrubs in this region is the paw 



paw, which bears a fruit hke a cucunjber, 

 of a rich, yellow color, and tasting like a 

 mixture of eggs, cream, sugar, and spice, — 

 a natural custard. The myrtle wax, or bay- 

 berry, is common both to these and the East- 

 ern States. Prairie plums, red mulberries, 

 and wild rice, are natives of this region. 

 Numerous vai'ieties of grapes are found in 

 the woods, and afford a luxuriant repast to 

 the flocks of wild turkeys, that roam undis- 

 turbed in the unsettled regions. 



7. Minerals. Lead is the most abundant 

 of the metals in this country. The iron 

 produced here is obtained mostly from the 

 neighborhood of the Appalachian mountains, 

 but the ore abounds in Missouri and other 

 States. Bituminous coal is also abundant in the same region. Limestone occurs in almost 

 every part. Salt springs are found in innumerable places, and no part of the Mississippi valley 

 is remote from a plentiful supply of salt. 



8. Face of the Country. The immense prairies of the region constitute the most remark- 

 able feature of the country. These are vast tracts, stretching as far as the eye can reach, 

 totally destitute of trees, and covered with tall grass or flowering shrubs. Some have an 

 undulating surface, and are called rolling prairies ; these are the most extensive, and are the 

 favorite resort of the bison. Here, without a tree, or a stream of water, the traveler may 

 wander for days and discover nothing but a grassy ocean, bounded on all sides by the horizon. 

 In the dry season the Indians set fire to the grass, and the wide conflagration which ensues, 

 often surprises the bison, deer, and other wild animals, who are unable to escape from the 

 flames, and are burned to death. The tracts denominated "barrens " have generally an undu- 

 lating surface, with hills in long and uniform ridges. The soil is commonly clayey, of a reddish 

 or gray color, and is covered with a tall, coarse grass. Trees are thinly scattered about the 

 surface. The most extensive of these districts are in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, 

 Illinois, and Missouri. 



Much of this great country, especially the northern and western parts, remain to be explored. 

 Of the region west of the Mississippi, hardly anything was known before the beginning of the 

 present century, when the government of the United States despatched Captains Lewis and 

 Clarke on an expedition of discovery. These officers, at the head of a large party well equip- 

 ped, proceeded up the Missouri in boats to its source, crossed the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Pacific Ocean, and returned by the same course. The southern part was explored by an ex- 

 pedition under Lieutenant Pike ; and at a later period, Major Long, and other travelers, have 

 visited different parts of the country. 



9. Jlnimals. Although the Horse is not a native of America, yet the wild horses of the 

 Western Country deserve particular notice here. Herds of these animals, the offspring of 

 those which have escaped from the Spanish possessions in Mexico, are not uncommon on the 

 extensive prairies, that lie to the west of the Mississippi. They were once numerous on the 

 Kootannie lands near the northern sources of the Columbia, on the eastern side of the Rocky 

 Mountain Ridge, but of late years they have been almost exterminated in that quarter. They 

 are not known to exist in a wild state to the northward of the 52d or 53d parallel of latitude. 

 The Kootannies are acquainted with the Spanish-American mode of taking them with the lasso. 

 Major Long mentions, that " horses are an object of particular hunt to the Osages. For the 



IVdd Tiirhcijs. 



