230 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
quarters of an inch of the tip, and of a pale rust colour 
spotted with black; tail rounded, deep black, ending in a 
bar of bright ferruginous, crossed with a narrow waving 
line of black, and tipt with whitish; belly pure white; 
sides barred with dusky; legs and feet a very pale ashy 
green; sometimes the whole thighs, and sides of the vent, 
are barred with dusky and white, as in the figure in the 
plate. 
The female differs in being more obscure in her colours; 
the white on the back being less pure, and the black not 
so deep. Wilson. 
SCENERY OF THE WEST. 
The following passages are from Flint’s tale of “ Fran- 
cis Berrian,” which, though nominally a work of fiction, 
contains many fine delineations of natural scenery, by one 
who was fully competent to the task. The description of 
the drove of wild horses, and the notice of the manners 
of several birds in the beautiful sketch of the Commanches 
valley, will not, it is thought, be apart from the objects 
of this work. 
“We closed our arrangements at Natchitoches, the last 
village in Louisiana, towards the Spanish frontier. I had 
occasion to experiment the truth of the remark, that in 
travelling towards the frontier, the decreasing scale of 
civilization and improvement exhibits an accurate illustra- 
tion of inverted history. Improvements decrease in the 
order of distance, as they have increased in the order of 
time. We travelled down six centuries in as many days. 
First, we lost sight of handsome and commodious houses, 
residences of builders, who often saw good models. We 
gradually lost sight of the mansions of the opulent cotton- 
planters, who are noted for their hospitality. We lost 
sight of men dressed in articles of imported fabric. Then 
we traversed the belt of vachers and shepherds, with their 
blanket-capotes and their comfortable, but rustic log esta- 
blishments. Then we traversed the regions of the half 
savage white inhabitants, the intermediate race between 
savage and civilized man. On the Kiamesia we passed 
the American garrison, and saw the cheering sight of the 
spirit-stirring stars and stripes, waving above the rude 
fortress and the comfortable quarters, three hundred leagues 
from the compact population of the country. We joined 
to admire the genius of a country yet so young, and which 
has thus early learned to stretch her maternal arms to 
these remote deserts, in token of efficient protection 
to the frontier people from the terrors of the ruthless 
savages. 
te It was not far from this garrison that my eye dilated, 
and my heart expanded, as we opened upon one of those 
boundless grassy plains that stretch beyond the horizon, 
and almost beyond the imagination. Such a view presents 
to me the image of infinitude and eternity still more strong- 
ly, than a distant view of the ocean. We entered with 
the rising sun. One part of the disk of that glorious orb 
seemed to touch the verdure, and the other the sky. Here 
we met a company of Spanish muleteers descending with 
a drove of horses and mules to Louisiana. They were a 
new and striking variety of the species. They inhabit an 
arid soil, a dry climate, elevated table land, a plain, which 
is ventilated in its southern extremity by the unchange- 
able gales of the tropical sea, and on the north by breezes 
brought down from snow-capped mountains. They sub- 
sist on flesh and milk, and unfortunately of late, from 
their connexion with our country, they have added whis- 
key to their beverage. They almost live on horseback. 
The training and managing of horses and mules, and the 
noosing of them and of cattle by throwing the noosed 
rope, at which they acquire an incredible dexterity, con- 
stitute their employment. They are simple and timid, 
and seem less capable of combination of thought than the 
savages. Theirmostdefinitedirectionsof placesto us were 
towards the rising or the setting sun; and theirmost accurate 
measures of distance were grande distancia, or poca dis- 
tancia, a great or a little distance. They have a peculiar 
physiognomy, repulsive at first sight, but on closer inspec- 
tion amiable. I found them in fact, in the general, an ex- 
tremely affectionate and amiable people. They are dress- 
ed in the tanned skins of their cattle and game, and their 
costume differs considerably in appearance from that of 
their neighbours, the French and the savages. For boots 
they wear a kind of leather leggings, which they call 
“ buccarees,” with huge silver spurs. They have a sin- 
gular-shaped wooden saddle, covered with some kind of 
skins, with a circular and painted elevation of wood in 
front, and very large wooden stirrups. The hat is of great 
weight, and tapers in the crown like the apex of a cone. 
About the horse’s neck they carry a great length of coil- 
ed rope of buffalo’s hair, ready for the operation of noosing 
any animal that shall come in their way. They have also 
appended to the horse’s neck a gourd or bottle, ready to 
drop into the stream or branch, through the channel of 
which they may pass, and dip up their water for drink- 
ing. When the carabine and spear are added to these 
equipments, and laid across the saddle at right angles to 
the horse’s path, the rider, the horse, and the furnishing, 
taken together, afford a most uncouth and ludicrous 
figure. 
“ On these level plains some of my dreams of the plea- 
