A. 
164 
TRANS. OF THE ACAD. OF SCIENCE. 
H' 
V 
energy of his character, and with but a single man as his escort, and no 
other guide than his compass, he determined to continue on his course. 
After a wearisome travel of many days, and having encountered many 
privations and dangers, he and his companion, Cadotte, arrived safely, 
but in almost a starving condition, at the Flathead Village, situate on 
the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. In accomplishing this 
part of his arduous task, Dr. Evans passed directly through the heart of 
the Blackfeet country, and travelled a distance of more than two hundred 
miles in the main chain of the Rocky Mountains before he succeeded in 
finding a passage to the valley beyond. It is mueh to be regretted that 
the credit of the discovery of this important pass, which unquestionably 
belongs to the subject of the present sketch, has been unjustly transferred 
to another. It should have been named in honor of Dr. Evans instead 
of Gadotte, since it is well known that the latter person had no knowl- 
edge of such a passage, and, in fact, had not even been in that region 
before he went there under the guidance of Dr. Evans. After a few 
days’ rest at the Flathead Village our traveller resumed his journey, and 
without encountering further difficulties, reached Oregon city with much 
valuable information concerning the extensive district of country through 
which he had passed. 
In the prosecution of the geological survey of Oregon and Washington, 
Dr. Evans was actively engaged for nearly five years, during which 
period his travels extended over a large portion of those Territories. 
The results of his important labors, embracing a large amount of infor- 
mation relating to the geology, topography, geography and natural his- 
tory of that interesting portion of the American continent, are embodied 
in his large report submitted to, and ordered to be printed by Congress 
at its last session. It was placed in the hands of the Public Printer only 
a few days previous to the death of its lamented author, and it is a 
matter of deep regret, that, owing to some informality, its publication 
must be delayed to await the further action of Congress. It is earnestly 
hoped that Congress will, at an early period, make the necessary pro- 
vision for tjie printing of this important document, the preparation of which 
has cost such a large expenditure of labor and money, and which prom- 
ises to be of the highest value to science and the people for whose benefit 
the survey was ordered. 
September* 2, 1861. 
The President, Dr. Engelmann, in the chair. 
Seven members present. 
The following donation to the library was received: Bull, 
de la Soc. Imper. zool. d’Acclimatation, Paris, No. 7, Juillet, 
1861, from the Society. 
Mr. Holmes presented from Dr. B. F. Shumard the follow- 
ing skulls from Texas : Felis pardalis , Linn. (Tiger-cat), 
from Travis Go.; Felis onza , Linn. (Jaguar), from Hays Co., 
and JDicotyles torquatus (Peccary), from Travis Co. 
Dr. Engelmann made some remarks on the temperature 
and humidity of the p^ast three summer months. . June and 
August were by more than two degrees warmer than the 
averages for these months, while July was cooler. The quan- 
tity of rain for each of these months was below the average 
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Missouri 
. . Botanical 
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