xl 
MEMOIR OF 
Fierce from the centre rose his flatten’d head, 
With quivering tongue, and eyes of fiery red. 
And jaws distended vast, where threatening lay 
The fangs of death, in horrible array j 
While poised above, invisible to view. 
His whizzing tail in swift vibration flew. 
In a letter to his father, written soon after his retufl* 
after giving an account of his journey, he concludes in d* 
following tender and affectionate manner : — “ I ha'' 
nothing more to say, but to wish you all the comforts tW 
your great age, and reputable and industrious life till® 
merit. In iny conduct to you I may have erred ; but 
heart has ever preserved the most affectionate venerati<^ 
for you, and I think on you frequently with tears. In' 
few years, if I live so long, I shall he placed in yo* 
situation, looking hack on the giddy vanities of hiiin^ 
life, and all my consolation in the hopes of a happy ful* 
rity.” The deep emotions awakened by the magnified 
scene had hut recalled those still dee])er emotions, wb)^ 
were ever cherished in liis affectionate heart. 
To Ins friend, Mr Bartram, he wrote immediately 
his return ; which letter, as illustrative of the effect ofV 
journey in modifying or confirming his views and feelirf 
regarding his great undertaking, is exceedingly interesth^ 
“ Gray’s Ferry, 15t/i December, ISOd- 
“ Dear Sir, — Though now snugly at home, looki* 
hack in recollection on the long, circuitous journey, wl'i' 
I have at length finished, through trackless snows, 
uninhabited forests — over stupendous mountains, s'" 
down dangerous rivers — passing over, in a course of 
miles, as great a variety of men and modes of living) * 
the same extent of country can exhibit in any part * 
North America; though in this tour I have had cv<^ 
disadvantage of deep roads and rough wciither — hurf>‘ 
marches, and many other inconveniences to encounter,^ 
