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 ; 
While poised above, invisible to view, 
His whizzing tail in swift vibration flew. 
In a letter to his father, written soon after his return, 
after giving an account of his journey, he concludes in the 
following tender and affectionate manner : — “ I have 
nothing more to say, but to wish you all the comforts that 
your great age, and reputable and industrious life truly 
merit. In my conduct to you I may have erred ; but my 
heart has ever preserved the most affectionate veneration 
for you, and I think on you frequently with tears. In a 
few years, if I live so long, I shall be placed in your 
situation, looking back on the giddy vanities of human 
life, and all my consolation in the hopes of a happy futu- 
rity.” The deep emotions awakened by the magnificent 
scene had but recalled those still deeper emotions, which 
were ever cherished in his affectionate heart. 
To his friend, Mr Bartram, he wrote immediately after 
his return ; which letter, as illustrative of the effect of his 
journey in modifying or confirming his views and feelings 
regarding his great undertaking, is exceedingly interesting. 
“ Gray’s Ferry, 15th December , 1804 
“ Dear Sir, — Though now snugly at home, looking 
back in recollection on the long, circuitous journey, which 
I have at length finished, through trackless snows, and 
uninhabited forests — over stupendous mountains, and 
down dangerous rivers — passing over, in a course of 1300 
miles, as great a variety of men and modes of living, as 
the same extent of country can exhibit in any part of 
North America ; though in this tour I have had every 
disadvantage of deep roads and rough weather — hurried 
marches, and many other inconveniences to encounter, — ■ 
