32 VIEWS OF LOUISIANA. 
which compose it, cause it to possess a pure elastic air. The 
sky has a more delightful blue, than I ever saw any where else; 
the atmosphere in a serene, calm evening is so clear, that a slight 
smoke can be discerned at a distance of many miles; and is 
of great importance to the Indians in detecting their enemies., 
and in giving warning; but it also exercises their caution in the 
highest degree. In point of health, it is unnecessary to say any 
thing; such a country must necessarily be salubrious. The heat 
of .the sun is greatest in the month of July, and at that time is not 
less intense than in other parts of the continent, but it is render¬ 
ed more supportable by the breezes which continually fan the 
air. Spring opens about the last of April, and vegetation is in 
considerable forwardness by the middle of May. Such fruits as 
the country affords, principally, berries, sand cherries, currants, 
do not ripen until the latter end of July. I found strawberries 
ripe about the fourth of that month, near the Mandan villages. 
Plumbs ripen in the latter end of August. The winter sets in the 
beginning of October, but there is frost very frequently in Au¬ 
gust and September. The cold is excessive during the winter 
season; there are frequent storms which continue for several 
days, and render it dangerous for any but Indians to stir out, 
without running the risk of being frozen. These observations, 
apply to the greater portion of this region, but with respect to the 
part which lies south of the Arkansas, must be taken with consi* 
derable allowance. 
To the north of the river just mentioned, rains are not fre* 
*juent, but when they set in, pour down in torrents To the south, 
there is seldom any rain, its place being supplied by heavy dews* 
In the dry -season, at a distance from the gj;eat rivers, water is 
every where exceedingly scarce. The Indians in their journeys, 
usually pass by places where they know there are ponds, but 
generally, they are under the necessity of carrying water in blad¬ 
ders. In this season, a person in traversing the country will be 
frequently surprised at crossing the beds, or channels of large 
rivers, without finding a drop of water. After rains, or the melt* 
ing of snows, torrents roll down these channels. It is not sur¬ 
prising that a country so distant from the sea, drained by a river 
w hich has a course of three thousand miles, before it reaches the 
