i 7 ] 
a proficient in natural history ; to this I must confess, t have but s1en? 
der pretensions Devoted to a profession, which my lord Coke, obser- 
veth, “ is a jealous mistress, and will not abide a rival,” I have not been 
able to spare the time requisite for such attainment It is with regret 
I reflect, that 1 have devoted so much time to this employment, which 
was necessarily Withdrawn from my profession, or studies connected 
With it. To become a botanist, mineralogist, or geologist, requires long 
and undivided attention. I have therefore been compelled to content 
myself with admiring merely the face of nature, without attempting-to 
analize, or seek out her hidden character. I have dwelt as little in po¬ 
litical and statistical detail, as on the phenomena of nature, the‘coun¬ 
tries through Which I passed affording but little of interest on these to¬ 
pics. The reader will find here little else, than geographical outlines, 
descriptions of the surface of the country, the navigation of rivers, the 
nature or quality of soils, the appearance of towns or villages, and 
whatever else would be likely to meet the eye of a transient passenger. 
The greater part of what is here offered is original, though it will 
be seen that I have read what has been written by others, and occasion¬ 
ally adopted their ideas. In forming a table of the Indian nations, 
much of my materials are derived from Gen. Clark, Dr. Sibly, and Pike. 
In my observations on the Mississippi, &c. the writings of Mr. Ellicot, 
the late Sir William Dunbar, and Dr. Mease, furnished me with hints. 
I now lay this volume before the public, with all the reverence and 
awe, with which that tribunal is usually approached, feeling consci¬ 
ous of the temerity of my attempt. It is a tribunal whose attention, in. 
the republic of letters, we are all entitled to demand, but if we abuse 
it, by exhibiting what proves unworthy of that attention, we are soon 
consigned to merited contempt 
