JOURNAL. 
■% Tuesday 14th. Set off with a slight breeze-—compelled by 
heavy rain to put to shore for some hours, after which, continued 
under a fine wind that lasted throughout the day; but from the 
winding course of the river, we were not much benefitted by it. 
In some of the bends of the river, the limber, principally 
cotton wood, is heavy, but the prairies and upland are entirely 
bare of trees. The prairies compose more than two-thirds of 
the margin of the stream—the soil extremely rich : for the 
three first feet, generally a light mould, another stratum is a 
deep black, almost approaching the color of coal, but not hard 
or stiff; the lower stratum is marie. I have no doubt that these 
natural meadows would yield surprisingly—Encamped at the 
beginning of a great bend of the river, twelve miles round, and 
not more than three hundred paces across. 
Wednesday 1 5th Although the wind is favorably, it was 
of no use to us, from the sudden turns of the river. At twelve 
hoisted sail, and passed the Soldier's river, a small stream. Af- 
4er doubling some points we came into a reach of some extent; 
wind here became very violent, and blew almost a tempest; with 
bur sail reduced to half its size we easily encountered the 
strongest current. The storm became at length so serious that 
it was deemed imprudent to continue under way. The air was 
darkened by clouds of sand, and we found ourselves at the up¬ 
per end of the reach, in the midst of sawyers and planters, our 
situation dangerous in the extreme. We fortunately escaped 
safely to the shore, where we remained until evening, the wind 
abating we proceeded a few miles further. 
Thursday 1 6th. A tremendous storm of thunder and light¬ 
ning last night-—being fortunately in a good harbor we suffer¬ 
ed hut little. Were not able to get under weigh this morning 
until late. A fine serene morning, strangely contrasted with 
the turbulence of last night. Came in sight of the hills S W. 
ey^ry one bitterly regretting that the wind of yesterday could not 
serve us here, where there is a view of twelve miles up the riv- 
Or There appears to reign an unusual calm, the sky cloudless, 
the liver as smooth as a mirror. Words cannot convey wh ;t I 
feel, and it is only the lover of nature who could understand 
