Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 8).djvu/315

 and the only way to avoid, by night, being completely blinded by them, was, to cover my face with small bushes. No covering of cloth could resist their stings.

The river near the lower part of the Missouri Territory is very crooked, and the islands numerous. These islands are formed by the current, during freshets, cutting through the soil and making new channels for itself. The islands are covered with trees and bushes, but are low, and frequently overflown. Near some of these islands I saw many pelicans. {203} This bird interested me because it is both a scriptural and poetical bird. David said, "I am like a pelican of the wilderness," and the poets of fabulous times supposed that she nourished her young with her own blood.

The seasons of the greatest rise of the Mississippi are early in the spring, and in July. During the latter period the crops are on the ground, and of course much damage is sustained. But here I may again observe, that the country on the Mississippi, for a thousand miles below the Ohio, is, with a very few exceptions, a perfect wilderness; and that much of it will never admit of cultivation. The rise of the river, frequently appears to be occasioned by some secret causes, operating beneath the surface. Indeed it is to be presumed, that many of the sources of the river proceed from under the surface of the adjacent land.

On the banks of the Mississippi, I frequently passed the graves of the boatmen. The rudely sculptured monuments of their lowly dwelling, prove that there is still charity for the dead; and that a fellow-feeling seldom leaves, under any circumstance, the human breast.[149]*