Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 V13.djvu/103



Proceed up White river for the Arkansa—Suspicious conduct of one of the boatmen—Pass through the connecting bayou, and proceed up the Arkansa; its navigation; soil and surrounding scenery—A small French settlement—Extraordinary mildness of the season—Mounds—Changes in the alluvial lands produced by the agency of the river—Land speculators—Vegetation of the alluvial lands—The town or Post of Arkansas—Enormous land claims—Difficulty of navigating against the current—The Great Prairie—First settlement on the Arkansa; its present state—Agricultural advantages arising from the mildness of the climate—Storax—Aboriginal remains—The Quapaws or Arkansas—Their traditions and character.

13th.] To-day I was detained at Mr. M'Lane's, waiting the drunken whim of the Yankee, whom necessity had obliged me to hire. In the course of a few hours he had shifted from two bargains. At first, I was to give him five dollars for his assistance, and in case that should prove inadequate, I had agreed to hire an additional hand on the Arkansa. Now he wished to have the boat for bringing her completely to the Port, and next he wanted 10 dollars!

I endeavoured to amuse myself in the neighbourhood, by a ramble through the adjoining cane-brake. Here I found abundance of the Celtis integrifolia (entire-leaved nettle tree) and the common and one-seeded honey-locust; also Forrestiera acuminata of Poiret (Borya acuminata, ). The day was as mild and warm as the month of May, and the Senecio laciniata, so common along the banks of the Mississippi, already showed signs of flowering.

14th.] To-day we proceeded up White river with {65}