Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 V13.djvu/151

 trade. Monsieur F. by his dress and manners did not appear to have had much acquaintance with the civilized world. In the evening, we arrived at the house of Mr. Jones, where we were very decently entertained.

20th.] Two miles further lived Mr. Daniels,[120] in whose neighbourhood a second family also resided. The land in this vicinity appeared to be of a very superior quality, and well suited for cotton. Some of it, obtained by the grant of the Spaniards, and since confirmed by the United States, is held as high {104} as ten dollars the acre. From this place proceeds the road to St. Louis, on the right, and Mount Prairie settlement, and Natchitoches on Red river, on the left. From all I can learn, it appears pretty evident that these extensive and convenient routes have been opened from time immemorial by the Indians; they were their war and hunting-paths, and such as in many instances had been tracked out instinctively by the bison in their periodical migrations. It is in these routes, conducted by the Indians, that we are to trace the adventurers De Soto and La Salle, and by which we may possibly identify the truth of their relations.[121] From the appearances of aboriginal remains around Mount Prairie we may safely infer the former existence of the natives on that site, and it appears also probable, that this must have been the fertile country of the Cayas or Tanicas described by La Vega, a people who are at this time on the verge of extermination.[122]

The distance from Mr. Daniels', on the banks of the Arkansa, to Red river, is believed to be about 250 miles.