Page:The first and last journeys of Thoreau - lately discovered among his unpublished journals and manuscripts 2.djvu/60

 observer as exact as Thoreau when he chose to be veracious; and his description of Thoreau's puzzle, the Spermophile tridecemlineatus (see p. 36) is not only accurate but amusing. It is the ground-squirrel of to-day, but he calls it the &quot;Swiss squirrel,&quot; and says:

&quot;These squirrels are little animals resembling little rats. The epithet of 'Swiss' is bestowed upon 'em in regard that the hair which covers their body is streaked with black and white, and resembles a Swiss's doublet; and that the streaks make a ring on each thigh, which bears a great deal of resemblance to a Swiss's cap.&quot;

On the night of the 19th the steamboat lay by at Fort Ridgely, starting from there at four and reaching the point desired, the Lower Sioux Agency, at nine o'clock in the forenoon, at Redwood, where they remained a day or two. And here may be quoted the description of the voyage given by Thoreau in his letter:

Baron la Hontan spoke of a great river coming in from the west, which he called &quot;La Rivière Longue;&quot; it is indeed very