talons; also a few White-fronted Geese, some Blue-winged Teal, and some Cormorants,[1] but none with the head, neck, and breast pure white, as the one I saw two days ago. The strength of the current seemed to increase; in some places our boat merely kept her own, and in one instance fell back nearly half a mile to where we had taken in wood. At about ten this evening we came into such strong water that nothing could be done against it; we laid up for the night at the lower end of a willow island, and then cleaned the boilers and took in 200 fence-rails, which the French Canadians call "perches." Now a perche in French means a pole; therefore this must be patois.
29th. We were off at five this rainy morning, and at 9 A. M. reached Booneville,[2] distant from St. Louis about 204 miles. We bought at this place an axe, a saw, three files, and some wafers; also some chickens, at one dollar a dozen. We found here some of the Santa Fe traders with whom we had crossed the Alleghanies. They were awaiting the arrival of their goods, and then would immediately start. I saw a Rabbit sitting under the shelf of a rock, and also a Gray Squirrel. It appears to me that Sciurus macrourus[3] of Say relishes the bottom lands in
- ↑ What Cormorants these were is somewhat uncertain, as more than one species answering to the indications given may be found in this locality. Probably they were Phalacrocorax dilophus floridanus, first described and figured by Audubon as the Florida Cormorant, P. floridanus: Orn. Biog. iii., 1835, p. 387, pi. 251; B. of Amer. vi., 1843, Pl 417 The alternative identification in this case is P. mexicanus of Brandt.—E. C.
- ↑ In present Cooper County, Mo., near the mouth of Mine River. It was named for the celebrated Daniel Boone, who owned an extensive grant of land in this vicinity. Booneville followed upon the earlier settlement at Boone's Lick, or Boone's Salt Works, and in 1819 consisted of eight houses. According to the Missouri River Commission charts, the distance from the mouth of the Missouri River is 197 miles.—E. C.
- ↑ Say, in Long's Exped. i., 1823, p. 115, described from what is now Kansas. This is the well-known Western Fox Squirrel, S. ludovicianus of Custis, in Barton's Med. and Phys. Journ. ii., 1806, p. 43. It has been repeatedly described and figured under other names, as follows: S. subauratus,
