Four-and-a-Half Months’ Stay in New Harmony
Description of the region – Natural history – Messrs. Say, Lesueur, and Owen – Hunting excursions in Indiana and Illinois – Wabash, Fox River – Illinois prairies – Albion – Black River – Mr. Bodmer’s trip to New Orleans
January 1, 1833
Early in the morning, dreary, hazy, damp weather from which most persons experience unpleasant sensations, partly rheumatic and partly other kinds. At seven thirty, temperature of 10°R [54.5°F, 12.5°C]. Toward midnight there was some shooting to celebrate the new year, but I did not hear much of it. After breakfast, while occasional shooting was still going on this morning, I took detailed measurements of the fish otter (Lutra canadensis) I obtained yesterday, which I find most interesting. The man who brought it had immediately cut out and kept certain parts, especially the glands connected therewith, which, he maintained, are the best bait or scent for catching otters. This I believe. He catches them in steel traps, the marks of which were visible on the otter’s feet.
At twelve o’clock, temperature of 11 1/3°R [57.5°F, 14.2°C], with gloomily overcast sky. I visited Messrs. Lesueur and Say, and they both complained about a certain indisposition. My stomach was out of order today. On this day, which is probably a holiday in all of Christendom, no activity is avoided here in Harmony; every thing continues in the usual daily routine. The farmers constantly drive their four-horse wagons filled with Indian corn to town. I took a short walk, but the air was too warm. I saw four ducks, three of them Anas clangula, on the Cutoff River. The surface of the Wabash looked picturesque today; dark clouds gave it a blackish hue and accentuated its light spots. The bordering forests rose darkly, and the white Platanus in them gleamed.
At six o’clock the New Year’s Dance began in our house. The noise from the big drum was thunderous. I sneaked up to the door and saw the dancers wildly mingled together in a kind of cotillion or many quadrilles, executing a square dance according to the old so-called triple-time step, grasping hands in all directions. They danced without putting on gloves, some of them in their overcoats, young and old together. Spent the evening at the home of Mr. Say, that is, the last evening of that year and the first one of the new year.