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 19, 1833
Early in the morning, beautiful, bright sky. At seven thirty, 1/3°R [32.8°F, 0.4°C]. This morning I prepared a description of Falco sancti-johannis, a rare bird, which I obtained yesterday. I went out with Achilles to Fox Island, where there was a dead horse, and took a position nearby, but there was too much disturbance for the vultures. My hunting companion shot a rust-bellied squirrel and I [shot some] birds. We were home before noon. At twelve o’clock, temperature of 10°R [54.5°F, 12.5°C]. The ice covers about one-third of the Wabash but will rapidly disappear. One sees large skeins of ducks, mostly Anas boschas and even more clangula.
Today, when I was at my stand at a huge Platanus in the tall cane, small birds came very close to me; a Troglodytes hyemalis, as well as a Certhia familiaris, almost flew into my face. In the afternoon I went out again to look for a place to set a steel trap, because foxes and mink are moving about near Harmony during the night. At a temperature of 10°R [54.5°F, 12.5°C] in the shade, the ground had thawed so deeply and thoroughly that one could scarcely walk on it. At this temperature the birds have disappeared and dispersed. Dreidoppel was very occupied stuffing the wolf. The sudden temperature change affected us and made us feel quite exhausted. In the evening, work on our wolf.