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
March 1, 1833
Dreary sky, deep snow, wind, cold. At seven thirty, -8°R [14°F, -10°C]. In our room it was cold, the wood was not dry, [and] the snow sticking to it was not yet melting near the stove, because green wood yields no heat. This included much black walnut wood, which, together with cherry wood, is the best wood in the region for cabinetmaking. On steamships the same observation has been made: if one does not have good, very dry wood, the energy is not nearly so great. The best kind of firewood in this region is hickory; this provides the most heat. Beech is not so good [and] must be dry. Black walnut is not so good. Ash wood burns quickly; oak wood, especially blackjack oak, is good if dry. Elm wood is good when dry. Hackberry is also good when dry. A cord of wood (a cord is 8′ long, 4′ wide, and 4′ high) is loaded onto a wagon with four oxen, and this wood sells for one dollar. But now, because wood in the vicinity of Harmony is decreasing more and more, it must be brought here from a greater distance and hence costs more. But because there is never dry wood, much more of it is needed. All varieties of wood are good when dry, though sweet gum is not so good.
At twelve noon, -3 1/2°R [24.1°F, -4.4°C]. Dreidoppel had gone out tracking; he came home at noon. He had shot a female mallard and a blue-crested jay. He was quite chilled and had seen blackbirds, a species I may not yet be familiar with. Mr. Bodmer went out in the afternoon; [he] took a rifle but did not shoot anything. He saw an extraordinary number of ducks on the Wabash, an owl surrounded by crows, and a large number of blackbirds. The cold was so piercing that he could not reload, for despite the bright sunshine, a strong, penetrating wind was blowing. Today I labeled our five chests, which were packed and ready to go to New Orleans and Europe. A sixth small one is filled with bones from old Indian graves and intended for Hofrath Blumenbach; in it there is a package of seeds for Professor Schrader and a letter for Hermann, who is now studying at Göttingen.
This cold weather will undoubtedly delay our departure, since Mr. Bodmer still has to finish his view of the Fox River, and when the weather is cold and the ground wet, sketching out in the open is impossible. Later Mr. Owen visited us and took great pleasure in Bodmer’s sketches. Bodmer went out a second time to shoot blackbirds, but he no longer found any. He saw an extraordinary number of ducks on the Wabash.
At seven o’clock in the evening, we went to the home of Mr. Lesueur. We spoke much about the limestone formations of the Ohio and Mississippi, where very many shells are found. Near Natchez, Vicksburg, and other towns, Mr. Lesueur has made significant collections of this kind, sketched all of them and engraved some of them—likewise at Tower Rock and Shawneetown on the Mississippi. He has precisely depicted and sketched the various strata, as well as the shells, animal teeth, fish bones, and the like occurring in them. He has likewise sketched the strata along the Mississippi and at Tower Rock. Mussels are very fragile when they are removed from the strata. Later, and especially after being washed with water, they are firmer. Mr. Lesueur has sent a significant collection of them to France.
At several places along the banks of the Mississippi, there are layers of sand washed down by the water which are soft and deep and into which one sinks deeply. These are called quicksands, and they can be dangerous for those unfamiliar with them. At Vicksburg, among other places, there are some. The terrain there is in part bizarre: deep ravines and fissures furrow the land. Some of them even run parallel with the bank (see Mr. Bodmer’s sketches of Natchez). At St. Louis on the Mississippi, Lesueur found some very nice big pentacrinites and encrinites on the steplike limestone ridges on the bank near the city. He sent many of these flat stones, including some very large pieces, to France.