Early departure. We traveled through magnificent forests even taller and more [densely wooded] than yesterday. I noticed far more sheep being kept near the houses in this area than [I did] anywhere else. In many places the forest was composed of tall beech trees with most branch tips reddish brown, damaged by frost [earlier this year]. Silage as well as fruit [trees] froze in these areas. The catalpa was now in full bloom. Incidentally, there were no flowers on the forest floor during this season, despite the lush, dense plant growth. We often saw the gray squirrel (Sciurus cinereus). People like to eat it; it is also served in the inns to travelers. The area was hilly and beautiful with small, wild valleys stretching through the high, cool, solid forest.

We came across many backwoodsmen on horseback. The married women smoked their little pipes, even while riding. At noon we reached an open place in the forest on a creek where a large sawmill had been erected. An inn was located nearby; stages stop [there] for lunch. The owner was absent. Initially they did not want to serve us, but finally they let themselves be persuaded. We got squirrel meat, green onions, and coffee. In smaller places like this, the coachman usually eats at the same table.

From the sawmill it was about three miles to the White River, [but first] we had to cross wooded lowlands, where the heat was very high; wild grapevines (Vitis) were thriving there, because the ground was damp and [there was protection from] the wind. The White River is a nice river, larger than the Lahn in Germany. We were ferried across for 25 cents. On the opposite bank [there] was a small well in the sand with excellent, clear water.

The area changed considerably, and from [this point] on, [we saw] more or less the same plants growing in the sandy soil ? that were on the prairie near St. Louis and on the strip of land mentioned yesterday. The blunt-lobed oak appears again here, fifteen to forty feet tall at its full height. It forms shady, shaftlike forests [and] has thick, dark green leaves, a dense crown, and coarse bark. The road, which led uninterruptedly through [these] forests, was still new and rough: the stumps of felled oaks standing in [the road] often gave us a jolt. The older and better road [meandered] a little, [and] they [had] therefore created this shorter one. Beneath the oaks just mentioned, [there] was good grass and plant growth, and Mr. Lesueur collected many interesting plants for me.

It should be mentioned that wherever we found sandy soil here, all the plants were blooming; but on the fertile forest floor, no blossoms could be seen. [From the sandy area] we collected the beautiful orange-red and fire-colored Lilium [——], whose petals are narrow below and spotted black at [their base]; the leaves are lanceolate. [We also collected] the very large-flowered Cypripedium [——], most of the plants found in sandy soil yesterday, [and] several others, but not the light-red-colored Monarda from St. Louis or the bright red [——]. The partridge was very common everywhere. [One saw] beautiful butterflies, particularly ajax, philenor, turnus, and another slightly smaller species with round, black dots on a brownish background; the plexippus were very numerous. The road to Vincennes [runs] continuously through the forest of blunt-lobed oak [just described].

From the sawmill mentioned earlier, where we stopped at noon, it is 15 miles to [Vincennes]. The area in the vicinity of the White River was a little hilly at first, but it quickly changed into an extensive plain that stretched up to the banks of the Wabash. On this plain, two species of oak predominate—the blunt-lobed [one] and the willow oak (Quercus phellos)—mixed, as [they were] near St. Louis. We noticed more or less the same plants, even the light vermilion [——] and the crimson-colored Rudbeckia that Mr. Lesueur found on top of a hill in the prairie. Here, too, [we saw] some Quercus phellos imbricaria? as isolated bushes. Between them, obtusiloba nigra (grows), and often both are seen mixed (together). The leaves of the former are frequently very broad and lush, because the sandy soil is damp and marshy; [the soil] is dark colored because of its wetness. We noticed swampy pools or puddles under many bushes, and the oak forest was interspersed with meadows and marshy areas. A yellow and white Nymphaea, similar to the European [species], bloomed in the marshy waters. The former has round leaves that lie flat on the water; the latter [has] more heart-shaped, pointed leaves raised one foot above the water.

Many beautiful birds—Icterus phoeniceus (le commandeur) [red-winged blackbirds], black blackbirds, partridges, and urubus (soaring in the air)—were very common.

We approached Vincennes, leaving the oak thicket. On the left was the so-called Warriors Hill, where the Americans observed the enemy in [——], when they took Vincennes from the British. It is densely overgrown with oaks and [is] flat like most old Indian mounds, [which are] generally similar to the ones near St. Louis. Now we saw Vincennes—a town spread out and scattered on the plain—in front of us, and [we] soon reached it. It is built on the bank of the Wabash. Today the heat was not as great as yesterday; the sky [was] cloudy; a little windy [with] much dust.

The town of Vincennes [has,] in part, roads running [somewhat scattered] from the center out. It is one of the oldest settlements in the West and about as old as Philadelphia. The French built it, and at the time, it was one of the posts that formed a secure line of (French) communication in this wilderness. Very old buildings could still be seen here, even though [there were] also many fairly nice, new brick houses. There were also many descendants of the old French settlers, who are, however, coarse, uneducated, and superstitious and [not part of] the better-educated segment of the population. The place was lively and (held) promise of lucrative trade traffic. The streets were not yet paved; the houses were mostly small, especially the older ones, with [only] one story. Many shade trees, especially locusts (Robinia pseudo-acacia), were planted in front of [these homes]. The courthouse is located outside [of town] on the prairie; as usual, [it] is a square building, [but its] white plaster was [eye-catching]. The [land] surrounding the town alternated between shrublands, meadows, and open marshy places.

We stayed in Clark’s Hotel in Vincennes. The stages depart from there, and we wanted to leave the next morning. But the owner told us rather laconically that we had by far too much luggage for the small, six-seat stage leaving on the morrow. We had to wait for the next one, which caused us two days’ delay, and we decided to make good use of [the time] in Mr. Lesueur’s company.

We visited a friend of Mr. Lesueur’s, Mr. Badollet from Geneva, who had lived here a very long time and knew the area very well. Unfortunately, the old man was ill, and we could gain only a little instruction from his conversation.

Another man lives here, now impoverished and forgotten, who [assisted] and was of great use to the Americans when they took Vincennes: old Colonel Vigo. He was promoted to colonel but left to live in want.

Mr. Badollet is interested in the sciences, and with his participation, a reading library was established here that is still new, numbering [only] about 1,500 volumes. Books are purchased annually [with a budget of] about 100 dollars, and there are already some very nice acquisitions. Mr. Badollet bought a nice, well-preserved lower jaw of a mastodon that was found in the White River and deposited [it in this library]. Mr. Lesueur sketched it.