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 2, 1833
Early in the morning, clear, bright sky; calm weather; cold. At seven thirty, 16°R [4°F, 20°C]. During the night we shivered in our beds and had to bring our work tables very close to both fires, fireplace and stove, in order not to be chilled. The sun is shining very clearly over the dense, beautiful snow. This cold weather will not last long. The Americans have a saying: “When the winter comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.” At twelve o’clock, 9°R [11.8°F, 11.3°C].
[In the] afternoon I went to the creek near Harmony, which, however, was almost completely frozen over. Nevertheless, I found a pintail duck sitting on the ice and shot it. Young Duclos had shot a second Anas acuta. These birds anxiously sought small open brooks, and they did not seem to want to remain on the Wabash. I saw several more of them looking for water; they even came close to the many hunters from Harmony and were flushed but missed by them. On the creek ahead, where the flatboats are built, several were skimming about, and they pitched into the sparse forest and the cornfields when they had been driven from the water.
I saw and shot some blackbirds (Quiscalus ferruginea Bon.), which, together with some robins and finches, were laboriously hunting for food along the banks of the creek. The birds I observed included several woodpeckers, other ducks, and wild geese. The sun shone rather warmly, and the glare on the snow was extremely dazzling. Mr. Bodmer went out after I did. He returned toward evening and, like Dreidoppel, had not shot anything. As soon as the sun set, the cold returned with greater intensity. The evening sky was clear and bright, the horizon a gentle, beautiful red. I received another Anas clangula.
After seven o’clock we went to Mr. Say’s. We talked, among other things, about Peale’s Museum in Philadelphia. The collection was first established by the late elder Peale, who was a saddler and eventually an enthusiastic portrait painter. He did a self-portrait with his saddler’s hammer at his feet. This, as well as numerous pictures of distinguished men from the time of the American Revolution [and] distinguished scholars including von Humboldt, of Messrs. Say, Lesueur, etc., are included in this collection, hung in a row. The elder Peale even gave his sons the names of famous painters, for example, Raphaelle, Rembrandt, Titian, Rubens, etc. He painted rather badly. The museum still belongs to his family, and they have rented space for it in a large building. The first item in Peale’s collection was the paddlefish (Platyrostra Les.), which he obtained from the Ohio River. Since then he has obtained additional material from various quarters and established a significant collection. He was, incidentally, not a naturalist. Night bright, clear, cold.