May 23, 1834
The hunters went out very early but unfortunately returned empty-handed at breakfast. [There] was a young female black bear (Ursus americanus) nearby, which I had fetched and [then] bought. Departure at six thirty. At seven thirty, 75°F [23.9°C]. Brisk wind out of the southeast. At ten o’clock we put ashore, because the wind was too strong. The hunters pursued wild turkeys. At noon we reached Chariton, [and] toward two o’clock, Little Arrow Rock, whose location is very pleasant. A few men there had just caught a colossal white catfish. Unfortunately they walked away too fast.
We heard a strange scraping beneath our boat. Our skipper assured us that it originated from a fish with spiny fins, the casburgot of St. Louis, or malacigan, which produces that sound [by rubbing] its spiny fins on the bottom of a boat. This fish is supposed to be white with brown on its back. It weighs up to five [or] six pounds and has a hump on its back. It is called the buffalo [fish] by the Americans. After sundown, the old village of Franklin was on the left; on the right, Boonville, with a steam sawmill. We put ashore for the night at the right, a quarter of an hour below the latter town.
Two Negroes from a neighboring plantation Boonville, [who had been] felling trees across the river, [stopped] and stared in wonder at our bears.
One of them carried a four- to five-foot-long metal speaking tube in his hand; they use it to call each other together in the forest. The Negroes of this area are all slaves.
The bank where we lay consisted of rocks overgrown with high forest. We sent our people [to get] provisions [from] the next houses—they had to go quite a long way. After eight o’clock a strong thunderstorm developed, with severe thunder and lightning [and] very heavy rain.