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
November 19, 1832
In the morning, dreary, cloudy sky, cold. At seven thirty, -3°R (25.3°F, -3.8°C. All night there had been a violent storm from the east or southeast, and in our room it was very cold because of the strong draft. Nor could the open fires overcome the cold during the morning. It seems that winter is beginning early this year.
Mr. Say came to my place to identify my mussels from the Wabash. He knows about forty-three species here. (They are listed in the footnote on the following page.) Say provided the first names in the American edition of Nicholson’s Encyclopedia (article “Conchology”). Then came Lamarck (Animaux sans vertèbres). Next, Rafinesque in publications of the Brussels society (Monograph of the Bivalves of the Ohio). Later, Barnes published in Silliman’s Journal. Say contributed several short essays to the Disseminator (a newspaper that he gave me). A species described by Green in the Annals of the Maclurian Lyceum. After Barnes, Lea published three essays in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. Lea’s papers were sharply criticized by an anonymous writer in the Featherstonehaugh Journal of Geology. He says that Lea’s’ names are incorrect and that the work is a picture book for children. Rafinesque’s descriptions are so short that nothing can be identified from them, (and) the plates are very bad. Mr. Say is a most thorough, conscientious observer and his descriptions and identifications are certainly very correct.
At twelve o’clock noon, -3 1/2°R [24.1°F, -4.4°C]. A shrill, piercing wind. Afterward, occasional snowflakes in a powerful wind; soon a steady snowfall. Mr. Bodmer had been out at noon and had purchased a fine otter skin for one and one-half dollars (about three florins forty-five crowns). The man also had some poor raccoon pelts. This otter had a very dark blackish brown color. Earlier I had also seen beaver with the same odd color. Mr. Say had given me a small cask of amphibians, all from the Harmony region. I examined it today and found the following animals: 1. Menobranchus lateralis (rare in the Wabash), 2 specimens; 2. Aspidonectes ocellatus (very small), 1 sp.; 3. two or three frogs; 4. one striped lizard with a blue tail; 5. Arvicola xanthognatha Leach, 1 sp.; 6. Coluber flaviventris Say, of a dark color, 2 sp.; 7. striped snakes (with three stripes Coluber sirtalis and sipedon) [— —] sp.; 8. one slender snake with three stripes (Coluber saurita), 1 sp.; 9. Heterodon platyrhinus Latr., 1 sp.
Today at Mr. Say’s place, I saw ears of corn of quite excellent size; they measured two inches, nine lines in diameter, and I counted 1,000 kernels on one of them. This useful plant occurs here in very many varieties. One kind, which is called sweet corn, is especially tasty when roasted while still not mature; its kernels look shriveled. One kind has completely white, another one, beautifully striped red and white kernels. In addition there are red, yellow, and blue varieties. Here along the Wabash, the plant itself grows much taller, probably ten feet high, than beyond the Alleghenies. Very delicious bread and cake are baked from it. These kernels, too, are prepared for eating in various ways. When the meal is cooked with milk, this dish is called mush. Here there are very many different varieties of so-called Indian corn.
In the afternoon, when I was visiting Mr. Lesueur, who was ailing, we found a hare native to this area (rabbit, Lepus americanus) under a pile of lumber near the buildings and were able to drive it out only with great effort. Pursued by four dogs, it fled through several fences and escaped. The heavy dogs leaped over the fences and soon lost sight of their quarry. A cold storm lasted all day, and the night was black, gloomy, and wild.