the world. I found it full of interesting details of life among the
mountains, and of the singular castes and races, both white men and red
men, among whom he had sojourned. It bore, too, throughout, the impress
of his character, his bonhommie, his kindliness of spirit, and his
susceptibility to the grand and beautiful.

That manuscript has formed the staple of the following work. I have
occasionally interwoven facts and details, gathered from various
sources, especially from the conversations and journals of some of the
captain's contemporaries, who were actors in the scenes he describes.
I have also given it a tone and coloring drawn from my own observation,
during an excursion into the Indian country beyond the bounds of
civilization; as I before observed, however, the work is substantially
the narrative of the worthy captain, and many of its most graphic
passages are but little varied from his own language.

I shall conclude this notice by a dedication which he had made of his
manuscript to his hospitable brother in arms, in whose quarters I
found him occupied in his literary labors; it is a dedication which,
I believe, possesses the qualities, not always found in complimentary
documents of the kind, of being sincere, and being merited.

To JAMES HARVEY HOOK, Major, U. S. A., whose jealousy of its honor,
whose anxiety for its interests, and whose sensibility for its wants,
have endeared him to the service as The Soldier's Friend; and whose
general amenity, constant cheerfulness, disinterested hospitality, and
unwearied benevolence, entitle him to the still loftier title of The
Friend of Man, this work is inscribed, etc.