the river in bluffs of various heights, till it ends in a knoll about
three hundred feet above the water; on the top of this a mound, of
twelve feet diameter at the base and six feet high, is raised over the
body of the deceased king; a pole of about eight feet high is fixed in
the centre; on which we placed a white flag, bordered with red, blue,
and white. The Blackbird seems to have been a personage of great
consideration; for ever since his death he is supplied with provisions,
from time to time, by the superstitious regard of the Mahas. We
descended to the river and passed a small creek on the south, called, by
the Mahas, Waucandipeeche, (Great Spirit is bad.) Near this creek and
the adjoining hills the Mahas had a village, and lost four hundred of
their nation by the dreadful malady which destroyed the Blackbird. The
meridian altitude made the latitude 42° 1' 3-8/10" north. We encamped,
at seventeen miles distance, on the north side in a bend of the river.
During our day's course it has been crooked; we observed a number of
places in it where the old channel is filled up, or gradually becoming
covered with willow and cottonwood; great numbers of herons are observed
to-day, and the mosquitoes annoy us very much.

August 12. A gentle breeze from the south, carried us along about ten
miles, when we stopped to take meridian altitude, and sent a man across
to our place of observation: yesterday he stepped nine hundred and
seventy-four yards, and the distance we had come round, was eighteen
miles and three quarters. The river is wider and shallower than usual.
Four miles beyond this bend a bluff begins, and continues several
miles; on the south it rises from the water at different heights, from
twenty to one hundred and fifty feet, and higher as it recedes on the
river: it consists of yellow and brown clay, with soft sandstone imbeded
in it, and is covered with timber, among which may be observed some red
cedar: the lands on the opposite side are low and subject to inundation,