4. BOTANY.
XI.
A descriptive list of the plants collected on the expedition, drawn up by Dr. John Torrey, has been published in the fourth volume of the American Journal of Science. References to this standard work may be conveniently made by botanists.
5. ZOOLOGY.
No professed zoologist was attached to the expedition, the topic being left to such casual attention as members of it might find it convenient to bestow. Of the fauna of the region, it was not believed that there were any of the prominent species which were improperly classed in the Systema Naturæ of Linnæus. It was doubtless desirable to know something more particularly of the character and habitat of the American species of the reindeer (C. sylvestris) and hyena, or glutton. Perhaps something new was to be gleaned respecting the extent of the genera arctomys and sciurus, among the smaller quadrupeds, and in the departments of birds and reptilia. The mode of travel gave but little opportunity of meeting the larger species in their native haunts, but it afforded opportunities of examining the skins of the quadrupeds at the several trading stations, and of listening to the narrations of persons who had engaged in their capture.
In effect, the crustacea of the streams furnished the most constant and affluent subject for enlarging the boundaries of species and varieties. The collections in this department were referred to members of the Lyceum of Natural History at New York, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadelphia. The results of their examinations have been published in two of the principal scientific journals of the country. It had been originally proposed to republish these papers in this Appendix, together with that on the botanical collections, and some other topics; but the long time that has elapsed, renders it, on second thought, inexpedient. Distinct references to the several papers are given.
XII.
A Letter embracing Notices of the Zoology of the Northwest.
By Henry R. Schoolcraft.
Vernon, N.Y., October 27, 1820.
Dear Sir: I reached this place, on my return from the sources of the Mississippi River, on the 21st instant, having left the canal at Oneida Creek at four o'clock in the morning, whence I footed it three miles through the forest, by a very muddy road, to the ancient location of Oneida Castle, while my baggage was carried by a man on horseback.