The Arkansaw is a fine navigable [ They are considerably advanced toriver, for more than a thousand miles, wards civilization, and were very deat a middle stage of water, and affords cent in their deportment. They inas rich land, on both sides, as there is habit a lovely, rich part of the counin the world. In fact, on all the riv- try. The Osage village is built as ers is to be found land abundantly rich compactly as Boston, in the centre of and fertile; and uniformly to be found. a vast prairie. We rode forty miles Back from the water streams, the land into it before we came to the town. is quite indifferent, you may say poor, All the warriors, chiefs, and young till you go west two or three hundred men met us, two miles from the town, miles, then it is very good. The coun- on horseback, mounted on good horses try is very flat and level from the Mis- and as fine as they had feathers or sissippi, west, for 150 miles, then it any thing else to make them. They becomes hilly and broken, and rocky professed much friendship. I got them on all the hills. Of animals in this to suspend their hostilities. The Osage country, both winged and quadruped, town consisted of 145 dwellings, with we have no want. There is almost from ten to fifteen in each house. The every species of the bird and fowl average height of the men is more in great abundance; wild geese and than six feet. They are entire in a swans, turkies, quails, rabbits, rac- state of nature. Very few white peokoons, bear, wolf, catamount, wild-cat, ple have ever been among them.beaver, otter, deer, elk, and buffaloe; They know nothing of the use of the huntsman has full scope. money, nor do they use any ardent spirits.

"As to minerals, we have plenty of iron, lead, coal, salt, &c.

"I pitched my tent about half a "This country is the best for rais-mile from the town, and stayed five ing stock of every kind I have ever days. They made dances and play, seen. A man may raise and keep, every night to amuse me. These insummer and winter, any number he dians have a native religion of their pleases. They grow large and hand- own, and are the only tribe, I ever knew, that had. At day break, every morning, I could hear them at prayer, and crying for an hour. They appeared to be as devout in their way as any class of people. They made me a psesent of eight horses, when I left them.

some.

"Cotton and corn are the staple articles. The land, well tended, will average, about one thousand pounds, in the seed, to the acre; corn, from fifty to sixty bushels. The crop is good this year; but the birds destroy vast quantities of the corn.

"I have spent more than two months on a visit to the Cherokee and Osage Indians, this summer. The most of the rest of the time I have been sick. The object of my visit to the indian villages, was to settle a difficulty betwixt them. I went on to the Cherokees, (25 miles) and held a counsel with them. They agreed to send four of their chiefs with me to to the Osages, about 350 miles further. The settlement of the Cherokees is scattered for a long extent on the river, and appears not much different from those of the white people.

"I got there two horned frogsthey are a curiosity. I kept one of them alive twenty-two days; it laid twenty-two eggs, as large and about the shape and appearance of a large white bean, and died. I have them all safely preserved in spirits. I obtained the skin of a young wild hog; this is a curiosity: likewise the skin of a badger. I procured, also, some salt that came from the salt prairie, which is covered, for many miles, from four to six inches deep, with pure, white chrystalized salt. All men agree, both white and indian, who have been there, that they can cut and split off a piece

a foot square. This place is about
1300 miles, by the course of the river,
above this. One branch of the Ar-
kansaw passes through this prairie,
and sometimes overflows it. When
that is the case,
the water in the river
here is too salt to drink. There is a
place about 150 miles from this,
where the water gushes out of a moun-
tain so hot, that you may scald and
dress a hog with the water as it comes
from the ground. This is a fact which
admits of no doubt.

cers already mentioned. Lieutenant
Graham, Lieut. Swift, Dr. Say, Dr.
James, and Messrs. Seymour and
Peafe, designers and painters.

The expedition sat out from the Council Bluffs, on the 6th of June, directing their course first to the Pawnee villages, on a fork of the La Platte, distant about one hundred and twenty miles from the Council Bluffs, and thence proceeded to the rocky mountains, distant about four hundred miles from the Pawnee villages. The in

"David Starret, shot himself interval is a rolling prairie country, of Hemstead county, in this territory, about one year since; leaving a wife and two children, and but very little property. He went by the name of William Fisher. The cause of shooting himself was this: He was engaged in a law-suit which involved his whole property; and in order to save it, it became necessary to send to Boston for evidence. This he found would lead to his true name, and he rather chose to put an end to all at once."

NORTH WESTERN REGION OF THE
UNITED STATES.

From the National Intelligencer,
We were yesterday gratified with
a few minutes conversation with cap-
tain J. R. Bell, who arrived in this
city on Tuesday, from Cape Girardeau,
in Missouri, which place he left on the
13th October last. The information
derived from him was so interesting
to us, that we believe our readers will
be pleased with some account of it.

course destitute of hills and wood, so
that the mountains are visible at the
distance of one hundred and twenty
miles.
Time has not yet allowed a
calculation of the observations, which
were made as accurately as circum-
stances would allow, but it is suppo-
sed the greatest height of the ridge
does not exceed the elevation of four
thousand feet above the base of the
mountain.

The expedition separated into two parties, near the point of Arkansas designated on the maps of Pike's block house.

The party, under the command of major Long, proceeded thence with a view to strike the head-waters of

Red-river, But it appears the maps which we have are very defective, the courses of the rivers being almost wholly conjectural, and often entirely fabulous. The expedition did not attain the object sought, because it was not to be found where it is laid down in the maps, and fell upon the waters of the Canadian fork of the Arkansas, which it pursued, and terminated its tour at Belle Point on the Arkansas, the post mentioned, in the late message of the president to Congress, as being the advanced post of our cordon in that direction.

Captain Bell was second in rank of an exploring expedition, under the command of major Long, the objects of which were topographical and scientific information respecting the vast wilderness of country which stretches from the Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, to the foot of the rocky moun- The other party, under the comtains, of which so little is yet known. mand of capt. Bell, proceeded down The expedition being wholly pacific the Arkansas to Belle Point, which in its objects, consisted of some twenty place they reached on the 9th Septemsoldiers only, and the following offi-ber, after an absence of three months cers and artists, besides the two offi- from the haunts of civilization.