14 April: Early in the morning, a beautiful, bright day. Very cool until the sun rises. The river gives off mist at this temperature. At 7:30, 8°R ⟨[50°F, 10°C]⟩. To the right was a settlement with a grainfield in the forest, beautifully green. The river forms a broad expanse with islands and sandbars; to the left a high, isolated boulders like turrets isolated boulder stands alone on the somewhat receded wooded hills, like a tower alone in the forest. Major Dougherty once came down the Missouri with the Iowas (see St. Louis), and these Indians told him there had been a legend among their ancestors that this boulder had arisen from the dung that a larger breed of buffaloes living in the sky always dropped at this place. They themselves no longer believed this legend.

Somewhat farther on there is a sandbar to the right in the river and a beautiful island before us. Soon we see a second isolated boulder, about 50 feet high to the left on the bank close to the edge of the river below, named Monitor Rock.M19Monitor (Manito) Rock. Then a creek soon appears, opposite which there is an island to the right, and a quarter of an hour later, on the left bank, on eroded hills covered with rock clusters, a little hamlet, Marion, consisting of several scattered houses. Thereupon follows another series of rock turrets on the hills. More of the right riverbank is lower, with a beautiful lofty forest that is just turning green. The rocks to the left, with their tower shapes, now come closer together and soon form a uniform rocky wall. Here the steamboat Boonslick passes us downriver. Farther on, there are intermittent hills to the right; large deposits of driftwood along the bank; along the left bank, long fringes of cottonwood trees. At 8:30 the ship received a violent jolt on a sandbar but was soon afloat again. Before us, a pretty island.

After three-quarters of an hour, we reach the steamboat Heroine. At a quarter past nine, the direction of the river is N 9 W. The Heroine turns around, puts in at the left riverbank, and takes on wood. Several persons had gathered here to see both ships at the same time. The settlement where the Heroine put in has the name Nashville. Only one house can be seen, however. To the left we now have a long island. In the forest to the right, the yellowish green maple has beautiful blossoms and the redbud purple ones. On this side, rocks rise up in the forest. In one valley there is a settlement;[Page 2:14] the hill above or beyond it has a striking, sharp rocky edge toward the house, where redbud is blooming.

A quarter of an hour farther on, Perche Creek, along which the rocky hills recede and have made way for a long, low-lying border of cottonwoods. To the left behind the island were the mouths of the Little Monitor (Manito) and Saline creeks. Now on the left bank follows a broad treacherous spot full of snags; we sail through and brush against them. About an hour later, we pass the rock walls along the left bank; forest on both banks. A brisk, rather contrary wind is blowing.

One-half or three-quarters of an hour later, very interesting limestone walls appear to the right; they are separated into broad towers by ravines; red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) grows on them. 92 Falcons (Falco peregrinus ?) nest in these rocks, which they were encircling. Beneath one of the ravines, a small stream fell into the river in a pretty cascade. These ravines among the rocks are often very rugged and picturesque; every dome jutting out is a rocky turret. In one cave we saw a red spot high up on the rock, undoubtedly made by Indians. Opposite these beautiful rocks

lies a nice large island, opposite the end of which, in the cliff to the right, there is a large round cave. Then come two towerlike overhanging rocks, as in the Heidelberg Castle; then another, smaller cave. Swallows nest in these rocks; they have white abdomens. Then follow similar bold towers again, with cedars (Juniperus) and dry forest trees on top of them. Most rocks have a round, towerlike shape with horizontal strata. To the left, along the other bank, are several houses. In the ravines among the rocks, which are often wide and all filled
with forest, there must be excellent places for hunting. High up on the rocks, beautiful redbuds (Cercis) often bloom onearth. In one of the gorges, Picus pileatus (called woodcock) were flying.

Immediately after lunch we reach Rocheport on the Moniteau (Manitu) River, which emerges above the town. Its location near a hill is pretty; the hamlet is just two years old. Columbia is located about 6 miles upriver. Downstream Upstream from the village, the hills recede to the right. At twelve noon, 12 3/4°R [60.7°F, 15.9°C].

[Directly] behind the hamlet (above it) there are rocks with red drawings, certainly by Indians. Thirty years ago this entire region was still inhabited by Indians. On the rock we see a male figure with raised arms drawn in red. Several hunters go out.[Page 2:15] A cave once again; nothing but tower-shaped boulders above which turkey buzzards fly. At a quarter to one, flat wooded banks to the left; to the right, forest with rock clusters. The rocky banks recede now; behind a fringe of willows, tall cottonwoods rise. Here we cross over straight to the left bank, where cultivated fields and then woods appear, some already very green. We again move over to the upper point of an island, then left again, where wooded hills without rocks streak [past us].

After we had followed this bank for half an hour, we put in at the wooded hills to take on wood. We found some pretty plants, including one that had not appeared before. Moniteau and Bonne Femme creeks remained to the right. About an hour later, we reached Boonville, a town on the left bank. Here we halted and bought cigarros, which are made from locally cultivated tobacco. Opposite us lies the hamlet Old Franklin and, a mile from there in the countryside, New Franklin, a secure village that was built here because Old Franklin was not very healthful and also because the river was endangering the shore. The present ⟨[town of]⟩ Franklin is very well situated on the elevations. I had hoped to obtain botanical paper at Boonville, but since it was Sunday, the stores were closed. The town has forty to fifty houses. The inhabitants came to the riverbank to see the steamboat. Dreidoppel and Mr. Bodmer nearly arrived too late, as we were pulling away; they were fetched by the boat.

From here on, the left bank is not high; the right one, completely flat. To the right, sandbars and islands appear in the river. Half an hour farther, the Lamine River emerges; behind the forest lie cultivated fields; a farm downriver from the inlet. Redbud (Cercis) is blooming everywhere. The Lamine is about as swift as the Lahn. The sky turned cloudy Its right bank is steep at its mouth; the left one, flat; both of them wooded. Twenty minutes beyond Lamine, on the right bank, there is a small settlement; here Hardeman lived, a good botanist, who died recently. Two large islands are located in the river close by, and a small one in between; all of them are to our right.

At five o’ clock we struck bottom solidly but were not grounded. Later the river is very wide; there are sandbars here with much wood. A half hour later, a bar on the left, along the bank, with an unusually large mass of stacked logs wildly piledupon piled upon each other. Along the bank follow several islands with narrow channels, on which rushes (Equisetum) M20This plant is Equisetum hyemale. grow underneath the cottonwoods and willows. This type of shave grass is also good for polishing, and the livestock like to eat it. To the left, on a long ridge of hills along the river, [is] Pierre à la flèche (Arrow Rock), where flint stones, from which the Indians made arrowheads, are dug up. In a ravine before this hill is a village called New Philadelphia, but the residents did not want to use this name. We put in here for the night, went into a store, and bought several reams of botanical paper for five dollars.