130 PEWEE FLYCATCHER.
M T J S C I C A P A F U S C A , Ch. Bonaparte's Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 68.
P E W I T F L Y C A T C H E R , M U S C I C A P A N U N C I O L A , Wils. Amer. Ornith. voL ii. p. 78.
PL 13. Fig. 4 Nuttall, Manual, part i. p. 278.
Adult Male. Plate CXX. Fig. 1.
Bill rather long, broad and depressed at the base, compressed towards
the tip, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line slightly arched, the
sides convex, the edges sharp, the tip declinate ; lower mandible straight,
the back convex, the edges sharp. The general proportions are rather
slender, the eyes large. Feet short, rather slender ; tarsus shorter than
the middle toe, compressed anteriorly scutellate, sharp behind ; toes
slender, free; claws small, weak, slightly arched, acute.
Plumage blended, soft, glossy; feathers of the head elongated and
erectile. Basirostral bristles long. Wings of ordinary length, the third
and fourth quills longest. Tail rather long, emarginate.
Bill and feet black. Iris brown. The general colour of the plumage
is dull olive green, darker on the head; the quills and tail dusky, the
larger coverts and inner secondaries edged with pale brown ; the outer
tail feathers whitish on their outer edge towards the base. The lower
parts in general are brownish white, the sides dusky.
Length 7 inches, extent of wings 9 i ; bill along the ridge x
6
g , along
the edge \% ; tarsus f.
Adult Female. Plate CXX. Fig. 2.
The Female resembles the Male, being only a little lighter on the
sides of the neck.
• win I A-riUr A T I H W T - odt'tfuSfoiTi ot vffforrrooi , faflgorrerb ion tiin i. si.
THE COTTON PLANT.
G O S S Y P I U M H E R B A C E U M , Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. ii. p. 4 6 2 . — M O N A D E L P H I A POLYA
N D R I A , Linn. M A L V A C E A E , Juss.
See vol. i. p. 359.
( 131 )
T H E SQUATTERS OF T H E M I S S I S S I P P I .
ALTHOUGH every European traveller who has glided down the Mississippi,
at the rate of ten miles an hour, has told his tale of the Squatters,
yet none has given any other account of them than that they are " a sallow,
sickly-looking sort of miserable beings,'1 living in swamps, and subsisting
on pig-nuts, Indian corn, and bear's flesh. It is obvious, however,
that none but a person acquainted with their history, manners, and condition,
can give any real information respecting them.
The individuals who become squatters, choose that sort of life of their
own free will.. They mostly remove from other parts of the United
States, after finding that land has become too high in price, and they are
persons who, having a family of strong and hardy children, are anxious
to enable them to provide for themselves. They have heard from good
authorities, that the country extending along the great streams of the
West, is of all parts of the Union the richest in its soil, the growth of its
timber, and the abundance of its game ; that, besides, the Mississippi is
the great road to and from all the markets in the world ; and that every
vessel borne by its waters, affords to settlers some chance of selling their
commodities, or of exchanging them for others. To these recommendations
is added another, of even greater weight with persons of the above
denomination, namely, the prospect of being able to settle on land, and
perhaps to hold it for a number of years, without purchase, rent or tax
of any kind. How many thousands of individuals in all parts of the
globe would gladly try their fortune with such prospects, I leave to you,
reader, to determine.
As I am not disposed too highly to colour the picture which I am
about to submit to your inspection, instead of pitching on individuals
who have removed from our eastern boundaries, and of whom certainly
there are a good number, I shall introduce to you the members of a family
from Virginia, first giving you an idea of their condition in that country,
previous to their migration to the west. The land which they and their
ancestors have possessed for a hundred years, having been constantly
forced to produce crops of one kind or other, is now completely worn out.
It exhibits only a superficial layer of red clay, cut up by deep ravines,
through which much of the soil has been conveyed to some more fortunate
neighbour, residing in a yet rich and beautiful valley; Their strenuous
i 2