James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 1James, Edwin
History
James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 1
James, Edwin
Indians of North America; Rocky Mountains; United States -- Discovery and exploration; West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
3. _Coluber proximus._--Body above black, trilineate,
vertebral line ocraceous, lateral one yellowish, a double
white spot on the parietal plates.
Description. _Body_ above black, with three vittæ; vertebral
vitta ocraceous, occupying the dorsal series of scales and a
moiety of each one of the second series each side; lateral
vitta greenish-yellow, occupying more than the moiety of the
seven and eight series of scales: beneath the lateral vitta
the black is tinged with greenish-blue; _head_ with seven
olivaceous plates above; parietal ones with a double, white,
longitudinal spot: _intermaxillary plate_ pentangular, the
superior termination obtusely rounded; _posterior canthus of
the eye_ three-scaled, of which the two inferior ones are
white; _anterior canthus_ white; _supermaxillary plates_
bluish-green; _maxillary angles_ with a small black dot;
_inferior maxilla_ white beneath; beneath pale greenish-blue.
Plates 178, scales 86.
Total length 2 ft. 7-1/4 in.
Tail 7-3/4 in.
Resembles _Coluber saurita_, _ordinatus_ and _parietalis_.
Numerous longitudinal, abbreviated white lines, may be
observed by dilating the black portion of the skin as in
_ordinatus_; these lines or spots are obsolete upon the neck
and upon the posterior portion of the body. The extreme tip of
the tail is wanting in this specimen.
It differs from _saurita_ in the numerical proportion which
its subcaudal scales bear to its plates; from _ordinatus_ it
may be distinguished by being destitute of the two series of
black points beneath; it is a much more slender serpent than
_parietalis_, and the tail is proportionally longer.--JAMES.
[195] The name of this dance is apparently a derivative of the
Canadian-French _gingue_ (_se mettre en_), meaning to engage in
the gaiety of a lively company. The verb _ginguer_ means to run
or jump hither and thither; it is a derivative of the Norman
_giguer_, which has the same meaning.--ED.
[196] Lucien Fontenelle, born in New Orleans of French parents,
fled from his home when fifteen years of age, and engaged in the
fur-trade at St. Louis. Later he became a leader in the mountain
explorations of the American Fur Company. His wife was an Omaha
woman, and some of his descendants were prominent in the history
of Nebraska; a son, Logan Fontenelle, became a chief of the
Omaha tribe. Fontenelle is supposed by some to have committed
suicide at Fort Laramie, about 1836, but the manner of his death
is uncertain.--ED.
[197] The Gens des Feuilles (People of the Leaves) were the
Assiniboin tribe of the Siouan family. Lewis and Clark reported
their numbers at two hundred and fifty men. At that time they
lived on White River, in South Dakota.--ED.
[198] In Dickinson County, Iowa.--ED.
[199] Sha-mon-e-kus-se.--JAMES.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account