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Show 530 Lewis ancZ Clarke's Expedition common gooseberry,- though lar·gPr, 'l'he stem is covet•ed · with very sharp thorns or briars: the g•·ass too is very luxuriant and would yield fine hay in parcels of several acres. The sand-rushes will grow in many places as high as a man's breast, and as thick as stalks of wheat; it would supply the best food during the winter to cattle of any trading OJ' mi~ Iitary post. Sacajawea, our Indian woman, informs us that we are encamped on the precise spot whcr·e heP countrymen, the Snake Indians, had their huts five years ago, when the Minnctarces of Knife river first came in sight of them, and from which they hastily retreated three miles up the Jefferson, and coneealcd themselves in the woods. The 1\linnetarees, however, put·sued and attacked them, killed four men, as many women, ami a number of boys; and made prisoners of four other boys, aud all the females, of whom Sacajawea was one: she does not, ho"·eyer, show any distress at these recollection~, nor any joy at the prospect of being restored to her country; for she seems to J>Ossess the folly or the philosophy of not suflering her feelings to extend beyond the anxiety of having pleuty to eat and a few tr•inkets to wear. Montla.y 29. Tlris morning the hunters brought in some fat deer of the long-tailed red kind, which are quite as large as those or the United States, and are, indeed, the only kind we have found at this place: there are numbers of the sandhill cranes feeding in the meadows; we caught a young one of the same colour as the a·ed deer, which, though it had nearly ~ttained its full growth could uot fly; it is very fierce and stt·1kes a severe blow with its beak. 'rhe kingfisher has become quite common on this side of the falls: but we have seen none of the summer duck since leaving tbat place. 'l'he mallard duek, which we saw for the first time on the 20th instant, with theit~ young, are now abundant, though they do not breed on the 1\iissouri. below the mountains. The small bh·ds already described are also abun- • Up the ~lissouri. 331 dant in the plains; here too, nre gt·eat quantities of gt•asshoppers or cricf{ets; and among other animals, a laa·ge ant ,vith a reddish brown body and legs, and a black head and abdomen, who build little cones of gt·avel, ten or twelve inches high, without a mixture or sticks, and IJut little ea1·th. In the river we see a great abundance of fish, but we cannot tempt them to bite by any thing on our hooks. The whole party have been engaged in dressing skins, and making them into moccasins and leggings. ~aptaiu Clarke's fever has almost left him, but he still remains Yery languid and has a g-.neral soreness in his lilnbs. The latitude of om· camp, as the mean of two observations of the meridian altitude of the sun's lower limiJ with octant by back observation, is N. 45° ~-1' W' &'". 'rucsday so. Captain Clarke was this morning much restored; and, therefore, having made all ihc observation ~ necessary to fix the longitude, we reloaded out• canoes, ami began to ascend Jefferson river. The river now bccom<'s ' 'ery croolicd, an(] forms bends on each side; the cul'l'cnt too is rapid, ~md cut into a great number of channels, and sometimes shoals, the beds of which consist of coarse gravel. The islands are unusually numerous: on the right m·e high plains occasionally forming cliffs of roclis and hills; while the left was an extensive low ground aml prail'ie intersec1c(l by a number of bayous or channels falling into the river. Captain Lewis, who had walked through it with Chaboueau, his wife, and two invalids, joined us at dinner, a few miles above our camp. llet·e the Indian woman said was the place where she had been made lH'isoner. '£he men being too few to contend with the Minnctarces, mount<'d their horses, and fled as soon as the attack begau. '!'he women and children dispersed, and Sacajawea as she was crossing at a shoal place, was ove1·talien in tltc middle of the river by her pursuers. As we proceeded, the low grounds were covered with cottonwood and a thick underbrush, and on both sides of the river, except where tl1e high bills pre· |