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Show 50G .l1J1JW1Hli X. pers to~clay; there arc great quantities ol a smaU blue beetle feeding on the willow!;. :May 8 The b ~dd eagle, of which there are great numbers, now have their young; the tnt·tlc-dove appears. 9 The chokecheny is now in bloom . 17 The geese have their young; the elk begin to pro~ ducc their yourlg; the antelope and doer as yet have not; the small species of whip-poor-will begin to cry; the blnc kbird, both large and small have appeared. VV c have had scarcely any thunder and lightning; the clouds arc gene. rally white, and accompanied with wind on ly. 18 Saw the wild rose in bloom. 'l'he brown thr·ush or mocking bird have appeared; had a good shower of rain to-day, it continued about two hours; this is the first shower that deserves the appcliation of min, which we have seen since we le ft fort l\Jandan; no thunder, &c. Saw some particles of snow fall to-day, which did not lie in suflicicnt quantity ou the gt·ound to be perceptible. liard frost last night; ice in the eddy water alonr, the shore, and the water fr o:te on the oars this morning; strawberries in !.>loom; saw tho first kingfisher. Saw the king-bird or bee -martin; the g rouse disappear; killed three of the bighom anirnals. 2G The last night wa~ much the warmest that we huvo experienced; l'onnd the covering of our blanket sufficient: the ait· is extremely d ry ~,ncl pure. ~B A slight thunder storm, the ait· was turbid in the forenoon, and appeared to be filled with smoke; we supposed it to proceed from the burning of the plains, which we arc informed arc frequently set on fire by the Snake Indians to compel the antelopes to resort to the wooLly and mountainous country which they inhabit; saw a small ' 'bite and black woodpecker, with a red ht>ad, iV1ay Junr 507 the same which i ~ common to the Atlantic s tates. 30 The t·ain commenced alJOUt 4 o'clock in the evening, and continued modcr·ately throu~h the course of the ni g ht; more l'ain has now fallen th:.m we have experienced ::;ince the 15th of September last. :> 1 The antelopes now bring- forth thcit· young; from the size of the younp; of the bi~hom, 1 !:>upposc they bring forth thti1· young as early at least as the el k. !I Great n umbers of sparrows, larks, curlews and other smallet· bi1·ds common to p rai ries, arc now laying th eir c~H~i ancl sitting; their nests arc in g reat abundance; th Jarg·c bat::;,ornighthawks, and the common buzzards appear; first saw the mountain-cock ucar the entrance of l\llnria's river. \ 15 The deer now begin to bring forth their young; the young magpies begin to fly. The brown and g-rizly bear begin to copulate. CJ7 At 1 P. M. a black cloud which arose in the southwest came on, accompanied with a high wind and violent thunde •· and lightning; a g reat quantity of hail ulso fell during this storm, which lasted about two hours and a h alf. The hail which was generally about the !;tze of pi g eons' eggs, and not unlike them in form, coverc.:d the g round to one inch and a half. Fot· about twen· ty minutes during this stot·m, hail rell of an enormous size with violence almost incredible. 'Vhen the hail-stones stntck the g round, they would rebound to the height of ten or twelve feet, and pass twen~y or thirty be fore they tou ched again. During this imruensc s tor·m, I was with the greater part of the m en on the portage; the men saved themselves, some by getting under a canoe, others by putting- sundry articles on |