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Show ~JIAPTER V.tl. A gencr!ll uescr1ption of the beasts, birds nod plnnts, &c. found by the 11arty in tllll cxpcuition. TnE vegetable productions of the country, wltich furnish a large proportion or the food of the Indians, al'e the roots of a S]lecies o£' thistle, the fern, the rush, the Jiquorictt, and a small eylimh·ic l'Oot, resembling iu fia voul' and consistcn .. cy the sweet potatoe. 1st. '"l'he thistle, calleu by the natives shanatanque, is a plant which gt·ows in a deep, rich, dry loam, with a eonsidcl'abJe mixture of sand. 'l'lw stem is sim],le, asccntling, cylindric, and hisJlid, and dsing to the height of three ot· four feet, 'l'be eauline Jifc, w hicb, as wcJl as the stem of the last season is dead, is simillc, crenate, and oblong; rathcl' more obtuse at its apex than at it itu;ct·t ion, which is decurrent, and its }lOsition ~lecliniug; whilst the margin i:; armed with prickles, and its disk is hail'y. 'l'hc Hower too is dry and mutilated; but the llel'ieat·p seems mneh like that or the common thistle. '"l'he root-leaves, which still pos~ ess theil· vcrdm·e, and arc about ha.lf gt·owu, :u·e ol' a pale r,rcen colour. The root, however, i!i the ouly llat·t used. l t is ft'om nine to Iil'h·cn inches long, about the size of a man's thumb, perpentlicuhu·, fu!;;ifol·m, and with from two to fout· radicles. 'l'he t·ind is of a bt·own col(llll', and ·omc' vhat rough. 'Vhetl fit·st tal~cn fl'om tbc earth, it is white, ~tul ncal'ly as et·isp a.s a earr·ot, and in this state is somctimrs eaten without any l,rcpara.tion. But after it is pre· pared by the same process used lot· the Jmshcco quamash~ -whid1 is the most usual and the best method, it becomes ~laeli, aml much imlwoved in fiavout·. Its taste i~ exactly ];cwis and Clcu·ke's EXjJcditiou, &e. H.·9 that of sugar, aml it is indeed the sweetest vegetable emJ> loycd by the Indians. Afll'l' being bak(·d in the kiln, it is either eaten simply or with train Hil; ometirnes pounded fine and mixed with coltl wa.tct·, until it is rcdur('d to the consistence of sagam ity, or Indian mush, which last method is the most ;1gr·ceahle to om· palates. 2. 'l'ht'CC specieS or fet•n gt'OW in this IH'i~hbOUl'hood, but the •·oot of only one is eaten. It is very a.humlant in those pat·ts of tho open lands aud prail'ies which have a deep, loosr, rich, blaek loam, without any and. There, it attains the hright of fout· or five f(·et. and is a. beautiful plaut 'vitb. a fine ~··c ·n (•oJout· in sum me-t·. 'l'hc stem, which is smooth, (,•ylituh·ic~ ami !,]ightly gL·oove<l on one side, rises erectly about hall' its ht'ight, whrn it divides into two bt·anehes, or rather· long foofstalk~;, which put fol'th in pair·s from ono ~i(1C only, antltW~U· the edges 01' jhe !;I'OOVC, tleelining backW~ WUS fl'om the g1·ooved ~icle. These footstalks at·e them .. selves gt·oovcd and C) lindrit·. and as thry gt·a.dually taper towal'd tho cxtl'cmitic • vut forth othet•s of a smaller size, which ::u·e altet·nate, and have fot·fy OJ' Jifly alternate, piuua. te, hori~outal, and sc ·sile leaves: the lcavrs a.rc multipartite for half' the lcugth of their footstalk, when they assume the tongue-like foa·m aHogethet·; bcinp;. morcovct·, revolute, with the up1 et· di ·k smooth, aud tlwlowez·t·esrmhling cotton: the top is annual, and therefore tlt.':u1 at pt·est>nt, but it produ(',(' S no flowt~t· or fruit: the root itself i!; perennial :wd grows hot·izonta.lly; sometimes a. little divrr~ing, or obliqudy dcsePJHling, antl ft·cquC'ntly dividing itself' as it procec<1s, allCl shout ins- up a numhet• of stems. IL Jirs ahont fout· inches uudet· the sud'acc of th · earf h, in a. Cj limlt·ieal fol'm, with few Ol' no radi cl«~s, antl v~u·ics from the size of a goose quill to that of" a JUan's fingct·. 'J'he bark js hlacJ.:, thin. bt·iUle, and t'athcr J'Oll,l," lt . and easily SCJ>•u·ates in Hakes from tho pa1·t. "hidt is eaten: OlC centa·e is (livjded into two parts by a st1·ong, flat, anti wllitc ligament, like a ]liceo of thin tape; on each side of which is a white suustancc, resembling, af- |