OCR Text |
Show 360 Lewi~ a1ul Clcu·kc's BxpcLlilion ~mall pa•·tjes. 'l'hcit· hot·n~ have •·<·ached their full g1·owtll, buti1I rctnin the velvet Ol' skin whid1 ('Ove•·s thrm. Through the bottoms are scaUcrt!d a munbrr of lodges, some ofwhich seem to haYc L»een (wilt last winter, and wc1·c 1wohahly ocCU}> icd oy the J\1.inuetarces or Fol't clc P•·ait·ic. 'l'hc rivet• is still rising, and more muddy than we have ever ·<·rn it. I.atc last night "\YC took sheltcl' ft·om the nliu in sgmc old Indian lo<lges, about eight miles below the entrance or No•·thmountain e~·eek, and then set out, I~'•·iday, August 1, at an eal'ly J10ur. We passed the 1\fusdeshcll river at rlrHm o"elock, and fil'tcen milrs fur· thet· Janclcd at some In<lian lodges, where we dctel'lnincd to 11ass the nig·Jat, for the •·ain still continued, and we ieal'cd that the skins ol' the llighorn would spoil [)y being constantly wet. Ila.ving made 1it·cs, thcrefo•·e. and exposed them to th·y, we proceeded to hunt. 1'hc next day, Saturday, 2, was fair ,and warm, and we avaHcd ourscJvcs of this occasion to d1·y all our baggage jn the sun. Such. is the immediate effect of fail· wcathct·' that since last evcmng the river has fallen eighteen inches. 'I'wo meu were sent for·ward in a canoe to hunt; and now, having reloaded our canoes, we resolved to go on as fast as possible, and accordingly set out, Sunday, 3, at an eal'ly hom·, and witbout stopping a~ usual to cook a dinner, encam}JCd in the evening two miles ai.Jovc OUl' eamp ofl\fay 12, 1805. 'V C WCl'C lte1·e joined by the two hunters, who had killed twenty-nine deer since they left us. 'rhcse animals arc in great abundance in the river Lottorns, and ve•·y gentle. 'Vc pas ed also a great uumbcJ' ofelk, wolves, some bear, ucaver, geese, a few ducks, the {>artY· coloured corvus, a calumet eagle, some llald eagles, a;uJ red-headed woodpecker , but very few oumlloc. Byf'our o clock next morning, . l\'lond.·' ty' 4 ' \."' C ,~•, ere agam• 1· 11 motJ•O n. At eleven we pass-ed the B1gdry riYet·, whirh has now a bold, even, but shal· lTp the JJlissot•J•i. 361 low current, iiixty )'ards in width, and halted for a few mi. nutcs at. the mouth of Milk t·ivcr. ~rhis st•·cam is at present full of water, resemhlint; in colou•· that of the 1\lissouri, and as it possesses t)ttitc as much water as Mr.t,ria's river, we ltave no doubt that it extends to a considerable distance to . wards the north. 'V e hero killed a vm·y large rattlesnake. Soon aflet• we passrd several hrt'tls of buifa!oc and elk. and t'ncampC(l at night, fwo miles below the gnlf, on the noJ•thrast side or the J•iver. l"or the fir~t time this season we were saluted with the cry of the whippoorwill, or goatsucl{er of the }lissom·i. 'rucsday, 5. 'Vc waited until noon in hopesofbeingovert al{cn by two of the men, who had gcnw ahead in a. canoe~ to lmnt two days ago, but who wet·c at a distance from the J•iTcr, as we 1mssed them. As tht>y did not arrive by that time, we conclucled that they I tad passed us in the nigut, ~md therel'ot'C }H'occcded until lat(l, when we encamped about ten miles below Littledry rivt'r. 'V c again su.w gt·cat numbers of buffaloc, elk, <lcCJ·, antelope, and wolves; also eagles, and other bh•ds, among which were geese and a solitary pcliean, neither of whom cau Uy at }We sent. as they arc DO\Y shedding the feathers or their wings. \Vc also saw s~.:vcral hear.9 one of them the Jal'gcst. except one, we had ever seen, for }lC lnCUSUI'<'d nine fc~et from the no C to t1JC extremity of tht" tail. During the night a viol •nt stot·m came on fi'Om the northQast with ~uch to1:r ·nts of ra.in fhat we had !S(!:.wccly time Co unload Hac canoes before they filled wHh water. !laving no hcltcr, we oursch cs wcl'c colllllletcly wet to the~ kin, ancl the wind and cold ail· maclc our situation ver·y unpleasant. ' Vc left it early, 'Vcdncsclay, 6; but a.ftct• we had passed Porcupine river, were, by tl1e high wind, obliged to Jic by until fout' o'clock, whe11 the wind abating we continued, and at night encamped ~he miles below OPl' C~tffi}l or the ·t lit of 1\..fa:r, 1 S05. If ex·~ ' ' Ol,. ((. |