OCR Text |
Show 3!).2 Lewis a·wl Cla1·ke's J:.rpctlition rrucsday, 29. During the night Oaca·c was a ~torm of' thunde~· and lightning, with some •·ain, a ltin·h not'theast wincl, which r.ontinued during the llHH'ning, aiHl pt·eventcd th<• party fhHn making mor·e than fo t•ty one mi lcs. The couutl'y resembles that lmssct.l yestet·day; the th·y oeds of •·ivet·s continue, and large (1uantities of coal al'e seen in the sides of the (:tiffs. 'rhe l'ivcr itself is now IJctwecn Iive hundr·cd yards and l.alfa mile iu width, and bas more sand anti bar·s ol'gravcl tl.an above. 'J'hc IJeaveJ• a•·o in ~n·at numbcr·s; and in the course oft he day some catfish and a soft-shelled turtle wel'e JH'ocured. In the cveniug tht•y cm·amrctl on the left, opposite to the entr·ancc or a sta·eam, called hy the lnc.li:tn!; };azeka, or· ·ronguc l'iV<'l'. 'l'his str·cam •·iscs in the Cote Noil', and is fol'med of two hl'a.n<·hes, one having its soui'CC~ '' Hh the heads of the Ch3yenuc, the othca· witlJ. one ol' the ])J'aneht•s of the Bighol'n. 1 f has a vet·y wide bed~ and a. channel of watel' a hundred ami fifty yards wide, IJut the watc1• is of a liMht ha·own col om·, very muddy. and ncal'l) milk" arm. It is shallow. and its a·apid cur·a·c•lJt tht'O\H out gt·cat quantities of mud aml some coa.t•se ~Tavel. Neal' the mouth is a la.r·ge {WOportion of timhcl', but f he Wat·mth of the water would srrm to indi<'atc that the eountry through '~hich it }Kl.sscd was OjJCU and without shade. " 7ednesday, so. Tbry set out at an early hom·, aml ar'ter passing, at the distauee of twclv<· miiC's, the bed of a. ri' 'Cl' OUC hundred yards wide, Out nearly dt·y at }H'C' cnt, reached two miles below it a sueccssion of IJad shoals, int<' I'S{>ersetl with a hard, dal'k bl'own, t;t'itty t·ocli, extending fol' six miles. the last or wJJich stretches uear·ly across the 1·iver, and has a dcsccrt of about thre ~ feet. At this place they were oLlige<.: to let the eanoes down with the hanll, for fear of their splitting on a concealed t·ock; though whclt tlte shoals a.J'e }mown a la.r·gc canoe couJd with safety pas!i through the worst of them. 'I' his is the most difilcult pat·t ol'the whole Yellowstone river, all() wa.~ <~alkd 1he Bufi'aloe shoal, from the circumstance of oue of those ani1uals be· Up the Missouri. ing found in them. 'rhe neighhourin~ <'liff.'i on the right are about one hundred feet high~ on the Jeft the country is low, but gradually rises, all(l ~lt some <li-;tanco fr·om the shore present the first appcat·anee of but•nt hills which have been seen on the Y <tllowstonc. Below the Buffaloe shoals the t•iver is conh·actetl to the width of three or four hundt•cd yards, the islands less numerous, and a ft•w scattering tt-ees only arc seen either on its hanks or on the highlands: hventy miles fl·om those shoals is a ratlid. caused by a numbet' of •·ocks strew •d over the rivet·; but though the waves are J1igh, there is a ve•·y gooc.l clta.nncl on the left, which renders the passage secure. 'l'hcl'e was a bear standing on one of these rocJts, which ocensione<l the name of the Bear rapid. As they wc1·e descending this t·apid a violent stor'm fr·om the nortiiwest obliged them to take refuge in an old Indian lodge neac the mouth of a river on the left, which has lately been very high, has widened to the distance of a quarter of a mile, but though its present chanacl is eighty-eight yards wido, there is not more water in it than would easily pass through a hole of an inch in diameter. It was called Yorl~'s dry river. As soon as the rain anti wind bad auatcd, they resumed their journey, and at seven miles encamped under a spreading cottonwood ta·ce on the )eft side, after making forty-eight miles. A mile and a half above on the opf>Osite side is a river containing one hundred yaa·ds width of water, though the bed it~lfis much wider. 'l'he water is very muddy, and Jike its banks of a dark brown colour. Its current throws out great quantities of red stones; and this ch·cumstance, with the appearance of the distant hills, indueecl captain Clarke to calJ it the Uedstone, which he afterwards found to be the meaning of its Indian name, Wahasah. Saturday, 31. During the whole night the huffitloe were prowling about tbe camp, and exdted mncb alarm, lest in crossing the river they should t1·ead on the boats and split them to pieces. They set out ~s usual, and at tlle d_h .. vorH n. 3 Fc |