OCR Text |
Show Lewis and Clarkc·s .Expedttion. iZ . 'I'l . _,bat'S aT'e very numerous, and t•cutlcr tbe ri· stde. ae sanu c • 'd d h llow ami obliged the crew to get mto the ver Wl e an s a ' . d d .. the boat over the bars several tunes. Du-water an tag · th 1 1 d"y we searched along the southern shore, rmg c w 10 e n ' • and at some distance into the interior, to iind an anclc~lt I l . h e laeat·ti at St Charles was somewhere m ''O cano w uc w • • . • this neigbbourltood; but we could not dascern the &hghte~t r ny thl.ng volc·mic In the course of then appearance o a • • search the party shot a buck-goat an~ a hare. ~'he hills, particularly on the south, continue lugla, bu.t theta~ber is confined to the islands and banks of tlac ravcr. \\e bad occasion het•c to observe the rapid undermining oftl1csc bills by the !lissouri: the first attacks seem to ~e on the hills which overhang the river; as soon as the vwlencc of the current destroys the grass at tbe foot or tbl'tn, the whole texture appears looscnetl, and tl1e g,·ound •lissolvcg ami mixes with the water: the muddy mixture is then forced over the low-grounds, which it covers sometimes to the depth of three inches, and gl·adually destrO)'S the laerbagc; after which it can otfet• no rcsistc'l.nce to tl1e water, and becomes at last covered with santl. Saturday, September iS. 'Ve rassed, at an early hour, the creek ncar our la~t night's encampment; and at two miles distance t•cachcd the mouth of White river, coming in f1·om the south. We ascended a shot·t distance, and sent a sergeant and another man to examine it higher up. This ri· ver bas a bed of about three bundt•ed yarcls, though the wa· ter is confined to one huntlred and fifty: in the mouth is a sand island, and several sandbat·s. 'fhe current is regular and swift, with sandbars projecting from the paints. It differs very much from the Platte, and Q,uieurre, in throw· ing out, eompa1·atively, little sand, but its general charac· ter is like that of the Missouri. This resemblance was con· firmed by the sergeant, who ascended about twelve miles; at which distance it was about the same width as near the mouth, and the course, which was generally west, bad been Uj> the JJiissour i. 7S interrupted by islands and sandbars. The timber consisted chiefly of elm; they saw pine burrs, and sticks of birch were seen floating down the river; they had also met with goats, such as we baYe heretofor·c seen; great quantities of buffaloe, near to which were wolves, some deer, and villages of barking squirrels. At the l~Onfluence of White river with the Missouri is an excellent position for a town; the land rising IJy three gl'adual ascents, and the neighbom·bood furnishing mot·e timber than is usual in this counts·y. After llassing high da1·k IJluffs on both sides, we reached the lower point ol' an island towards the south, at the distance or six miles. The island Leal'S an abundance of g•·apcs, and is covered with red cedar: it also contains a uu1nbeL' oft·ab· bits. At the end of' this island, which is small, a nal'l'OW channel sepat·ates it fa·om a hu·gc sand island, wbjch we passe~, and encamped,. eight miles on the n01·th, undet• a high l;omt of land opposite a laq;e cr·eek to the south, on whicb we observe an unusual quantity of timhe1·. The wind was f1·om the northwest this afternoon, and high, the wcatl1e1• cold and its d1·cariness increased by the how lings of a numLer 0~ wolves around us. September 16, Sunday. Early this mo1•ning, having r·eached a convenient. S])Qt on the south side, and at one miJe :uul a qual'ter distance, we encamped just aoove a small ct•cek which we called Corvus, having kiUed an animal of that gc~ nus ncar it. "Finding that we could uot ru·occt•d over the sandbar·s, as fast as we desia·ed, while the IJoat was so hca~ · ily loaded, we concluded not to send IJack, as we ol'jginaHy mtcnded, our third perioguc, but to tletain the soJdicl's uutil spr~ng, and in the mean time lig-hten the boat IJy loading the pcr.IOgue: this operation, added to that of dPying aJJ our wet a.rhcles, .detained us du1•ing tbe day. Our camp is in a hcautaful })~am, with timber thinly scattcr·cd fo1· tht·t~e quat·tet·s of a nule, and consisting chicJly of elm, cottonwood, some ash of an indi1lerent quality, and a considerable q:wntity of a small Sflecies oi' \\'bite oak: this tree seldom l'iscs hi~hel' ~ VOL,J. L |