History of the expedition under the command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky mountains and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean : performed during the years 1804-5-6 by order of the government of the United States; Volume 1

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Lewis and Cla1·kc·s Expedition than thirty feet, and lwanches very much; the bark is t·ou~:;h, thirk and of a Jjght colour; the lca,·cs small, deeply indent ­eel, and of a p:lle gi·ccn; the cup " ·hich contains the acorn i& fringed on the edges, and embraces it about one half: thr. acorn itself, which gi'OWS in great profusion, is of an CX('cl· lent flavour, and has none of the roughness whi<·h most other acot•ns pusscss; they are now falling, an<l have probably at­tracted the numbet• of deer which we saw on this place, as all the animals we have seen are fond of that food. The ground having been recently burnt by the Indians, is coYcr­ed with young green grass, and in the neighbourhood are great quantities of iine plums. 'Ve killed a few deer for the sake of their skins, which we wanted to cover the pcri­ogues, the meat being too poor for food: the cold season coming on, a flannel sbit·t was given to each man, and fresh powder to those who had exhausted their supply. Monday, September 16. 'Vbilst some of the party were engaged in the same way as yesterday, others were employ· ed in examining the surrounding country. About a quarter of a mile behind our camp, and at an elevation of twenty feet above it, a plain extends nearly three miles p~uallel to the river, and about a mile back to the hills, towat·ds wltieh it gradually ascemls. llcre we saw a grove of [llum-trccs loaded with ft·uit, now ripe, and differing in nothing f1·om those of the Atlantic states, except that the tree is smaller and mot•e thickly set. 'l'he ground of the plain is occu}lied by the burrows of multitudes of barking squirrels, who entice hither the wolves of a small kind, hawks, and polecats, all of which animals 've saw, and presumed that they fed on the squirt·el. rrhis plain is intersected nearly in its whole extent by deep ravines aml steel> irt·egular rising grounds f1•om one to two hundred feet. On ascending the range of llills which border the plain, we saw a second high level plain stretching to the south as far as the eye could reach. 'I'o the westward, a high range of hills about twenty miles dis­tant runs nearly north and soutb, but not to any great ex4 Up the Missou1·i. 75 tent, as their rise and termination is embraced by one view, and they scemccl covered with a verdure similar to that of the plains. 'l'hc same view extended over the iL·rcgulat• hills which border the northet·n side of the Missouri: all around the countr·y had been recently burnt, and a young green grass about four inches high covered the ground, which was enlivened by herds of antelopes and hufi'aloc; the last of which were in such multitudes, that we cannot exag­gerate in saying that at a single glance we saw three thou and of them before us. or all the animals we had seen the ante­lope seems to possess the most wonderful Jlectnc8s: shy aml ti ­morons they generally repose only on the ridges, whieh com­mand a view of all the approaches of an enemy: the aeutl}­uess of their sight distinguishes the most distant danger, the delicate sensibility of thcit· smell defeats the precau­tions of concealment, and when alarmed their rapiJ carcct· seems more like the flight of birds than the moYemcnts or an earthly being. After many unsuccessful attempts, cap­tain Lewis at last, by winding around the ridges, approacltccl a party of seven, which were on an eminence, towal'•l~ which the wind was unfortunately blowing. The only male or the party fr·equently encircled the summit of the hill, as if to announce any danger to the females, who formed a group at the top. Although they did not see captain Lewis, the smell alarmetl them, and they fled when he was at the dis­tance of two hundred yards: he immediately ran to the s1wt where they bad been, a ravine concealed them fl'Om him, but the next moment they appeared on a second ridge at the distance of three miles. He doubted whether it could be the same, but their number and the extt·eme rapidity with which they continued their course, convinced him that they mu~t have gone with a speed equal to that of the most distinguish­ed racehorse. Among our acquisitions to-day was a mule­deer, a magpie, the common deer, and buffaloe: captain Lew­is also saw a hare, and killed a rattlesnake mmr the burrows of the barking squirrelr;.