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Show Lewis awl Clarke's Expedition 0, and the river rose an inch and a half in the course of thf' day. . . Friday, December 7. The wind shll continued fro~ thr northwest and the day is very cold: Shahaka the cluef of the lower village came to apprise us that the lmffaloe werr near, and that his people were waiting for us to join them in the chase: captain Clark with :fifteen men went out and found the Indians engaged in killing the buffaloc, the hun. ters mounted on horseback and armed with bows and arrows encircle the herd, and gradually drive them into a plain or an open place fit for the movements of horse; they then ride in among them, and singling out a buffaloe, a female being preferred, go as close as possible and wound ber with arrows till they think they have given the mortal stroke; when they pursue another till the quiver is exhausted: if, which ral'ely happens, the wounded buffaloe attacks the hunter, he evades his blow by the agility of his horse which is trained for the combat with great dexterity. When they have killed the requisite number they collect their game, and the squaws and attendants come up from the rear and skin and dress the animals. Captain Clarke killed ten buffaloe, of which five only were brought to the fort, the rest which could not be conveyed home being seized by the Indians, among whom the custom is t11at 'vhenever a buffaloe is found dead without an arrow or any particular mark, he is the property of the finder; so that often a hun· ter secures scai·cely any of the game be kills if the arrow happens to fall oft': whatever is left out at night fall. to the share of the wolves, 'vho are the constant and numerous attendants of the butfaloe. 'l'he river closed op· posite the fort last night, an inch and a half in thickness. In the morning the the1·mometer stood at one degree below o. Three men were badly frostbitten in consequence of their exposul'e. Saturda) 8. 'rhe thermometer stood at twelve degrees below o, that is at forty-two degrees below the freezing ... . . • lTp the J\Cissou1~. 11.1 point: the wind was from the northwest. Captain Lewis with fifteen men went out to hunt the buffaloe; great numbers of which darkened the prairies for a considerable distance; they did not return till after dark, having killed eight buff a .. loe and one dear. The hunt was, however, very fatiguing, as they were obliged to make a circuit at the distance of more than seven miles: the cold too, was so excessive that the air was filled with icy particles rcsemb1ing a fog, and the snow general1y six ot· eight inches deep and sometimes eighteen, in consequence of which two of the party were hurt by falls, and several bad their feet frostbitten. Sunday 9. 'l'he wind was this day f1·om the east, the thermometer at seven degrees above O, and the sun shone clea1·: ~wo chiefs visited us, one in a sleigh drawn by a dog and loaded with meat. Monday 10. Captain Clarke who had gone out yesterday with eighteen men to bring in the meat we had killed the day before, and to continue the hunt, came in at twelve o'clock. After killing nine buffaloe and preparing that al. ready dead, he had spent a cold disagreeble night on the snow, with no covering but a small blanket, sheltered by the hides of the buff aloe they had killed. 'Ve observe large herds of buffaloe crossing the river on the ice, the men who were frostbitten are recovering, but the weather is still exceedingly cold, the wind being from the north, and tbe thermometer at ten and eleven degrees below 0: the rise of the l'iver is one inch and a half. Tuesday 11. The weather became so intensely cold tkat we sent fot• all the hunters who had remained out with captain Clarke's party, and they returned in the evening several of them frostbitten. The wind was fi•om the north and the thermomt:ter at sunrise stood at twenty-one below o, the ice in the atmosphere being so thick as to render the weather hazy and give the appearance of two snns reflecting each other. The river continues at a stand. Pocapsahe made us a visit to.day. I |