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Show !08 Lewis ttnd Clarl~e· s Expedition dous roar, and such was its extraordinary tenacity of life, that although he had five balls passed through his lung!i and live other wounds, he swam more than half across· the river to a sandbar, and survived twenty minutes. He weighed between five and six hundred pounds at least, and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose to the extremit.v of the hind feet, five feet ten inches anc.l a half round the breast, three feet eleven inches round the neck, one foot eleven inches round the middle of the foreleg, and his talons, five on each foot, were four inches and iht·ee eighths in length. It differs from the common black bear in having its talons much longer and more blunt; its tail shorter; its hair of a reddish or bay brown, longer, finer, and more abundant; his liver, lungs, and l1eart, much larger even in proportion to his size, the heart particularly being equal to that of a large ox; his maw ten times larger; his testicles pendant from the bPJly and in sepa1•ate pouches four inches apart: besides fish and flesh he feeds on roots, and every kind of wild fruit. The antelope are now lean and with young, so that they may readily be caught at this season, as they m·oss the river from S. W. toN. E. Momlay 6. The mm•ning being fair and the wind favourable, we set sail, and proceeded on very well the greater part of the day. The countl·y continues level, rich, and beautiful; the low grounds wide and comparativeJy with the other parts of the Missouri, well supplied with wood. The appearances of coal, pumicestone, and burnt ~arth have ceased, though the salts of tartar or vegetable salts continue on the banks and sandbars, and sometimes in the little ravines at the base of the low hills. We passed three streams on the south; the first at the distance of one mile and a half frorp our camp was about twenty-five yards wide, but although it contained some water in standing pools it discharges none; this we called Littledry creek, about eight miles beyond which. is Bigdry creek, fifty yards wide, without any water; the Up the JJ!issouri. 209 third is six 1niles further, and has the bed of a large river two hundred yards wide, yet without a drop of water: like the other two this stream, which we called Bigdry river, continues its width undiminished as far as we can discern. The banks arc low, the channel formed of a fine brown sand, intermixed with a small protlortion of little pebbles of various colours, and the eounb·y around fiat and without trees. They lmd recently discharged their waters, and from their appearance and the nature of the country through which they pass, we concluded that they rose in the Black mountains, or in the level low plains which are probably between this place and the mountains; that the oountry being nearly of the same kind and of the same latitude, the rains of spring 1nelting the snows about the Barna time, conspire with them to throw at once vast quantities of water down these channels, whieh are then left dry during the summer, autumn, and winter, when there is very little rain. We had to-day a slight sprinkling, but it lasted a very short time. The game is in such plenty that it bas become a mere amusement to supply the party with provisions. We made twenty-iivc miles to a clump of trees on the north where we passed the night. Tuesday 7. The morning was pleasant and we proceeded at an early hour. There is much driftwood floating, and what is contrary to our expectation, although the river is rising, the water is somewhat clearer than usual. At eleven o'clock the wind became so high that one of the boats was nearly sunk, and we were obliged to stop till one, when we proceeded on, and encamped on the south, above a large sandbar projecting from the north, haviug made fift~en mil~s. On the north side of the river are the most beaut1ful plams we have yet seen; they rise gradually from the low g•·ounds on the water to tlte height of fifty or sixty feet, and then ex: .. tend in an unhroken level as far as the e.ye can reach: the hills on the south are more broken and higher, though at some distance back the country becomes level and fertile. VOL. I ·. |