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Show !282 Lewfs and Clarke's EXJJellition to the height of eighteen or twenty inches, the bear<l , l'e .. markably fine and soft; the culen is jointed, and in every respect except in height it resembles the wild rye. Great quantities of mint too, like the Jlcppermint, are found here: 'I'he winds are Bometimes violent in these I>lains. 'l'he men inform us that as they wet·e IJriuging one of the canoes along on truck-wheels, they hoisted the sail and the wiml carried her aloug for· some distance. Wedne!iday 26. Two men were acut on the opposite side of the river for bark and timber, 'of which they p1·ocured some, but by no means enough for our purposes. rl'he bark of the cottonwood ili1 too soft, and our only dependence is ort the &weet willow, which has a tough itrong IJark; the two hunters killed &even buffaloe. A party al'J'ived from below with two canoes and baggage. and the wind being from the southeast, they had made considerable progress with the sails. On their at·rival one of the men who had been COil· rtiderably heated and fatig·ued, swallowed a very beart:y draught of .water, and wart immediately taken ill; captain Lewis bled him with a penknife, having no other instrument at hand, and rtucceeded in rerttoring him to health the next day. Captain Clat·ke formrd a second cache or deposit near the camp, and placed the swivel under the rocks near the river. The antelopes are still scattered through the plains; the females with their· young, which are generally two in number, and ibe male• by themsel vcs. Thursday 27. The party were employed in preparing timber for the boat, except two who were sent to hunt. About one in the afternoon a cloud arose ft·om the southwest and brought with it violent thunder, lightning, all(l hail: soon after it passed the hunters came in from about foua· miles above us. '!'hey had killed nine elk, and three bear. As they were hunting on the river they sa\'f a low ground covered with thick brushwood, where from the tracks along shore they thought a bear had probably taken refuge: they therefore landed, without malUng a noise, and c.limbed UJJ the Jflissouri. 285 a tree about twenty fc<·t above the g•·otmd. Having fixed themselves it'CIIt'eJy. thPy l'aised a loud shout. and a bear· in. stantly rushed to~at·<li them. The!!e animals never climb, and tberefot•e when be came to the tr·ee and stopped to look at them, Dt·cwycJ• shot him in the head; he proved to be the largest we have yet sce11. his noise appear•ed to be like that of a common ox, his fore feet measured nina inches acr·os1, and the hind feet were seven inches wide, and eleven and three qual'ters long, exclusiYe of the talons. One of these animals came within thit•fy yards of the camp last night, and earried off some L>uffidoe meat which we had placed on a pole. In tl1e evening aftct> f he stot·m the watet~ on this side ()f the river IJecamc of a drep crimson colour, p1·obably eaused by iOme stl'eam above washing down a kind of 8oft red stone, which we obierve in the neighbouring bluffs and guHies. At the ca.mp below, the mrn who left us in the morning were busy in ]>reparing the it• load for· to-mol'l'ow, which were impeded L>y the rain, hail, aud the hard wind from the noJ•thwest. F'riday 28. 'rhe party all occupied in making the boat; they obtained a sufficient quantity of willow bark to line her, and over tberte were placed the elk iikins, and when f hey failed we wet•e obliged to use the buffaloe hide. The whHe beat· have now become exceedingly troul>lesome; they constantly infest out• camp during the night, and though they have not attacked us, as oul' dog wbo patr·olcs aH night gives us notice of their approach, yet we arc obliged to sleep with our arms by out• sides fot• fear of accident, and we cannot send one mao alone to any distance, particularly if he hai to pass through brushwood. 'Ve saw two of them to-day on the large i~laod opj>osite to us, !Jut as we are all so much occupied now, we mean to r·cser·ve ourselves for iomc leisure moment, and then make a party to drive them f1·om the islands. "rhe river has risen nine inohes since our nrrival here. |