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Show S26 Lewis and Cla1•ke's Expedition from captain Clarke, and as we agreed with him that the direction of the southwest fork gave it a decided preference -ovet• the others. we ascended that branch of the river for a mile, and encamped in a level handsome plain on the left: having advanced only seven miles. Here we resolved to wait the return or captain Clarke, and in the meantime make the necessary celestial observations, as this seems an essentml point in the geography of the western world, and also to recruit the men and air the baggage. It was acoordingly all unloaded and stowed away on shore. Nea1• the th1·~e forJis we saw many collections of the mud-nests of the small martin attached to the smooth faces of the limestone rock, where they were sheltered by projections Qf the rock above it: and in the meadows were numbers of the duck or maJiard with their young, who are now nearly grown. · The hunters returned towards evening witl1 six deer, three otte1· and a muslu·at; and had seen great num· hers of antelopes, and much sign of the beaver and eiJ{. During all la~t night captain Clarke had a high fever and chills accompanied with great pain. He bowever pur· sued his route eight miles to the middle branch, 'vhere not finding any fresh Indian track be came down it and joined us about three o'clock, very much exhausted with fatigue and the violence of his fever. .Believing himself bilious he took a dose of Rush's pills, which we have always found sovereign in such cases, and bathing the lower extremities in warm water. 'Ve at·e now very anxious to sec the Snake Indians. After advancing for several hundred miles into this wild and mountainous country, we may soon expect that the game will abandon us. With no info1•mation of the route we may be unable to find a passage across the mountains when we reach the head of the river, at least such a one as will lead us to the Columbia, and even were we so fortunate as to find a branch of that 1•iver, the timber wbieh we }Javehithcrto seen in these mountains does not promise us any fit to make Up the Missou·ri. 327 canoes, so that our chief dependence is on meeting some tribe from whom we may procure horses. Our consolation is, that this southwest branch can scarcely head with any other river than the Columbia, and that if any nation of In .. dians can live in the mountains we are able to endure as much a& they, and have even better means of procuring subiistence. |