Tuesday February 25th. 1806.
It continued to rain and blow so violently that there was
no movement of the party today. the Indians left us in the
morning on their return to their village. Willard somewhat
worse the others are on the recovery. we are mortified at not
haveing it in our power to make more celestial observations
since we have been at Fort Clatsop, but such has been the state
of the weather that we have found it utterly impracti[c]able.
I purchased of the Clatsops this morning about half a bushel
of small fish which they had cought about 40 miles up the
Columbia in their scooping nets. as this is an uncommon fish
to me and one which no one of the party has ever seen. on
the next page I have drawn the likeness of them as large as
life; it's as perfect as I can make it with my pen and will
serve to give a general idea of the fish. the rays of the fins
are boney but not sharp tho' somewhat pointed. the small
fin on the back next to the tail has no rays of bone being a
thin membranous pellicle. the fins next to the gills have
eleven rays each. those of the abdomen have Eight each,
those of the pinna ani are 20 and 2 half formed in front. that
of the back has eleven rays. all the fins are of a white colour.
the back is of a blueish duskey colour and that of the lower
part of the sides and belly is of a silvery white. no spots on
any part. the first of the gills next behind the eye is of a
blueish cast, and the second of a light gold colour nearly white.
the puple of the eye is black and the iris of a silver white. the
under jaw exceeds the upper; and the mouth opens to a great
extent, folding like that of the Herring. it has no teeth. the
abdomen is obtuse and smooth, in this differing from the herring,
shad, anchovey &
c. of the Malacapterygious order and
class clupea, to which however I think it more nearly allyed
than to any other altho' it has not their accute and serrate abdomen
and the under jaw exceeding the upper. the scales of
this little fish are so small and thin that without manute inspection
you would suppose they had none. they are filled with
roes of a pure white colour and have scercely any perceptable
alimentary duct. I found them best when cooked in Indian
stile, which is by rosting a number of them together on a
wooden spit without any previous preparation whatever. they
are so fat that they require no aditional sauce, and I think
them superior to any fish I ever tasted, even more delicate and
lussious than the white fish of the Lakes which have heretofore
formed my standard of excellence among the fishes. I have
herd the fresh anchovey much extoll'd but I hope I shall be
pardoned for believeing this quite as good. the bones are so
soft and fine that they form no obstruction in eating this fish.
[55]
