University of Virginia Library

Thursday May 9th 1805.

Set out at an early hour; the wind being favourable we
used our sails and proceeded very well; the country in appearance
is much as yester[day], with this difference that the land
appears more fertile particularly of the Lard. hills which are
not so stoney and less broken; the timber has also in some
measure declined in quantity. today we passed the bed of
the most extraordinary river that I ever beheld. it is as wide
as the Missouri is at this place or 1/2 a mile wide and not containing
a single drop of runing water; some small standing
pools being all the water that could be perceived. it falls in

on the Lard. side. I walked up this river about three miles
and ascended an eminence from which I could perceive it
many miles; it's course about South for 10 or 12 Miles,
when it veered around to the E of S.E. as far as I could see.
the valley of this river is wide and possesses but a scanty proportion
of timber; the hills which border it are not very high
nor is the country very broken; it is what may properly be
designated a wavy or roling country intersperced with some
handsom level plains. the bank[s] are low and abbrupt, seldom
more than 6 or eight feet above the level of the bed, yet
show but little appearance of being overflown; they are of
black or yellow clay or a rich sandy loam. the bed is entirely
composed of a light brown sand the particles of which as well
as that of the Missoury are remarkably fine. this river I presume
must extend back as far as the black hills and probably
is the channel through which a great extent of plain country
discharge their superfluous waters in the spring season. it
had the appearance of having recently discharged it's waters;
and from the watermark, it did not appear that it had been
more than 2 feet deep at it's greatest hight. This stream (if
such it can properly be termed) we called Big dry river. about
a mile below this river on the same side a large creek falls in
also dry at present. The mineral salts and quarts [quartz]
appear in large quantities in this neighbourhood. the sand
of the Missouri from it's mouth to this place has always
possessed a mixture of granulated talk [talc] or I now think
most probably that it[6] is this quarts. Capt C. killed 2 bucks
and 2 buffaloe, I also killed one buffaloe which proved to be
the best meat, it was in tolerable order; we saved the best
of the meat, and from the cow I killed we saved the necessary
materials for making what our wrighthand cook Charbono
calls the boudin (poudingue) blanc, and immediately set him
about preparing them for supper; this white pudding we all
esteem one of the greatest del[ic]acies of the forrest, it may
not be amiss therefore to give it a place. About 6 feet of the
lower extremity of the large gut of the Buffaloe is the first
mo[r]sel that the cook makes love to, this he holds fast at
one end with the right hand, while with the forefinger and
thumb of the left he gently compresses it, and discharges what
he says is not good to eat, but of which in the s[e]quel we
get a moderate portion; the mustle lying underneath the
shoulder blade next to the back, and fillets are next saught,
these are needed up very fine with a good portion of kidney
suit [suet]; to this composition is then added a just proportion
of pepper and salt and a small quantity of flour; thus
far advanced, our skilfull opporater C—o seizes his recepticle,
which has never once touched the water, for that would
intirely distroy the regular order of the whole procedure;
you will not forget that the side you now see is that covered
with a good coat of fat provided the anamal be in good order;
the operator sceizes the recepticle I say, and tying it fast at
one end turns it inward and begins now with repeated evolutions
of the hand and arm, and a brisk motion of the finger
and thumb to put in what he says is bon pour manger; thus
by stuffing and compressing he soon distends the recepticle
to the utmost limmits of it's power of expansion,[7] and in the
course of it's longtudinal progress it drives from the other
end of the recepticle a much larger portion of the [blank space
in MS.] than was prev[i]ously discharged by the finger and
thumb of the left hand in a former part of the operation;
thus when the sides of the recepticle are skilfully exchanged
the outer for the iner, and all is compleatly filled with something
good to eat, it is tyed at the other end, but not any
cut off, for that would make the pattern too scant; it is then
baptised in the missouri with two dips and a flirt, and bobbed
into the kettle; from whence, after it be well boiled it is
taken and fryed with bears oil untill it becomes brown, when
it is ready to esswage the pangs of a keen appetite or such
as travelers in the wilderness are seldom at a loss for.

we saw a great quantity of game today particularly of Elk
and Buffaloe, the latter are now so gentle that the men frequently
throw sticks and stones at them in order to drive them
out of the way. we also saw this evening emence quantities
of timber cut by the beaver which appeared to have been done
the preceeding year, in [one] place particularly they had cut
all the timber down for three acres in front and on nearly one
back from the river and had removed a considerable proportion
of it, the timber grew very thick and some of it was as large
as a man's body. the river for several days has been as wide
as it is generally near it's mouth, tho' it is much shallower or
I should begin to dispair of ever reaching it's source; it has
been crouded today with many sandbars; the water also appears
to become clearer, it has changed it's complexin very considerably.
I begin to feel extreemly anxious to get in view of
the rocky mountains.

I killed four plover this evening of a different species from
any I have yet seen; it resembles the grey or whistling plover
more than any other of this family of birds; it is about the
size of the yellow legged or large grey plover common to the
lower part of this river as well as most parts of the Atlantic
States where they are sometimes called the Jack curloo; the
eye is moderately large, are black with a narrow ring of dark
yellowish brown; the head, neck, upper part of the body and
coverts of the wings are of a dove coloured brown, which when
the bird is at rest is the predominant colour; the brest and
belley are of a brownish white; the tail is composed of 12
feathers of 3 Ins. being of equal length, of these the two in the
center are black, with traverse bars of yellowish brown; the
others are a brownish white. the large feathers of the wings
are white tiped with blacked. the beak is black, 2 ½ inches
in length, slightly tapering, streight, of a cilindric form and
blontly or roundly pointed; the chaps are of equal length, and
nostrils narrow. longitudional and connected; the feet and legs
are smoth and of a greenish brown; has three long toes and a
sho[r]t one on each foot, the long toes are unconnected with a
web, and the short one is placed very high up the leg behind,
insomuch that it dose not touch the ground when the bird

stands erect. the notes of this bird are louder and more
various than any other of this family that I have seen[8] .

Courses and distances of May 9thth. 1805.

                     

		Miles
N. 30°. W.	to a clump of high trees on the Stard. side in a bend	2 ½
S. 15°. W.	to the upper part of the Lard. point, passing over a large sand bar, at the upper point of a large Island in a deep bend to the N.	2 ½
S. 5°. W.	to a point of high timber on the Stard. side, opposite to a bluff point on Lard. side	3.
S. 20°. E.	to a willow point on the Stard. side	6.
S. 10°. E.	to the entrance of big Dry river on Lard. side.	1 1/4
S. 85°. W.	to a bluff point on the Lard. side	1 1/2
N. 60. W.	to a tree in the center of a bend on stard. passing over a sand point from Lard. side	3.
South.	to the upper part of a timbered bottom in a bend on Lard. side.	1 3/4
S. 60. W.	to the entrance of a small creek, in a bend on Stard. side called Werner's C[9] . where we encamped for the night (the water this Creek contained was principally backwater)	3
	Miles—	24 1/2

Point of Observation N°. 14.

At our encampment of this evening, observed time and distance of
☽'s Western limb from Regulus, * West. with Sextant.

The mean result of a set of 10. obsertns.

     

	Time	Distance
	h. m. s.	° ′ ″
P.M.	10. 6. 13. 4.	43. 30. 15.

☞ It clouded up suddonly and prevented my takeing any observations
with Antares.