[Clark:]
Saturday April 5th.. 1806.
This morning was so cloudy that we could not obtain any
lunar observations with a Aquilæ as we wished. Joseph Fields
& Drewyer left us this morning agreeably to their orders of
last evening. at the same time we sent Sergt. Ordway and five
men to assist Sergt. Pryor in bringing in the meat of four Elk
which he had dried in the woods. at 1 p.m. the party returned
withe the meat. it was not sufficiently dryed to keep. we
had it cut thiner and redryed over a fire this evening, as we
purpose setting out early in the morning. the dear skins
which we had cased for the purpose of holding our dried meat
is not sufficently dry for that purpose, we derected them to
be dried by the fire also. the weather being so damp that
there was no possibulity of pounding the meat as I wished.
We were visited by several parties of the nativs to day; they
behaved themselves in a very orderly manner.
[4]
Saw the Log cock, the humming bird, Geese, Ducks &c. to
day. the tick has made it's appearance it is the same with
those of the Atlantic States, the Musquetors have also appeared
but are not yet much troublesom. this morning at
10. A.M. Sergt. Gass returned with Collins and Windser they
had not succeeded in killing the female bear, tho' they brought
the three cub's with them. the Indians who visited us to day
fancied those pets and gave us wappato in exchange for them.
Fir and white cedar is the common growth of the uplands, as
is the cotton wood, ash, large leafed Ash and sweet willow that
of the bottom lands. The Huckleberry, shallon, and the
several evergreen shrubs, of that speces that bears berries have
seased to appear, except that species which has the leaf with
a prickley margin. among the plants of this prarie in which
we are encamped I observe the pashequo, shannetahque, and
compound firn the root of which the nativs eate; also the
water cress, strawberry flowering pea not yet in blume, narrow
dock, and rush which are luxuriant and abundent in the river
bottoms.[5]
the large leafed thorn has also disappeared The
red flowering current is found here in considerable quantities
on the upland,[6]
and the common Dog wood is found on either
side of the river in this neighbourhood and above Multnomah
river. The country on either side is fertile, the bottoms on
the South Side is wide and intersperced with small ponds in
which the natives gather their wappato. back of this bottom
the country rises to about 200 feet and the soil is very rich as
that also above Q[uick] Sandy river quite to the mountains.
the country on the N. Side from a fiew miles above this place
as low down as the enterance of
Cah-wah-na-ki-ooks River
rises to the hight generally of 150 or 200 feet is tolerably
leavel, thickly timbered with Fir and white cedar, the soil of
the richest quallity. Some small Praries on the bank of the
river. That portion of country below as low down as the
enterance of
Cah-wah-na-ki-ooks River is a broken rich country.
the hills are high, the bottom lands as before mentioned and
fertile &
c. The country a fiew miles up the Multnomah River
rises from the river bottoms to the hight of from 2 to 300 feet
and is rich & fertile. Some plains can be seen to the N.E. of
our camp of 10 or 12 miles in secumference The Hunters &
Serj
t. Pryor informe us that they had measured a tree on the
upper side of quick sand River 312 feet long and about 4 feet
through at the stump.
