Thursday
April 11th.
Set out at an early hour;
I proceeded with the party and
Capt. Clark with George Drewyer walked on
shore in order to
procure some fresh meat if possible. we proceeded on
abot
five miles, and halted for breakfast, when Capt. Clark and
Drewyer joined us; the latter had killed, and brought with
him a
deer, which was at this moment excep[t]able, as we had
had no fresh meat
for several days. the country from fort
Mandan to this place is so
constantly hunted by the Minetaries
that
there is but little game. we halted at two P.M.
and made a comfortable
dinner on a venison stake and beavers
tales with the bisquit which got wet
on the 8th. inst. by the accident
of the canoe filling with water before
mentioned. the
powder which got wet by the same accedent, and which we had
spread to dry on the baggage of the large perogue, was now
examined
and put up; it appears to be almost restored, and
our loss is therefore not so great as we had at first
apprehended.
the country much the same as
yesterday. on the
sides of the hills and even the banks of the rivers and
sandbars,
there is a white substance t[h]at
appears in considerable
quantities on the surface of the earth, which
tastes like a
mixture of common salt and glauber salts. many of the
springs which flow from the base of the river hills are so
strongly
impregnated with this substance that the water is
extreemly unpleasant to
the taste and has a purgative effect.
[21]
saw some large white cranes pass up the river
—these are the
largest bird of that genus common to the country
through
which the Missouri and Mississippi pass. they are perfectly
white except the large feathers of the two first joints of the
wing
which are black. we encamped this evening on the Star
d.
shore just above the point of woodland which formed to
extremity of
the last course of this day. there is a high bluff
opposite to us, under
which we saw some Indians, but the
river is here so wide that we could not
speake to them; suppose
them to be a hunting
party of Minetares. we killed two
gees to-day.
The courses and distances of this
day
|
|
miles |
| S. 85.
W. |
to the upper point of a bluff on Lard. Sd. |
3 |
| N. 38.
W. |
to a point on the Lard. shore, oppot. a bluff |
2 |
| S. 30.
W. |
to the upper part of a timbered bottom on the Lard.
side. a large sand bar making out from the Stard.
side 1 1/2 miles
wide |
2 |
| N. 52. W. |
to a red
knob in a bend to the Stad. side near the
upper part
of a timbered bottom |
5 |
| S. 70.
W. |
to a point of timbered land on the Stard.
Sd. |
6 |
| W. |
on the Stard. point |
1 |
|
|
19 |
