Wednesday April 24th.
The wind blew so hard during the whole of this day, that
we were unable to move, notwithstanding that we were sheltered
by high timber from the effects of the wind, such was it's
violence that it caused the waves to rise in such manner as to
wet many articles in
the small canoes before they could be
unloaded, we sent out some hunters
who killed 4 deer & 2
Elk, and caught some young wolves of the small
kind. Soar
eyes is a common complaint among the party. I believe it
origenates from the immence quantities of sand which is driven
by
the wind from the sandbars of the river in such clouds that
you are unable
to discover the opposite bank of the river in
many instances, the
particles of this sand are so fine and light
that they are easily
supported by the air, and are carried by
the wind for many miles, and at a
distance exhibiting every
appearance of a collumn of thick smoke. so
penitrating is this
sand that we cannot keep any article free from it; in
short we
are compelled to eat, drink, and breath it very freely. my
pocket watch, is out of order, she
will run only a few minutes
without stoping. I can discover no radical
defect in her works,
and must therefore attribute it to the sand, with
which, she
seems plentifully charged, notwithstanding her cases are double
and tight.
