Thursday July 11th. 1805
We had now nothing to do but wait for the canoes; as they
had not returned I sent out some of the small party with me
to hunt; in the evening they returned with a good quantity of
the flesh of a fat buffaloe which they had killed. the canoes
not arrived this evening. I saw several very large grey Eagles
today they are half as large again as the common bald Eagle
of this country. I do not think bald Eagle here qu[i]te so
large as those of the U'States; the grey Eagle is infinitely
larger and is no doubt a distinct species.[16]
this evening a little
before the sun set I heared two other discharges of this unaccoun[t]able
artillery of the Rocky Mountains proceeding
from the same quarter that I had before heard it. I now
recollected the Minnetares making mention of the nois which
they had frequently heard in the Rocky Mountains like
thunder; and which they said the mountains made; but I
paid no attention to the information supposing it either false
or the fantom of a supersticious immagination. I have also
been informed by the engages that the Panis and Ricaras give
the same account of the Black mountains which lye West. of
them. this phenomenon the philosophy of the engages readily
accounts for; they state it to be the bursting of the rich mines
of silver which these mountains contain.
This morning Capt. Clark dispatched Bratton to meet the
canoes which were detained by the wind to get a couple of
axes. he obtained the axes and returned in about two hours.
this man has been unable to work for several days in consequence
of a whitlow on one of his fingers; a complaint which
has been very common among the men. one of the canoes
arrived at Capt. Clark's camp about 10. A.M. this he had
unloaded and se[n]t a few miles up the river for a buffaloe
which had been killed, the party sent killed another in thir
rout and brought in the flesh and skins of both. they were in
good order; his hunters had also killed two deer and an
Antelope yesterday. the three other canoes did not arrive
untill late in the evening in consequence of the wind and the
fear of weting their loads which consisted of articles much
more liable to be injured by moisture than those which composed
the load of that which arrived in the morning. Capt. C.
had the canoes unloaded and ordered them to float down in
the course of the night to my camp, but the wind proved
so high after night that they were obliged to put too about
8 miles above and remain untill morning. Capt. C. kept the
party with him busily engaged at the canoes. his hunters
killed and brought in three very fat deer this evening.
