Friday July 12th. 1805.
The canoes not having arrived and the wind still high I
dispatched Sergt. Gass with three men to join Capt. Clark and
assist in completing the canoes retaining only a few who in
addition to those in the canoes that I expect every moment,
will be sufficient to man the six canoes and take up all the
baggage we have here at one load. I feel excessively anxious
to be moving on. the canoes were detained by the wind untill
2 P.M. when they set out and arrived at this place so late that
I thought it best to detain them untill morning. Bratton
came down today for a cople of axes which I sent by him; he
returned immediately. Sergt. Gass and party joined Capt.
Clark at 10 A.M. Capt. C. kept all the men with him busily
engaged some in drying meat, others in hunting, and as
ma[n]y as could be employed about the canoes. Segt. Pryor
got his sholder dislocated yesterday, it was replaced immediately
and is likely to do him but little injury; it is painfull
to him today. the hunters with Capt. C. killed three deer and
two otter today. the otter are now plenty since the water has
become sufficiently clear for them to take fish. the blue crested
fisher, or as they are sometimes called the King fisher, is an inhabitant
of this part of the country; this bird is very rare on the
Missouri; I have not seen more than three or four of those
birds during my voyage from the entrance of the Missouri to
the mouth of Maria's river and those few were reather the
inhabitants of streams of clerer water which discharged themselves
into the Missouri than of that river, as they were seen
about the entrances of such streams. Musquetoes extreemly
troublesome to me today nor is a large black knat less troublesome
which dose not sting, but attacks the eye in swarms and
compells us to brush them off or have our eyes filled with
them.
[17]
I made the men dry the ballance of the freshe meet
which we had abo[u]t the camp, amounting to about 200 lb
s.
Observed Equal Altitudes of the ☉ with Sextant.
| A.M. |
10. 8. 31. |
P.M. |
4. 8. 6. |
altitude given
at the time of observation
92°. 13.′ 15. |
|
". 10. 11 |
|
". 9. 47. |
|
|
". 12. 52. |
|
". 11. 27. |
|
Chronometer too [blank space in MS.] on mean Mean T [blank
space in MS.]
