University of Virginia Library

Sunday March 2nd 1806

The diet of the sick is so inferior that they recover their
strength but slowly. none of them are now sick but all in a
state of covelessence with keen appetites and nothing to eate
except lean Elk meat.

The nativs of this neighbourhood eate the root of the cattail
or cooper's flag. it is pleasantly tasted and appears to be very
nutricious. the inner part of the root which is eaten without
any previous preperation is composed of a number of capellary
white flexable strong fibers among which is a mealy or starch
like substance which readily disolves in the mouth and separates
from the fibers which are then rejected. it appears to me
that this substance would make excellent starch, nothing can
be of a pureer white than it is.

This evening late Drewyer, Crusat & Wiser returned with
a most acceptable supply of fat sturgen, fresh anchoves and a
bag containing about a bushel of Wappato. we feasted on the
Anchovies and wappatoe.

The Heath Cock or cock of the Plains is found in the Plains
of Columbia and are in great abundance from the enterance of
Lewis's river to the mountains which pass the Columbia between
the Great falls and Rapids of that river. this fowl is
about 3/4ths. the size of a turkey. the beak is large short curved
and convex, the upper exceeding the lower chap. the nostrils
are large and the baek black. the colour is a uniform mixture
of dark brown reather bordering on a dove colour, redish and
yellowish brown with some small black specks. in this mixture
the dark brown provails and has a slight cast of the dove
colour at a little distance. the wider side of the larger feathers
of the wings are of a dark brown only. the tail is composed
of 19 feathers of which that in the center is the longest, and
the remaining 9 on each side deminish by pairs as they receede
from the center; that is any one feather is equal in length to
one of an equal distance from the center of the tail on the
opposit side, the tail when folded comes to a very sharp point
and appears long in perpotion to the body in the act of flying
the tail resembles that of a wild pigeon, tho' the motion of
the wings is much that of the Pheasant and Grouse. they have

four toes on each foot of which the hinder one is short. the
leg is covered with feathers about half the distance between the
knee and foot. when the wings is expanded there are wide
opening between it's feathers, the plumage being so narrow
that it does not extend from one quill to another. the wings
are also propotionably short, reather more so than those of the
Pheasant or Grouse. the habits of this bird is much the same
as those of the Prarie hen or Grouse. only that the food of
this fowl is almost entirely that of the leaf and buds of the
pulpy leafed thorn, nor do I ever recollect seeing the bird but
in the neighbourhood of that shrub. The gizzard of it is large
and much less compressed and muscular than in most fowls, in
short it resembles a maw quite as much as a gizzard. When
they fly they make a cackling noise something like the dunghill
fowl. the flesh of this fowl is dark and only tolerable in
point of flavour. I do not think it as good as eith[er] the
Pheasant or Prarie hen, or Grouse, the feathers above it's
head are pointed and stiff some hairs about the base of the
beak. feathers short fine and stiff about the ears and eye.
This is a faint likeness of the Cock of the Plains or Heath cock
the first of those fowls which we met with was on the Missouri
below and in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Mountains and
from [there] to the Mountain which passes the Columbia
between the Great falls and Rapids they go in large gangues
or singularly and hide remarkably close when pursued, make
short flights, &c.

The large Black & White Pheasant is peculiar to that portion
of the Rocky Mountains watered by the Columbia River. at
least we did not see them untill we reached the waters of that
river, nor since we have left those mountains. they are about
the size of a well grown hen. the contour of the bird is much
that of the redish brown Pheasant common to our country.
the tail is proportionably as long and is composed of 18 feathers
of equal length, of a uniform dark brown tiped with black.
the feathers of the body are of a dark brown black and white.
the black is that which most prodomonates, and white feathers
are irregularly intermixed with those of the black and dark
brown on every part but in greater perpotion about the neck

Cock of the Plains, by Clark.

breast and belley. this mixture gives it very much the appearance
of that kind of dunghill fowl, which the henwives of our
countrey call dommanicker. in the brest of some of those birds
the white prodominates most. they are not furnished with
tufts of long feathers on the neck as other Pheasants are, but
have a space on each side of the neck about 2 1/2 inches long
and one inch in width on which no feathers grow, tho' it is
consealed by the feathers which are inserted on the hinder and
front part of the neck, this space seams to serve them to
dilate or contract the feathers of the neck with more ease. the
eye is dark, the beak black, uncovered somewhat pointed and
the upper exceeds the under chap. they have a narrow strip
of vermillion colour above each eye which consists of a fleshey
substance not protuberant but uneaven, with a number of
minute rounded dots. it has four toes on each foot of which
three are in front, it is booted to the toes. it feeds on wild
fruits, particularly the berry of the Sac-a-commis,[66] and much also
on the seed of the pine & fir. this fowl is usually found in
small numbers two and three & 4 together on the ground.
when supprised flies up and lights on a tree and is easily shot
their flesh is superior to most of the Pheasant species which we
have met with. they have a gizzard as other Pheasants &c. feed
also on the buds of the small Huckleberry bushes