Sunday March 9th. 1806.
This morning the men set out at daylight to go in qu[e]st
of the Elk which Collins had killed, they returned with it at
eleven A.M. Bratton complains of his back being very painfull
to him today; I conceive this pain to be something of the
rheumatism. we still apply the linniment and flannel; in the
evening he was much better. Drewyer and Joseph Fields returned
not having found any Elk. Sergt. Pryor and the fishing
party not yet arrived, suppose they are detained by the
winds. visited by 3 Clatsop men who brought a dog some
fish and a Sea Otter skin for sale. we suffered them to remain
all night. we set Shields at work to make some sacks of Elk
skin to contain various articles. The Large Swan is precisely
the same common to the Atlantic States. the small swan
differs only, from the larger one in size and it's note.
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it is
about one fourth less and it's note entirely different. the
latter cannot be justly immetated by the sound of letters nor
do I know any sounds with which a comparison would be
pertinent. it begins with a kind of whistleing sound and terminates
in a round full note which is reather louder than the whistleing,
or former part; this note is as loud as that of the large swan.
from the peculiar whistleing of the note of this bird I have
called it the
whistleing swan. it's habits colour and contour
appear to be precisely those of the large Swan. we first saw
them below the great narrows of the Columbia near the Chilluckkittequaw
nation. They are very abundant in this neighbourhood
and have remained with us all winter. in number they
are fully five for one of the large speceis. The duckinmallard
or common large duck w[h]ich resembles the domestic duck
are the same here with those of the U'St
s. they are abundant
and are found on every part of the river below the mountains.
they remain here all winter but I beleive they do not continue
during winter far above tidewater. a beautifull duck and one
of the most delicious in the world is found in considerable
quantities in this neighbourhood during the Autumn and
winter. this is the same with that known in the Delliware,
Susquehannah, and Potomac by the name of the
Canvisback
and in James River by that of shell-Drake; in the latter river
however I am informed that they have latterly almost entirely
disappeared. to the epicure of those parts of the union where
this duck abounds nothing need be added in praise of the
exqu[i]site flavor of this duck. I have frequently eaten of
them in several parts of the Union and I think those of the
Columbia equally as delicious. this duck is never found above
tide-water; we did not meet with them untill after we reached
the marshey Islands; and I beleive that they have already left
this neighbourhood, but whether they have gone northwardly
or Southwardly I am unable to determin; nor do I know in
what part of the Continent they raise their young. The read
headed fishing duck is common to every part of the river and
are found as well in the Rocky Mountains as elsewhere; in
short this was the only duck we saw on the waters of the
Columbia within the mountains. they feed principally on
crawfish; and are the same in every rispect as those on the
rivers in the Mountains of the Atlantic Ocean.
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