Sunday 14. We set off early with pleasant and fair weather: a dog joined us, which we suppose had strayed from the a.s.siniboin camp on the lake.
At two and a half miles we pa.s.sed timbered low grounds and a small creek: in these low grounds are several uninhabited lodges built with the boughs of the elm, and the remains of two recent encampments, which from the hoops of small kegs found in them we judged could belong to a.s.siniboins only, as they are the only Missouri Indians who use spirituous liquors: of these they are so pa.s.sionately fond that it forms their chief inducement to visit the British on the a.s.siniboin, to whom they barter for kegs of rum their dried and pounded meat, their grease, and the skins of large and small wolves, and small foxes. The dangerous exchange is transported to their camps with their friends and relations, and soon exhausted in brutal intoxication: so far from considering drunkenness as disgraceful, the women and children are permitted and invited to share in these excesses with their husbands and fathers, who boast how often their skill and industry as hunters has supplied them with the means of intoxication: in this, as in their other habits and customs, they resemble the Sioux from whom they are descended: the trade with the a.s.siniboins and Knistenaux is encouraged by the British, because it procures provision for their _engages_ on their return from Rainy lake to the English river and the Athabasky country where they winter; these men being obliged during that voyage to pa.s.s rapidly through a country but scantily supplied with game. We halted for dinner near a large village of burrowing squirrels, who we observe generally select a southeasterly exposure, though they are sometimes found in the plains. At ten and a quarter miles we came to the lower point of an island, which from the day of our arrival there we called Sunday island: here the river washes the bases of the hills on both sides and above the island, which with its sandbar extends a mile and a half: two small creeks fall in from the south; the uppermost of these, which is the largest, we called Chaboneau"s creek, after our interpreter who once encamped on it several weeks with a party of Indians. Beyond this no white man had ever been except two Frenchmen, one of whom Lapage is with us, and who having lost their way straggled a few miles further, though to what point we could not ascertain: about a mile and a half beyond this island we encamped on a point of woodland on the north, having made in all fourteen miles.
The a.s.siniboins have so recently left the river that game is scarce and shy. One of the hunters shot at an otter last evening; a buffaloe too was killed, and an elk, both so poor as to be almost unfit for use; two white bear were also seen, and a muskrat swimming across the river. The river continues wide and of about the same rapidity as the ordinary current of the Ohio. The low grounds are wide, the moister parts containing timber, the upland extremely broken, without wood, and in some places seem as if they had slipped down in ma.s.ses of several acres in surface. The mineral appearances of salts, coal, and sulphur, with the burnt hill and pumicestone continue, and a bituminous water about the colour of strong lye, with the taste of glauber salts and a slight tincture of allum. Many geese were feeding in the prairies, and a number of magpies who build their nest much like those of the blackbird in trees, and composed of small sticks, leaves and gra.s.s, open at top: the egg is of a bluish brown color, freckled with reddish brown spots. We also killed a large hooting owl resembling that of the United States, except that it was more booted and clad with feathers. On the hills are many aromatic herbs, resembling in taste, smell and appearance the sage, hysop, wormwood, southern wood, juniper and dwarf cedar; a plant also about two or three feet high, similar to the camphor in smell and taste, and another plant of the same size, with a long, narrow, smooth, soft leaf, of an agreeable smell and flavour, which is a favourite food of the antelope, whose necks are often perfumed by rubbing against it.
Monday 15. We proceeded under a fine breeze from the south, and clear pleasant weather. At seven miles we reached the lower point of an island in a bend to the south, which is two miles in length. Captain Clarke, who went about nine miles northward from the river reached the high grounds, which, like those we have seen, are level plains without timber; here he observed a number of drains, which descending from the hills pursue a northeast course, and probably empty into the Mouse river, a branch of the a.s.siniboin, which from Indian accounts approaches very near to the Missouri at this place. Like all the rivulets of this neighbourhood these drains were so strongly impregnated with mineral salts that they are not fit to drink. He saw also the remains of several camps of a.s.siniboins; the low grounds on both sides of the river are extensive, rich, and level. In a little pond on the north, we heard for the first time this season the croaking of frogs, which exactly resembles that of the small frogs in the United States: there are also in these plains great quant.i.ties of geese, and many of the grouse, or prairie hen, as they are called by the N.W. company traders; the note of the male, as far as words can represent it, is cook, cook, cook, coo, coo, coo, the first part of which both male and female use when flying; the male too drums with his wings when he flies in the same way, though not so loud as the pheasant; they appear to be mating. Some deer, elk, and goats were in the low grounds, and buffaloe on the sand beaches, but they were uncommonly shy; we also saw a black bear, and two white ones.
At fifteen miles we pa.s.sed on the north side a small creek twenty yards wide, which we called Goatpen creek, from a park or enclosure for the purpose of catching that animal, which those who went up the creek found, and which we presume to have been left by the a.s.siniboins. Its water is impregnated with mineral salts, and the country through which it flows consists of wide and very fertile plains, but without any trees. We encamped at the distance of twenty-three miles, on a sandpoint to the south; we pa.s.sed in the evening a rock in the middle of the river, the channel of which a little above our camp, is confined within eighty yards.
Tuesday 16. The morning was clear, the wind light from the S.E. The country presents the same appearance of low plains and meadows on the river, bounded a few miles back by broken hills, which end in high level fertile lands, the quant.i.ty of timber is however increasing. The appearance of minerals continues as usual, and to-day we found several stones which seemed to have been wood, first carbonated and then petrified by the water of the Missouri, which has the same effect on many vegetable substances. There is indeed reason to believe that the strata of coal in the hills cause the fire and appearances which they exhibit of being burned. Whenever these marks present themselves in the bluffs on the river, the coal is seldom seen, and when found in the neighborhood of the strata of burnt earth, the coal with the sand and sulphurous matter usually accompanying it, is precisely at the same height and nearly of the same thickness with those strata. We pa.s.sed three small creeks or rather runs, which rise in the hills to the north.
Numbers of geese, and few ducks chiefly of the mallard and bluewinged teal, many buffaloe, elk and deer were also observed, and in the timbered low grounds this morning we were surprised to observe a great quant.i.ty of old hornets" nests: we encamped in a point of woods on the south, having come eighteen miles, though the circuits which we were obliged to make around sandbars very much increased the real distance.
Wednesday, April 17. We set off early, the weather being fine, and the wind so favourable as to enable us to sail the greater part of the course. At ten and three quarter miles we pa.s.sed a creek ten yards wide on the south; at eighteen miles a little run on the north, and at night encamped in a woody point on the south. We had travelled twenty-six miles through a country similar to that of yesterday, except that there were greater appearances of burnt hills, furnishing large quant.i.ties of lava and pumicestone, of the last of which we observe some pieces floating down the river, as we had previously done, as low as the Little Missouri. In all the copses of wood are the remains of the a.s.siniboin encampments; around us are great quant.i.ties of game, such as herds of buffaloe, elk, antelopes, some deer and wolves, the tracks of bears, a curlue was also seen, and we obtained three beaver, the flesh of which is more relished by the men than any other food which we have. Just before we encamped we saw some tracks of Indians, who had pa.s.sed twenty-four hours before, and left four rafts, and whom we supposed to be a band of a.s.siniboins on their return from war against the Indians on the Rocky mountains.
Thursday 18. We had again a pleasant day, and proceeded on with a westerly wind, which however changed to N.W. and blew so hard that we were obliged to stop at one o"clock and remain four hours, when it abated and we then continued our course.
We encamped about dark on a woody bank having made thirteen miles. The country presented the usual variety of highlands interspersed with rich plains. In one of these we observed a species of pea bearing a yellow flower, which is now in blossom, the leaf and stalk resembling the common pea. It seldom rises higher than six inches, and the root is perennial. On the rose bushes we also saw a quant.i.ty of the hair of the buffaloe, which had become perfectly white by exposure, and resembled the wool of the sheep, except that it was much finer and more soft and silky. A buffaloe which we killed yesterday had shed his long hair, and that which remained was about two inches long, thick, fine, and would have furnished five pounds of wool, of which we have no doubt an excellent cloth may be made. Our game to-day was a beaver, a deer, an elk, and some geese. The river has been crooked all day and bearing towards the south.
On the hills we observed considerable quant.i.ties of dwarf juniper, which seldom grows higher than three feet. We killed in the course of the day an elk, three geese and a beaver. The beaver on this part of the Missouri are in greater quant.i.ties, larger and fatter, and their fur is more abundant and of a darker colour than any we had hitherto seen: their favourite food seems to be the bark of the cottonwood and willow, as we have seen no other species of tree that has been touched by them, and these they gnaw to the ground through a diameter of twenty inches.
The next day, Friday, 19th, the wind was so high from northwest that we could not proceed, but being less violent on
Sat.u.r.day, 20th, we set off about seven o"clock, and had nearly lost one of the canoes as we left the sh.o.r.e, by the falling in of a large part of the bank. The wind too became again so strong that we could scarcely make one mile an hour, and the sudden squalls so dangerous to the small boats, that we stopped for the night among some willows on the north, not being able to advance more than six and a half miles. In walking through the neighbouring plains we found a fine fertile soil covered with cottonwood, some box, alder, ash, red elm, and an undergrowth of willow, rosebushes, honeysuckle, red willow, gooseberry, currant, and serviceberries, and along the foot of the hills great quant.i.ties of hysop. Our hunters procured elk and deer which are now lean, and six beaver which are fatter and more palatable. Along the plain there were also some Indian camps; near one of these was a scaffold about seven feet high, on which were two sleds with their harness, and under it the body of a female, carefully wrapped in several dressed buffaloe skins; near it lay a bag made of buffaloe skin, containing a pair of moccasins, some red and blue paint, beaver"s nails, sc.r.a.pers for dressing hides, some dried roots, several plaits of sweet gra.s.s, and a small quant.i.ty of Mandan tobacco. These things as well as the body itself had probably fallen down by accident, as the custom is to place them on the scaffold.
At a little distance was the body of a dog not yet decayed, who had met this reward for having dragged thus far in the sled the corpse of his mistress, to whom according to the Indian usage he had been sacrificed.
Sunday, 21st. Last night there was a hard white frost, and this morning the weather cold, but clear and pleasant: in the course of the day however it became cloudy and the wind rose. The country is of the same description as within the few last days. We saw immense quant.i.ties of buffaloe, elk, deer, antelopes, geese, and some swan and ducks, out of which we procured three deer, four buffaloe calves, which last are equal in flavour to the most delicious veal; also two beaver, and an otter. We pa.s.sed one large and two small creeks on the south side, and reached at sixteen miles the mouth of Whiteearth river, coming in from the north.
This river before it reaches the low grounds near the Missouri, is a fine bold stream sixty yards wide, and is deep and navigable, but it is so much choked up at the entrance by the mud of the Missouri, that its mouth is not more than ten yards wide. Its course, as far as we could discern from the neighbouring hills, is nearly due north, pa.s.sing through a beautiful and fertile valley, though without a tree or bush of any description. Half a mile beyond this river we encamped on the same side below a point of highland, which from its appearance we call Cut bluff.
Monday, 22d. The day clear and cold: we pa.s.sed a high bluff on the north and plains on the south, in which were large herds of buffaloe, till breakfast, when the wind became so strong ahead that we proceeded with difficulty even with the aid of the towline. Some of the party now walked across to the Whiteearth river, which here at the distance of four miles from its mouth approaches very near to the Missouri. It contains more water than is usual in streams of the same size at this season, with steep banks about ten or twelve feet high, and the water is much clearer than that of the Missouri; the salts which have been mentioned as common on the Missouri, are here so abundant that in many places the ground appears perfectly white, and from this circ.u.mstance it may have derived its name; it waters an open country and is navigable almost to its source, which is not far from the Saskaskawan, and judging from its size and course, it is probable that it extends as far north as the fiftieth degree of lat.i.tude. After much delay in consequence of the high wind, we succeeded in making eleven miles, and encamped in a low ground on the south covered with cottonwood and rabbitberries. The hills of the Missouri near this place exhibit large irregular broken ma.s.ses of rocks and stones, some of which, although two hundred feet above the water, seem at some remote period to have been subject to its influence, being apparently worn smooth by the agitation of the water. These rocks and stones consist of white and gray granite, a brittle black rock, flint, limestone, freestone, some small specimens of an excellent pebble, and occasionally broken stratas of a black coloured stone like petrified wood, which make good whetstones. The usual appearances of coal, or carbonated wood, and pumicestone still continue, the coal being of a better quality and when burnt affords a hot and lasting fire, emitting very little smoke or flame. There are huge herds of deer, elk, buffaloe, and antelopes in view of us: the buffaloe are not so shy as the rest, for they suffer us to approach within one hundred yards before they run, and then stop and resume their pasture at a very short distance. The wolves to-day pursued a herd of them, and at length caught a calf that was unable to keep up with the rest; the mothers on these occasions defending their young as long as they can retreat as fast as the herd, but seldom returning any distance to seek for them.
Tuesday 23. A clear and pleasant morning, but at nine o"clock the wind became so high that the boats were in danger of upsetting; we therefore were forced to stop at a place of safety till about five in the afternoon, when the wind being lower we proceeded and encamped on the north at the distance of thirteen and a half miles: the party on sh.o.r.e brought us a buffaloe calf and three blacktailed deer: the sand on the river has the same appearances as usual, except that the quant.i.ty of wood increases.
Wednesday 24. The wind blew so high during the whole day that we were unable to move; such indeed was its violence, that although we were sheltered by high timber the waves wet many articles in the boats: the hunters went out and returned with four deer, two elk, and some young wolves of the small kind. The party are very much afflicted with sore eyes, which we presume are occasioned by the vast quant.i.ties of sand which are driven from the sandbars in such clouds as often to hide from us the view of the opposite bank. The particles of this sand are so fine and light that it floats for miles in the air like a column of thick smoke, and is so penetrating that nothing can be kept free from it, and we are compelled to eat, drink, and breathe it very copiously. To the same cause we attribute the disorder of one of our watches, although her cases are double and tight; since without any defect in its works, that we can discover, it will not run for more than a few minutes without stopping.
Thursday 25. The wind moderated this morning, but was still high; we therefore set out early, the weather being so cold that the water froze on the oars as we rowed, and about ten o"clock the wind increased so much that we were obliged to stop. This detention from the wind and the reports from our hunters of the crookedness of the river, induced us to believe that we were at no great distance from the Yellowstone river. In order therefore to prevent delay as much as possible, captain Lewis determined to go on by land in search of that river, and make the necessary observations, so as to be enabled to proceed on immediately after the boats should join him; he therefore landed about eleven o"clock on the south side, accompanied by four men; the boats were prevented from going until five in the afternoon, when they went on a few miles further and encamped for the night at the distance of fourteen and a half miles.
Friday 26. We continued our voyage in the morning and by twelve o"clock encamped at eight miles distance, at the junction of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers; where we were soon joined by captain Lewis.
On leaving us yesterday he pursued his route along the foot of the hills, which he ascended at the distance of eight miles; from these the wide plains watered by the Missouri and the Yellowstone spread themselves before the eye, occasionally varied with the wood of the banks, enlivened by the irregular windings of the two rivers, and animated by vast herds of buffaloe, deer, elk, and antelope. The confluence of the two rivers was concealed by the wood, but the Yellowstone itself was only two miles distant to the south. He therefore descended the hills and encamped on the bank of the river, having killed as he crossed the plain four buffaloes; the deer alone are shy and retire to the woods, but the elk, antelope, and buffaloe suffered him to approach them without alarm, and often followed him quietly for some distance. This morning he sent a man up the river to examine it, while he proceeded down to the junction: the ground on the lower side of the Yellowstone near its mouth, is flat, and for about a mile seems to be subject to inundation, while that at the point or junction, as well as on the opposite side of the Missouri, is at the usual height of ten or eighteen feet above the water, and therefore not overflown. There is more timber in the neighbourhood of this place, and on the Missouri, as far below as the Whiteearth river, than on any other part of the Missouri on this side of the Chayenne: the timber consists princ.i.p.ally of cottonwood, with some small elm, ash, and box alder. On the sandbars and along the margin of the river grows the small-leafed willow; in the low grounds adjoining are scattered rosebushes three or four feet high, the redberry, serviceberry and redwood. The higher plains are either immediately on the river, in which case they are generally timbered, and have an undergrowth like that of the low grounds, with the addition of the broad-leafed willow, gooseberry, chokecherry, purple currant, and honeysuckle; or they are between the low grounds and the hills, and for the most part without wood or any thing except large quant.i.ties of wild hysop; this plant rises about two feet high, and like the willow of the sandbars is a favourite food of the buffaloe, elk, deer, grouse, porcupine, hare, and rabbit. This river which had been known to the French as the Roche jaune, or as we have called it the Yellowstone, rises according to Indian information in the Rocky mountains; its sources are near those of the Missouri and the Platte, and it may be navigated in canoes almost to its head. It runs first through a mountainous country, but in many parts fertile and well timbered; it then waters a rich delightful land, broken into vallies and meadows, and well supplied with wood and water till it reaches near the Missouri open meadows and low grounds, sufficiently timbered on its borders. In the upper country its course is represented as very rapid, but during the two last and largest portions, its current is much more gentle than that of the Missouri, which it resembles also in being turbid though with less sediment. The man who was sent up the river, reported in the evening that he had gone about eight miles, that during that distance the river winds on both sides of a plain four or five miles wide, that the current was gentle and much obstructed by sandbars, that at five miles he had met with a large timbered island, three miles beyond which a creek falls in on the S.E. above a high bluff, in which are several strata of coal. The country as far as he could discern, resembled that of the Missouri, and in the plain he met several of the bighorn animals, but they were too shy to be obtained. The bed of the Yellowstone, as we observed it near the mouth, is composed of sand and mud, without a stone of any kind. Just above the confluence we measured the two rivers, and found the bed of the Missouri five hundred and twenty yards wide, the water occupying only three hundred and thirty, and the channel deep: while the Yellowstone, including its sandbar, occupied eight hundred and fifty-eight yards, with two hundred and ninety-seven yards of water: the deepest part of the channel is twelve feet, but the river is now falling and seems to be nearly at its summer height.
April 27. We left the mouth of the Yellowstone. From the point of junction a wood occupies the s.p.a.ce between the two rivers, which at the distance of a mile comes within two hundred and fifty yards of each other. There a beautiful low plain commences, and widening as the rivers recede, extends along each of them for several miles, rising about half a mile from the Missouri into a plain twelve feet higher than itself.
The low plain is a few inches above high water mark, and where it joins the higher plain there is a channel of sixty or seventy yards in width, through which a part of the Missouri when at its greatest height pa.s.ses into the Yellowstone. At two and a half miles above the junction and between the high and low plain is a small lake, two hundred yards wide, extending for a mile parallel with the Missouri along the edge of the upper plain. At the lower extremity of this lake, about four hundred yards from the Missouri, and twice that distance from the Yellowstone, is a situation highly eligible for a trading establishment; it is in the high plain which extends back three miles in width, and seven or eight miles in length, along the Yellowstone, where it is bordered by an extensive body of woodland, and along the Missouri with less breadth, till three miles above it is circ.u.mscribed by the hills within a s.p.a.ce four yards in width. A sufficient quant.i.ty of limestone for building may easily be procured near the junction of the rivers; it does not lie in regular stratas, but is in large irregular ma.s.ses, of a light colour and apparently of an excellent quality. Game too is very abundant, and as yet quite gentle; above all, its elevation recommends it as preferable to the land at the confluence of the rivers, which their variable channels may render very insecure. The N.W. wind rose so high at eleven o"clock, that we were obliged to stop till about four in the afternoon, when we proceeded till dusk. On the south a beautiful plain separates the two rivers, till at about six miles there is a timbered piece of low ground, and a little above it bluffs, where the country rises gradually from the river; the situations on the north more high and open. We encamped on that side, the wind, the sand which it raised, and the rapidity of the current having prevented our advancing more than eight miles; during the latter part of the day the river becomes wider and crowded with sandbars: although the game is in such plenty we kill only what is necessary for our subsistence. For several days past we have seen great numbers of buffaloe lying dead along the sh.o.r.e, and some of them partly devoured by the wolves; they have either sunk through the ice during the winter, or been drowned in attempting to cross, or else, after crossing to some high bluff, found themselves too much exhausted either to ascend or swim back again, and perished for want of food; in this situation we found several small parties of them. There are geese too in abundance, and more bald-eagles than we have hitherto observed; the nests of these last being always accompanied by those of two or three magpies, who are their inseparable attendants.
CHAPTER VIII.
Unusual appearance of salt--The formidable character of the white bear--Porcupine river described--Beautiful appearance of the surrounding country--Immense quant.i.ties of game--Milk river described--Extraordinary character of Bigdry river--An instance of uncommon tenacity of life in a white bear--Narrow escape of one of the party from that animal--A still more remarkable instance--Musclesh.e.l.l river described.
Sunday 28. The day was clear and pleasant, and the wind having shifted to southeast, we could employ our sails, and went twenty-four miles to a low ground on the north opposite to steep bluffs: the country on both sides is much broken, the hills approaching nearer to the river, and forming bluffs, some of a white and others of a red colour, and exhibiting the usual appearances of minerals, and some burnt hills though without any pumicestone; the salts are in greater quant.i.ties than usual, and the banks and sandbars are covered with a white incrustation like frost. The low grounds are level, fertile and partially timbered, but are not so wide as for a few days past. The woods are now green, but the plains and meadows seem to have less verdure than those below: the only streams which we met to-day are two small runs on the north and one on the south, which rise in the neighbouring hills, and have very little water. At the distance of eighteen miles the Missouri makes a considerable bend to the southeast: the game is very abundant, the common, and mule or blacktailed deer, elk, buffaloe, antelope, brown bear, beaver, and geese. The beaver have committed great devastation among the trees, one of which, nearly three feet in diameter, has been gnawed through by them.
Monday 29. We proceeded early with a moderate wind: captain Lewis who was on sh.o.r.e with one hunter met about eight o"clock two white bears: of the strength and ferocity of this animal, the Indians had given us dreadful accounts: they never attack him but in parties of six or eight persons, and even then are often defeated with the loss of one or more of the party. Having no weapons but bows and arrows, and the bad guns with which the traders supply them, they are obliged to approach very near to the bear; and as no wound except through the head or heart is mortal, they frequently fall a sacrifice if they miss their aim. He rather attacks than avoids a man, and such is the terror which he has inspired, that the Indians who go in quest of him paint themselves and perform all the superst.i.tious rites customary when they make war on a neighbouring nation. Hitherto those we had seen did not appear desirous of encountering us, but although to a skilful rifleman the danger is very much diminished, yet the white bear is still a terrible animal: on approaching these two, both captain Lewis and the hunter fired and each wounded a bear: one of them made his escape; the other turned upon captain Lewis and pursued him seventy or eighty yards, but being badly wounded he could not run so fast as to prevent him from reloading his piece, which he again aimed at him, and a third shot from the hunter brought him to the ground: he was a male not quite full grown, and weighed about three hundred pounds: the legs are somewhat longer than those of the black bear, and the talons and tusks much larger and longer. The t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es are also placed much farther forward and suspended in separate pouches from two to four inches asunder, while those of the black bear are situated back between the thighs and in a single pouch like those of the dog: its colour is a yellowish brown, the eyes small, black, and piercing, the front of the fore legs near the feet is usually black, and the fur is finer, thicker, and deeper than that of the black bear: add to which, it is a more furious animal, and very remarkable for the wounds which it will bear without dying.
We are surrounded with deer, elk, buffaloe, antelopes, and their companions the wolves, who have become more numerous and make great ravages among them: the hills are here much more rough and high, and almost overhang the banks of the river. There are greater appearances of coal than we have hitherto seen, the stratas of it being in some places six feet thick, and there are stratas of burnt earth, which are always on the same level with those of coal. In the evening after coming twenty-five miles we encamped at the entrance of a river which empties itself into a bend on the north side of the Missouri: this stream which we called Martha"s river, is about fifty yards wide, with water for fifteen yards, the banks are of earth, and steep, though not high, and the bed princ.i.p.ally of mud. Captain Clarke, who ascended it for three miles, found that it continued of the same width with a gentle current, and pursuing its course about north 30 west, through an extensive, fertile, and beautiful valley, but without a single tree. The water is clear, and has a brownish yellow tint; at this place the highlands which yesterday and to-day had approached so near the river became lower, and receding from the water left a valley seven or eight miles wide.
Tuesday 30. The wind was high from the north during last evening and continued so this morning: we however continued, and found the river more winding than usual and with a number of sand islands and bars, on one of which last we encamped at the distance of twenty-four miles. The low grounds are fertile and extensive but with very little timber, and that cottonwood, very bad of its kind, being too small for planks, and broken and dead at the top and unsound in the centre of the trunk. We pa.s.sed some ancient lodges of driftwood which do not appear to have been lately inhabited. The game continues abundant: we killed the largest male elk we have yet seen; on placing it in its natural erect position, we found that it measured five feet three inches from the point of the hoof to the top of the shoulder. The antelopes are yet lean and the females are with young: this fleet and quick-sighted animal is generally the victim of its curiosity: when they first see the hunters they run with great velocity; if he lies down on the ground and lifts up his arm, his hat, or his foot, the antelope returns on a light trot to look at the object, and sometimes goes and returns two or three times till they approach within reach of the rifle; so too they sometimes leave their flock to go and look at the wolves who crouch down, and if the antelope be frightened at first repeat the same manoeuvre, and sometimes relieve each other till they decoy it from the party when they seize it. But generally the wolves take them as they are crossing the rivers, for although swift of foot they are not good swimmers.
Wednesday, May 1. The wind was in our favour and we were enabled to use the sails till twelve o"clock, when the wind became so high and squally that we were forced to come to at the distance of ten miles on the south, in a low ground stocked with cottonwood, and remain there during the day; one of the canoes being separated from us, and not able to cross over in consequence of the high waves. The country around is more pleasant than that through which we had pa.s.sed for several days, the hills being lower, the low grounds wider and better supplied with timber, which consists princ.i.p.ally of cottonwood: the undergrowth willow on the banks and sandbars, rosebushes, redwillow, and the broad-leafed willow in the low plains, while the high country on both sides is one extensive plain without wood, though the soil is a dark, rich, mellow loam. Our hunters killed a buffaloe, an elk, a goat, and two beaver, and also a bird of the plover kind.
Thursday, 2d. The wind continued high during the night, and at daylight it began to snow and did not stop till ten o"clock, when the ground was covered an inch deep, forming a striking contrast with the vegetation which is now considerably advanced; some flowers having put forth, and the cottonwood leaves as large as a dollar. The wind lulled about five o"clock in the afternoon, and we then proceeded along wide fertile low grounds and high level plains, and encamped at the distance of four miles. Our game to-day was deer, elk, and buffaloe: we also procured three beaver who are quite gentle, as they have not been hunted, but when the hunters are in pursuit they never leave their huts during the day: this animal we esteem a great delicacy, particularly the tail, which when boiled resembles in flavor the flesh tongues and sounds of the codfish, and is generally so large as to afford a plentiful meal for two men. One of the hunters in pa.s.sing near an old Indian camp found several yards of scarlet cloth, suspended on the bough of a tree as a sacrifice to the deity by the a.s.siniboins: the custom of making these offerings being common among that people as indeed among all the Indians on the Missouri. The air was sharp this evening; the water froze on the oars as we rowed, and in the morning.
Friday, 3d, the weather became quite cold, the ice was a quarter of an inch thick in the kettle, and the snow still continued on the hills though it has melted from the plains. The wind too continued high from the west, but not so violently as to prevent our going on. At two miles from our encampment we pa.s.sed a curious collection of bushes about thirty feet high and ten or twelve in diameter, tied in the form of a fascine and standing on end in the middle of the low ground: this too we supposed to have been left by the Indians as a religious sacrifice: at twelve o"clock the usual hour we halted for dinner. The low grounds on the river are much wider than common, sometimes extending from five to nine miles to the highlands, which are much lower than heretofore, not being more than fifty or sixty feet above the lower plain: through all this valley traces of the ancient bed of the river are every where visible, and since the hills have become lower, the stratas of coal, burnt earth, and pumicestone have in a great measure ceased, there being in fact none to-day. At the distance of fourteen miles we reached the mouth of a river on the north, which from the unusual number of porcupines near it, we called Porcupine river. This is a bold and beautiful stream one hundred and twelve yards wide, though the water is only forty yards at its entrance: captain Clarke who ascended it several miles and pa.s.sed it above where it enters the highlands, found it continued nearly of the same width and about knee deep, and as far as he could distinguish for twenty miles from the hills, its course was from a little to the east of north. There was much timber on the low grounds: he found some limestone also on the surface of the earth in the course of his walk, and saw a range of low mountains at a distance to the west of north, whose direction was northwest; the adjoining country being every where level, fertile, open, and exceedingly beautiful. The water of this river is transparent, and is the only one that is so of all those that fall into the Missouri: before entering a large sandbar through which it discharges itself, its low grounds are formed of a stiff blue and black clay, and its banks which are from eight to ten feet high and seldom if ever overflow are composed of the same materials. From the quant.i.ty of water which this river contains, its direction, and the nature of the country through which it pa.s.ses, it is not improbable that its sources may be near the main body of the Saskaskawan, and as in high water it can be no doubt navigated to a considerable distance, it may be rendered the means of intercourse with the Athabasky country, from which the northwest company derive so many of their valuable furs.
A quarter of a mile beyond this river a creek falls in on the south, to which on account of its distance from the mouth of the Missouri, we gave it the name of Two-thousand mile creek: it is a bold stream with a bed thirty yards wide. Three miles and a half above Porcupine river, we reached some high timber on the north, and encamped just above an old channel of the river, which is now dry. We saw vast quant.i.ties of buffaloe, elk, deer, princ.i.p.ally of the long tailed kind, antelopes, beaver, geese, ducks, brant, and some swan. The porcupines too are numerous, and so careless and clumsy that we can approach very near without disturbing them as they are feeding on the young willows; towards evening we also found for the first time, the nest of a goose among some driftwood, all that we have hitherto seen being on the top of a broken tree on the forks, and invariably from fifteen to twenty feet or more in height.
Sat.u.r.day 4. We were detained till nine in order to repair the rudder of one of the boats, and when we set out the wind was ahead; at six and a half miles we pa.s.sed a small creek in a deep bend on the south with a sand island opposite to it, and then pa.s.sing along an extensive plain which gradually rises from the north side of the river, encamped at the distance of eighteen miles in a point of woodland on the north: the river is this day wider than usual, and crowded with sandbars on all sides: the country is level, fertile, and beautiful, the low grounds extensive and contain a much greater portion of timber than is common: indeed all the forepart of the day the river was bordered with timber on both sides, a circ.u.mstance very rare on the Missouri, and the first that has occurred since we left the Mandans. There are as usual vast quant.i.ties of game, and extremely gentle; the male buffaloe particularly will scarcely give way to us, and as we approach will merely look at us for a moment, as something new, and then quietly resume their feeding.
In the course of the day we pa.s.sed some old Indian hunting camps, one of which consisted of two large lodges fortified with a circular fence, twenty or thirty feet in diameter, and made of timber laid horizontally, the beams overlaying each other to the height of five feet, and covered with the trunks and limbs of trees that have drifted down the river: the lodges themselves are formed by three or more strong sticks about the size of a man"s leg or arm, and twelve feet long, which are attached at the top by a whith of small willows, and spreading out so as to form at the base a circle of ten or fourteen feet in diameter: against these are placed pieces of driftwood and fallen timber, usually in three ranges one on the other, and the interstices are covered with leaves, bark, and straw, so as to form a conical figure about ten feet high, with a small aperture in one side for the door. It is, however, at best a very imperfect shelter against the inclemencies of the seasons.
Sunday 5. We had a fine morning, and the wind being from the east we used our sails. At the distance of five miles we came to a small island, and twelve miles farther encamped on the north, at the distance of seventeen miles. The country like that of yesterday is beautiful in the extreme. Among the vast quant.i.ties of game around us, we distinguish a small species of goose differing considerably from the common Canadian goose; its neck, head, and beak, being much thicker, larger, and shorter in proportion to its size, which is nearly a third smaller; the noise too resembling more that of the brant or of a young goose that has not yet fully acquired its note; in other respects its colour, habits, and the number of feathers in the tail, the two species correspond; this species also a.s.sociates in flocks with the large geese, but we have not seen it pair off with them. The white brant is about the size of the common brown brant, or two thirds of the common goose, than which it is also six inches shorter from the extremity of the wings, though the beak, head, and neck are larger and stronger: the body and wings are of a beautiful pure white, except the black feathers of the first and second joints of the wings; the beak and legs are of a reddish or flesh-coloured white, the eye of a moderate size, the pupil of a deep sea-green incircled with a ring of yellowish brown, the tail consists of sixteen feathers equally long, the flesh is dark and as well as its note differs but little from those of the common brant, whom in form and habits it resembles, and with whom it sometimes unites in a common flock; the white brant also a.s.sociate by themselves in large flocks, but as they do not seem to be mated or paired off, it is doubtful whether they reside here during the summer for the purpose of rearing their young.
The wolves are also very abundant, and are of two species. First, the small wolf or burrowing dog of the prairies, which are found in almost all the open plains. It is of an intermediate size between the fox and dog, very delicately formed, fleet and active. The ears are large, erect, and pointed, the head long and pointed, like that of the fox; the tail long and bushy; the hair and fur of a pale reddish brown colour, though much coa.r.s.er than that of the fox; the eye of a deep sea-green colour, small and piercing; the talons rather longer than those of the wolf of the Atlantic states, which animal as far as we can perceive is not to be found on this side of the river Platte. These wolves usually a.s.sociate in bands of ten or twelve, and are rarely if ever seen alone, not being able singly to attack a deer or antelope. They live and rear their young in burrows, which they fix near some pa.s.s or spot much frequented by game, and sally out in a body against any animal which they think they can overpower, but on the slightest alarm retreat to their burrows making a noise exactly like that of a small dog.
The second species is lower, shorter in the legs and thicker than the Atlantic wolf; their colour, which is not affected by the seasons, is of every variety of shade, from a gray or blackish brown to a cream coloured white. They do not burrow, nor do they bark, but howl, and they frequent the woods and plains, and skulk along the skirts of the buffaloe herds, in order to attack the weary or wounded.
Captain Clarke and one of the hunters met this evening the largest brown bear we have seen. As they fired he did not attempt to attack, but fled with a most tremendous roar, and such was its extraordinary tenacity of life, that although he had five b.a.l.l.s pa.s.sed through his lungs and five other wounds, he swam more than half across the river to a sandbar, and survived twenty minutes. He weighed between five and six hundred pounds at least, and measured eight feet seven inches and a half from the nose to the extremity of the hind feet, five feet ten inches and half round the breast, three feet eleven inches round the neck, one foot eleven inches round the middle of the foreleg, and his talons, five on each foot, were four inches and three eighths in length. It differs from the common black bear in having its talons much longer and more blunt; its tail shorter; its hair of a reddish or bay brown, longer, finer, and more abundant; his liver, lungs, and heart, much larger even in proportion to his size, the heart particularly being equal to that of a large ox; his maw ten times larger; his t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es pendant from the belly and in separate pouches four inches apart: besides fish and flesh he feeds on roots, and every kind of wild fruit.
The antelope are now lean and with young, so that they may readily be caught at this season, as they cross the river from S.W. to N.E.
Monday 6. The morning being fair and the wind favourable, we set sail, and proceeded on very well the greater part of the day. The country continues level, rich, and beautiful; the low grounds wide and comparatively with the other parts of the Missouri, well supplied with wood. The appearances of coal, pumicestone, and burnt earth have ceased, though the salts of tartar or vegetable salts continue on the banks and sandbars, and sometimes in the little ravines at the base of the low hills. We pa.s.sed three streams on the south; the first at the distance of one mile and a half from our camp was about twenty-five yards wide, but although it contained some water in standing pools it discharges none; this we called Littledry creek, about eight miles beyond which is Bigdry creek; fifty yards wide, without any water; the third is six miles further, and has the bed of a large river two hundred yards wide, yet without a drop of water: like the other two this stream, which we called Bigdry river, continues its width undiminished as far as we can discern. The banks are low, this channel formed of a fine brown sand, intermixed with a small proportion of little pebbles of various colours, and the country around flat and without trees. They had recently discharged their waters, and from their appearance and the nature of the country through which they pa.s.s, we concluded that they rose in the Black mountains, or in the level low plains which are probably between this place and the mountains; that the country being nearly of the same kind and of the same lat.i.tude, the rains of spring melting the snows about the same time, conspire with them to throw at once vast quant.i.ties of water down these channels, which are then left dry during the summer, autumn, and winter, when there is very little rain. We had to-day a slight sprinkling. But it lasted a very short time. The game is in such plenty that it has become a mere amus.e.m.e.nt to supply the party with provisions. We made twenty-five miles to a clump of trees on the north where we pa.s.sed the night.
Tuesday 7. The morning was pleasant and we proceeded at an early hour.
There is much driftwood floating, and what is contrary to our expectation, although the river is rising, the water is somewhat clearer than usual. At eleven o"clock the wind became so high that one of the boats was nearly sunk, and we were obliged to stop till one, when we proceeded on, and encamped on the south, above a large sandbar projecting from the north, having made fifteen miles. On the north side of the river are the most beautiful plains we have yet seen: they rise gradually from the low grounds on the water to the height of fifty or sixty feet, and then extend in an unbroken level as far as the eye can reach: the hills on the south are more broken and higher, though at some distance back the country becomes level and fertile. There are no more appearances of burnt earth, coal, or pumicestone, though that of salt still continues, and the vegetation seems to have advanced but little since the twenty-eighth of last month: the game is as abundant as usual.
The bald-eagles, of whom we see great numbers, probably feed on the carcases of dead animals, for on the whole Missouri we have seen neither the blue-crested fisher, nor the fishing-hawks, to supply them with their favourite food, and the water of the river is so turbid that no bird which feeds exclusively on fish can procure a subsistence.
Wednesday 8. A light breeze from the east carried us sixteen miles, till we halted for dinner at the entrance of a river on the north. Captain Clarke who had walked on the south, on ascending a high point opposite to its entrance discovered a level and beautiful country which it watered; that its course for twelve or fifteen miles was N.W. when it divided into two nearly equal branches, one pursuing a direction nearly north, the other to the W. of N.W: its width at the entrance is one hundred and fifty yards, and on going three miles up, captain Lewis found it to be of the same breadth, and sometimes more; it is deep, gentle, and has a large quant.i.ty of water; its bed is princ.i.p.ally of mud, the banks abrupt, about twelve feet in height, and formed of a dark, rich loam and blue clay; the low grounds near it are wide and fertile, and possess a considerable proportion of cottonwood and willow.
It seems to be navigable for boats and canoes, and this circ.u.mstance joined to its course and the quant.i.ty of water, which indicates that it pa.s.ses through a large extent of country, we are led to presume that it may approach the Saskashawan and afford a communication with that river.
The water has a peculiar whiteness, such as might be produced by a tablespoon full of milk in a dish of tea, and this circ.u.mstance induced us to call it Milk river. In the evening we had made twenty-seven miles, and encamped on the south. The country on that side consists in general of high broken hills, with much gray, black and brown granite scattered over the surface of the ground. At a little distance from the river there is no timber on either side, the wood being confined as below to the margin of the river; so that unless the contrary is particularly mentioned, it is always understood that the upland is perfectly naked, and that we consider the low grounds well timbered if even a fifth be covered with wood. The wild liquorice is found in great abundance on these hills, as is also the white apple. As usual we are surrounded by buffaloe, elk, common and blacktailed deer, beaver, antelopes and wolves. We observed a place where an Indian had recently taken the hair off an antelope"s skin, and some of the party thought they distinguished imperfectly some smoke and Indian lodges up Milk river, marks which we are by no means desirous of realizing, as the Indians are probably a.s.siniboins, and might be very troublesome.
Thursday, 9th. We again had a favourable wind and sailed along very well. Between four and five miles we pa.s.sed a large island in a deep bend to the north, and a large sandbar at the upper point. At fifteen and a quarter miles we reached the bed of a most extraordinary river which presents itself on the south: though as wide as the Missouri itself, that is about half a mile, it does not discharge a drop of water and contains nothing but a few standing pools. On ascending it three miles we found an eminence from which we saw the direction of the channel, first south for ten or twelve miles, then turning to the east of southeast as far as we could see; it pa.s.ses through a wide valley without timber, and the surrounding country consists of waving low hills interspersed with some handsome level plains; the banks are abrupt and consist of a black or yellow clay; or of a rich sandy loam, but though they do not rise more than six or eight feet above the bed, they exhibit no appearance of being overflowed: the bed is entirely composed of a light brown sand, the particles of which like those of the Missouri are extremely fine. Like the dry rivers we pa.s.sed before, this seemed to have discharged its waters recently, but the watermark indicated that its greatest depth had not been more than two feet: this stream, if it deserve the name, we called Bigdry river. About a mile below is a large creek on the same side, which is also perfectly dry: the mineral salts and quartz are in large quant.i.ties near this neighbourhood. The sand of the Missouri from its mouth to this place has been mixed with a substance which we had presumed to be a granulated chalk, but which is most probably this quartz. The game is now in great quant.i.ties, particularly the elk and buffaloe, which last is so gentle that the men are obliged to drive them out of the way with sticks and stones. The ravages of the beaver are very apparent: in one place the timber was entirely prostrated for a s.p.a.ce of three acres in front on the river and one in depth, and great part of it removed, although the trees were in large quant.i.ties, and some of them as thick as the body of a man. At the distance of twenty-four miles we encamped, after making twenty-five and a half miles, at the entrance of a small creek in a bend on the north; to which we gave the name of Werner"s creek after one of our men.
For several days past the river has been as wide as it generally is near its mouth, but as it is much shallower, crowded with sandbars, and the colour of the water has become much clearer, we do not yet despair of reaching the Rock mountains, for which we are very anxious.
Friday, 10th. We had not proceeded more than four and a quarter miles when the violence of the wind forced us to halt for the day under some timber in a bend on the south side. The wind continued high, the clouds thick and black, and we had a slight sprinkling of rain several times in the course of the day. Shortly after our landing a dog came to us, and as this induced us to believe that we are near the hunting grounds of the a.s.siniboins, who are a vicious ill-disposed people, it was necessary to be on our guard: we therefore inspected our arms which we found in good order, and sent several hunters to scour the country, but they returned in the evening having seen no tents, nor any recent tracks of Indians. Biles and imposthumes are very common among the party, and sore eyes continue in a greater or less degree with all of us; for the imposthumes we use emollient poultices, and apply to the eyes a solution of two grains of white vitriol and one of sugar of lead with one ounce of water.
Sat.u.r.day, 11th. The wind blew very hard in the night, but having abated this morning we went on very well, till in the afternoon the wind arose and r.e.t.a.r.ded our progress; the current too was strong, the river very crooked, and the banks as usual constantly precipitating themselves in large ma.s.ses into the water. The highlands are broken and approach nearer the river than they do below. The soil however of both hills and low grounds appear as fertile as that further down the river: it consists of a black looking loam with a small portion of sand, which cover the hills and bluffs to the depth of twenty or thirty feet, and when thrown in the water dissolves as readily as loaf-sugar, and effervesces like marle; there are also great appearances of quartz and mineral salts: the first is most commonly seen in the faces of the bluffs, the second is found on the hills as well as the low grounds, and in the gullies which come down from the hills; it lies in a crust of two or three inches in depth, and may be swept up with a feather in large quant.i.ties. There is no longer any appearance of coal burnt earth or pumicestone. We saw and visited some high hills on the north side about three miles from the river, whose tops were covered with the pitch-pine: this in the first pine we have seen on the Missouri, and it is like that of Virginia, except that the leaves are somewhat longer; among this pine is also a dwarf cedar, sometimes between three or four feet high, but generally spreading itself like a vine along the surface of the earth, which it covers very closely, putting out roots from the under side. The fruit and smell resemble those of the common red cedar, but the leaf is finer and more delicate. The tops of the hills where these plants grow have a soil quite different from that just described, the basis of it is usually yellow or white clay, and the general appearance light coloured, sandy, and barren, some scattering tufts of sedge being almost its only herbage. About five in the afternoon one of our men who had been afflicted with biles, and suffered to walk on sh.o.r.e, came running to the boats with loud cries and every symptom of terror and distress: for some time after we had taken him on board he was so much out of breath as to be unable to describe the cause of his anxiety, but he at length told us that about a mile and a half below he had shot a brown bear which immediately turned and was in close pursuit of him; but the bear being badly wounded could not overtake him. Captain Lewis with seven men immediately went in search of him, and having found his track followed him by the blood for a mile, and found him concealed in some thick brushwood, and shot him with two b.a.l.l.s through the skull. Though somewhat smaller than that killed a few days ago, he was a monstrous animal and a most terrible enemy: our man had shot him through the centre of the lungs, yet he had pursued him furiously for half a mile, then returned more than twice that distance, and with his talons had prepared himself a bed in the earth two feet deep and five feet long, and was perfectly alive when they found him, which was at least two hours after he received the wound. The wonderful power of life which these animals possess render them dreadful: their very track in the mud or sand, which we have sometimes found eleven inches long and seven and a quarter wide, exclusive of the talons, is alarming; and we had rather encounter two Indians than meet a single brown bear. There is no chance of killing them by a single shot unless the ball goes through the brains, and this is very difficult on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the forehead, and the sharp projection of the centre of the frontal bone, which is also thick. Our encampment was on the south at the distance of sixteen miles from that of last night; the fleece and skin of the bear were a heavy burden for two men, and the oil amounted to eight gallons.
Sunday, 12th. The weather being clear and calm, we set out early. Within a mile we came to a small creek, about twenty yards wide, emptying itself on the south. At eleven and three quarter miles we reached a point of woodland on the south, opposite to which is a creek of the same width as the last, but with little water, which we called Pine creek. At eighteen and three quarter miles we came to on the south opposite to the lower point of a willow island, situated in a deep bend of the river to the southeast: here we remained during the day, the wind having risen at twelve so high that we could not proceed: it continued to blow violently all night, with occasional sprinklings of rain from sunset till midnight. On both sides of the river the country is rough and broken, the low grounds becoming narrower; the tops of the hills on the north exhibits some scattered pine and cedar, on the south the pine has not yet commenced, though there is some cedar on the sides of the hills and in the little ravines. The chokecherry, the wild hysop, sage, fleshy-leafed thorn, and particularly the aromatic herb on which the antelope and hare feed, are to be found on the plains and hills. The soil of the hills has now altered its texture considerably: their bases, like that of the river plains, is as usual a rich, black loam, while from the middle to the summits they are composed of a light brown-coloured earth, poor and sterile, and intermixed with a coa.r.s.e white sand.
Monday, 13th. The wind was so strong that we could not proceed till about one o"clock, when we had to encounter a current rather stronger than usual. In the course of a mile and a half we pa.s.sed two small creeks on the south, one of eighteen the other of thirty yards width, but neither of them containing any water, and encamped on the south at a point of woodland, having made only seven miles. The country is much the same as yesterday, with little timber in the low grounds, and a small quant.i.ty of pine and cedar on the northern hills. The river however continues to grow clearer, and this as well as the increased rapidity induces us to hope for some change of country. The game is as usual so abundant that we can get without difficulty all that is necessary.