Clark: November 30, 1805

November 30th Saturday 1805 Some rain and hail with intervales of fair
weather for 1 and 2 hours dureing the night and untill 9 oClock this
morning at which time it Cleared up fair and the Sun Shown, I Send 5 men
in a Canoe in the Deep bend above the Peninsulear to hunt fowles, & 2
men in the thick woods to hunt Elk had all our wet articles dried &
the men all employed dressing their Skins, I observe but few birds in this
Countrey of the Small kindsgreat numbers of wild fowl, The large Buzzard
with white under their wings Grey & Bald eagle large red tailed hawk,
ravins, Crows, & a small brown bird which is found about logs &c.
but fiew small hawks or other smaller birds to be seen at this time
Snakes, Lizzards, Snales bugs worms Spiders, flies & insects of
different kinds are to be Seen in plenty at this time. The Squar, gave me
a piece of Bread to day made of Some flower She had Cearfully kept for her
child, and had unfortunately got wet The hunters killed only 3 hawks, saw
3 Elk but Could not git a Shot at them, The fowlers, killed 3 black ducks,
with white Sharp bills, a brown Spot in their foward, Some white under the
tail, which Short, and a fiew of the tips of the wing feathers white,
Their toes are long Seperated and flaped, no Craw, keep in emence large
flocks in the Shallow waters & feed on Grass &c.- Several men
Complaining of being unwell to daya Broock comes in to the bend
above the 1st point above, and a river falls in the next nitch above this
river is Small,I observe rose bushes Pine, a kind of ash a Species
of Beech and a Species of Maple, in addition to the pine Lorrel and under
groth Common to the woods in this Lower Countrey the hills are not high
& Slope to the river

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Saturday 30th of November 1805 Some rain and hail with intervales of fair
weather for the Space of one or two hours at a time dureing the night
untill 9 oClock this morning, at which time it Cleared away and the Sun
Shewn for ____ hours, Several men out hunting I Send 5 men in the bend
above to hunt fowl &c. in a Canoe, employ all the others in drying our
wet articles by the fire Several men Complain of a looseness and gripeing
which I contribute to the diet, pounded fish mixed with Salt water, I
derect that in future that the party mix the pounded fish with fresh waterThe
Squar gave me a piece of bread made of flour which She had reserved for
her child and carefully Kept untill this time, which has unfortunately got
wet, and a little Sourthis bread I eate with great Satisfaction, it
being the only mouthfull I had tasted for Several months past. my hunters
killed three Hawks, which we found fat and delicious, they Saw 3 Elk but
Could not get a Shot at them. The fowlers killed 3 black Ducks with Sharp
White beeks keep in large flocks & feed on Grass, they have no Craw
and their toes are Seperate, Common in the U. States

The Chinnooks Cath ldh mah & others in this neighbourhood bury their
dead in their Canoes. for this purpose 4 pieces of Split timber are Set
erect on end, and sunk a fiew feet in the ground, each brace having their
flat Sides opposit to each other and Sufficiently far assunder to admit
the width of the Canoe in which the dead are to be deposited; through each
of those perpindicular posts, at the hight of 6 feet a mortice is Cut,
through which two bars of wood are incerted; on those Cross bars a Small
Canoe is placed, in which the body is laid after beaing Carefully roled in
a robe of Some dressed Skins; a paddle is also deposited with them; a
larger Canoe is now reversed, overlaying and imbracing the Small one, and
resting with its gunnals on the Cross bars; one or more large mats of
flags or rushes are then rold. around the Canoe and the whole Securely
lashed with a long Cord usially made of the bark of the arbar vita or
white Cedar. on the Cross bars which Support the Canoes is frequently hung
or laid various articles of Clothing Culinary utensils &c. we cannot
understand them Sufficiently to make any enquiries relitive to their
religious opinions, from their depositing Various articles with their
dead, beleve in a State of future ixistance.

I walked on the point and observed rose bushes different Species of pine,
a Spcies of ash, alder, a Species of wild Crab Loral and Several Species
of under Broth Common to this lower part of the Columbia river- The hills
on this Coast rise high and are thickly covered with lofty pine maney of
which are 10 & 12 feet through and more than 200 feet high. hills have
a Steep assent.