Lewis: April 15, 1805

Monday April 15th 1805. Set out at an early hour this morning. I walked on
shore, and Capt. Clark continued with the party it being an invariable
rule with us not to be both absent from our vessels at the same time. I
passed through the bottoms of the river on the Stard. side. they were
partially covered with timber & were extensive, level and beatifull.
in my walk which was about 6 miles I passed a small rivulet of clear water
making down from the hills, which on tasting, I discovered to be in a
small degree brackish. it possessed less of the glauber salt, or alumn,
than those little streams from the hills usually do.in a little
pond of water fromed by this rivulet where it entered the bottom, I heard
the frogs crying for the first time this season; their note was the same
with that of the small frogs which are common to the lagoons and swamps of
the U States.I saw great quantities of gees feeding in the bottoms,
of which I shot one. saw some deer and Elk, but they were remarkably shy.
I also met with great numbers of Grouse or prarie hens as they are called
by the English traders of the N. W. these birds appeared to be mating; the
note of the male is kuck, kuck, kuck, coo, coo, coo. the first part of the
note both male and female use when flying. the male also dubbs something
like the pheasant, but by no means as loud. after breakfast Capt. Clark
walked on the Std. shore, and on his return in the evening gave me the
following account of his ramble. “I ascended to the high country, about 9
miles distant from the Missouri. the country consists of beatifull, level
and fertile plains, destitute of timber I saw many little dranes, which
took their rise in the river hills, from whence as far as I could see they
run to the N. E.” these streams we suppose to be the waters of Mous river
a branch of the Assinniboin which the Indians informed us approaches the
Missouri very nearly, about this point. “I passed,” continued he, “a Creek
about 20 yards wide,” which falls into the Missouri; the bottoms of this
creek are wide level and extreemly fertile, but almost entirely destitute
of timber. the water of this creek as well as all those creeks and
rivulets which we have passed since we left Fort Mandan was so strongly
impregnated with salts and other miniral substances that I was incapable
of drinking it. I saw the remains of several camps of the Assinniboins;
near one of which, in a small ravene, there was a park which they had
formed of timber and brush, for the purpose of taking the Cabrie or
Antelope. it was constructed in the following manner. a strong pound was
first made of timbers, on one side of which there was a small apparture,
sufficiently large to admit an Antelope; from each side of this apparture,
a curtain was extended to a considerable distance, widening as they
receded from the pound.we passed a rock this evening standing in
the middle of the river, and the bed of the river was formed principally
of gravel. we encamped this evening on a sand point on Lard. side. a
little above our encampment the river was confined to a channel of 80
yards in width.-