Lewis: February 11, 1806

Tuesday February 11th 1806. This morning Sergt. Gass Reubin Fields and
Thompson passed the Netul opposite to us on a hunting expedition. sent
Sergt Pryor with a party of four men to bring Gibson to the fort. also
sent Colter and Wiser to the Salt works to carry on the business with
Joseph Fields; as Bratton had been sick we desired him to return to the
Fort also if he thought proper; however in the event of his not coming
Wiser was directed to return.

There is a shrub which grows commonly in this neighbourhood which is
precisely the same with that in Virginia some times called the quillwood.
also another which grows near the water in somewhat moist grounds &
rises to the hight of 5 or 6 feet with a large, peteolate spreading plane,
crenate and somewhat woolly leaf like the rose raspberry. it is much
branched the bark of a redish brown colour and is covered with a number of
short hooked thorns which renders it extreemly disagreeable to pass among;
it dose not cast it’s foliage untill about the 1st of December. this is
also the case with the black alder. There is also found in this
neighbourhood an evergreen shrub which I take to be another variety of the
Shallun and that discribed under that name in mistake on the 26th of
January. this shrub rises to the hight of from four to five feet, the stem
simple branching, defuse and much branched. the bark is of a redish dark
brown, that of the mane stein is somewhat rough while that of the boughs
is smooth. the leaves are petiolate the petiole 1/40 of an inch long;
oblong, obtuse at the apex and accute angular at the insertion of the
petiole; 3/4 of an inch in length and Ysths in width; convex, somewhat
revolute, serrate, smoth and of a paler green than the evergreens usually
are; they are also opposite and ascending. the fruit is a small deep
perple berry like the common huckleberry of a pleasent flavor. they are
seperately scattered & attatched to the small boughs by short
peduncles.-. the natives eat this berry when ripe but seldom collect it in
such quantities as to dry it for winter uce.