Lewis: January 22, 1806

Thursday January 22nd 1806. The party sent for the meat this morning
returned with it in the Evening; it was in very inferior order, in short
the animals were poor. Reubin Fields also remained with the other hunters
Shannon & Labuish our late supply of salt is out. we have not yet
heared a sentence from the other two parties of hunter’s who are below us
towards Point Adams and the Praries.

There are three species of fern in this neighbourhood the root one of
which the natves eat; this grows very abundant in the open uplands and
praries where the latter are not sandy and consist of deep loose rich
black lome. the root is horizontal sometimes a little deverging or
obliquely descending, frequently dividing itself as it procedes into two
equal branches and shooting up a number of stems; it lies about 4 Inces
beneath the surface of the earth. the root is celindric, with few or no
radicles and from the size of a goose quill to that of a man’s finger; the
center of the root is divided into two equal parts by a strong flat &
white ligament like a piece of thin tape on either side of this there is a
white substance which when the root is roasted in the embers is much like
wheat dough and not very unlike it in flavour, though it has also a
pungency which becomes more visible after you have chewed it some little
time; this pungency was disagreeable to me, but the natives eat it very
voraciously and I have no doubt but it is a very nutricious food. the bark
of the root is black, somewhat rough, thin and brittle, it easily
seperates in flakes from the part which is eaten as dose also the internal
liggament. this root perennil. in rich lands this plant rises to the hight
of from 4 to five feet. the stem is smooth celindric, slightly groved on
one side erect about half it’s hight on the 2 first branches thence
reclining backwards from the grooved side; it puts forth it’s branches
which are in reallyty long footstalks by pares from one side only and near
the edges of the groove, these larger footstalks are also grooved
cilindric and gradually tapering towards the extremity, puting forth
alternate footstalks on either side of the grove near it’s edge; these
lesser footstalks the same in form as the first put forth from forty to
fifty alternate pinate leaves which are sessile, horizontal, multipartite
for half their length from the point of insertion and terminating in a
long shaped apex, and are also revolute with the upper disk smoth and the
lower slightly cottanny. these alternate leaves after proceeding half the
length of the footstalk cease to be partite and assume the tongue like
form altogether. this plant produces no flower or fruit whatever, is of a
fine green colour in summer and a beautiful) plant. the top is annual and
is of course dead at present.-