Lewis: July 7, 1805

Sunday July 7th 1805. The weather warm and cloudy therefore unfavourable
for many operations; I keep small fires under the boat; the blowing flies
are innumerable about it; the moisture retained by the bark prevents it
from drying as fast as it otherwise would. we dispatched two other hunters
to kill Elk or buffaloe for their skins to cover our baggage. we have no
tents; the men are therefore obliged to have recourse to the sails for
shelter from the weather and we have not more skins than are sufficient to
cover our baggage when stoed away in bulk on land. many of the men are
engaged in dressing leather to cloath themselves. their leather cloathes
soon become rotton as they are much exposed to the water and frequently
wet. Capt. Clarks black man York is very unwell today and he gave him a
doze of tartar emettic which operated very well and he was much better in
the evening. this is a discription of medecine that I nevr have recourse
to in my practice except in cases of the intermittent fever. this evening
the hunters returned with the canoes and brought thre buffaloe skins only
and two Antelope 4 deer and three wolf skins; they reported that the
buffaloe had gone further down the river. the two hunters whom we sent out
from hence returned also without having killed anything except one Elk. I
set one of the party at work to make me some sacks of the wolf skins, to
transport my Instruments when occasion requirs their being carried any
distance by land.we had a light shower of rain about 4 P.M.
attended with some thunder and lightning. one beaver caught this morning.
the musquetoes are excessively troublesome to us. I have prepared my
composition which I should have put on this evening but the rain prevented
me.