Lewis: June 19, 1806

Thursday June 19th 1806. Our hunters were out very early this morning,
they returned before noon with one deer only. the Fishermen had been more
unsuccessfull, they returned without a single fish and reported they could
find but few and those they had tryed to take in vain. they had broke both
their giggs which were of indian fabrication made of bone. I happened to
have a pointed peice of iron in my pouch which answered by cuting in two
peices to renew boath giggs. they took one fish this evening which proved
to be a salmon trout much to our mortification, for we had hoped that they
were the salmon of this spring arrival and of course fat and fine. these
trout are of the red kind they remain all winter in the upper parts of the
rivers and creeks and are generally poor at this season. At 2 P.M. J &
R Feilds arived with two deer; John Sheilds and LaPage came with them,
they had not succeeded in finding their horses. late in the evening
Frazier reported that my riding horse that of Capt Clark and his mule had
gone on towards the Quawmash flatts and that he had pursued their tracks
on the road about 21/2 miles. we determined to send out all the hunters in
the morning in order to make a fair experiment of the pactability of our
being able to subsist at this place and if not we shall move the day after
to the Quawmash flatts. the musquetoes have been excessively troublesome
to us since our arrival at this place particularly in the evening.
Cruzatte brought me several large morells which I roasted and eat without
salt pepper or grease in this way I had for the first time the true taist
of the morell which is truly an insippid taistless food. our stock of salt
is now exhausted except two quarts which I have reserved for my tour up
Maria’s River and that I left the other day on the mountain.-