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Set out at an early hour and proceeded on tolerably well the water still strong and some riffles as yesterday. the country continues much the same as the two preceeding days. in the forenoon we saw a large brown bear on an island but he retreated immediately to the main shore and ran off before we could get in reach of him. they appear to be more shy here than on the Missouri below the mountains. we saw some antelopes of which we killed one. these anamals appear now to have collected again is small herds several females with their young and one or two males compose the herd usually. some males are yet soletary or two perhaps together scattered over the plains which they seen invariably to prefer to the woodlands. if they happen accedentaly in the woodlands and are allarmed they run immediately to the plains, seeming to plaise a just confidence in their superior fleetness and bottom. we killed a couple of young gees which are very abundant and fine; but as they are but small game to subsist a party on of our strength I have forbid the men shooting at them as it waists a considerable quantity of amunition and delays our progress. we passed Capt.
Collecting our horses detained us untill 9 A.M. when we charged our packhorses and set out. our rout lay through a level rich country similar to that of yesterday; at the distance of 6 miles we arrived at the lodge of the twisted hair; this habitation was built in the usual form with sticks mats and dryed hay, and contained 2 firs and about 12 persons. even at this small habitation there was an appendage of the soletary lodge, the retreat of the tawny damsels when nature causes them to be driven into coventry; here we halted as had been previously concerted, and one man with 2 horses accompayed the twisted hair to the canoe camp, about 4 ms. in quest of the saddles. the Twisted hair sent two young men in surch of our horses agreeably to his promis.
Whitehouse returned this morning to our camp on the Kooskooske in surch of his horse. As I have had frequent occasion to mention the plant which the Chopunnish call quawmash I shall here give a more particular discription of that plant and the mode of preparing it for food as practiced by the Chopunnish and others in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains with whom it forms much the greatest portion of their subsistence. we have never met with this plant but in or adjacent to a piny or fir timbered country, and there always in the open grounds and glades; in the Columbian vally and near the coast it is to be found in small quantities and inferior in size to that found in this neighbourhood and in the high rich flatts and vallees within the rocky mountains. it delights in a black rich moist soil, and even grows most luxuriantly where the land remains from 6 to nine inches under water untill the seed are nearly perfect which in this neighbourhood or on these flats is about the last of this month. neare the river where I had an opportunity of observing it the seed were begining to ripen on the 9th inst. and the soil was nearly dry. it seems devoted to it's particular soil and situation, and you will seldom find it more than a few feet from the inundated soil tho within it's limits it grows very closely in short almost as much so as the bulbs will permit; the radix is a tunicated bulb, much the consistence shape and appearance of the onion, glutanous or somewhat slymy when chewed and almost tasteless and without smell in it's unprepared state; it is white except the thin or outer tunicated scales which are few black and not succulent; this bulb is from the size of a nutmeg to that of a hens egg and most commonly of an intermediate size or about as large as an onion of one years growth from the seed. the radicles are numerous, reather large, white, flexable, succulent and diverging. the foliage consists of from one to four seldom five radicale, linear sessile and revolute pointed leaves; they are from 12 to 18 inches in length and from 1 to 3/4 of an inch in widest part which is near the middle; the uper disk is somewhat groved of a pale green and marked it's whole length with a number of small longitudinal channels; the under disk is a deep glossy green and smooth. the leaves sheath the peduncle and each other as high as the surface of the earth or about 2 inches; they are more succulent than the grasses and less so than most of the fillies hyesinths &c. the peduncle is soletary, proceeds from the root, is columner, smooth leafless and rises to the hight of 2 or 21/2 feet. it supports from 10 to forty flowers which are each supported by seperate footstalk of 1/2 an inch in length scattered without order on the upper portion of the peduncle. the calix is a partial involucret situated at the base of the footstalk of each flower on the peduncle; it is long thin and begins to decline as soon as the corolla expands. the corolla consists of six long oval, obtusly pointed skye blue or water coloured petals, each about 1 inch in length; the corolla is regular as to the form and size of the petals but irregular as to their position, five of them are placed near ech other pointing upward while one stands horizantally or pointing downwards, they are inserted with a short claw on the extremity of the footstalk at the base of the germ; the corolla is of course inferior; it is also shriveling, and continues untill the seeds are perfect.
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