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Their bows are extreamly neat and very elastic, they are about two and a half feet in length, and two inches in width in the center, thence tapering graduly to the extremities where they are half an inch wide they are very flat and thin, formed of the heart of the arbor vita or white cedar, the back of the bow being thickly covered with sinews of the Elk laid on with a gleue which they make from the sturgeon; the string is made of sinues of the Elk also. the arrow is formed of two parts usually tho sometime entire; those formed of two parts are unequally divided that part on which the feathers are placed occupyes four fifths of it's length and is formed of light white pine reather larger than a swan's quill, in the lower extremity of this is a circular mortice secured by sinues roled arround it; this mortice receives the one end of the 2nd part which is of a smaller size than the first and about five inches long, in the end of this the barb is fixed and confined with sinue, this barb is either stone, iron or copper, if metal in this form forming at it's point a greater angle than those of any other Indians I have observed. the shorter part of the arrow is of hearder wood as are also the whole of the arrow when it is of one piece only. as these people live in a country abounding in ponds lakes &c and frequently hunt in their canoes and shoot at fowl and other anamals where the arrow missing its object would be lost in the water they are constructed in the manner just discribed in order to make them float should they fall in the water, and consequently can again he recovered by the hunter; the quiver is usually the skin of a young bear or that of a wolf invariably open at the side in stead of the end as the quivers of other Indians generally are; this construction appears to answer better for the canoe than if they were open at the end only. maney of the Elk we have killed since we have been here, have been wounded with these arrows, the short piece with the barb remaining in the animal and grown up in the flesh. the deadfalls and snares are employed in taking the wolf the raccoon and fox of which there are a few only. the spear or gig is used to take the sea otter, the common otter, spuck, and beaver. their gig consists of two points or barbs and are the same in their construction as those discribed before as being common among the Indians on the upper part of this river. their pits are employed in taking the Elk, and of course are large and deep, some of them a cube of 12 or 14 feet. these are usually placed by the side of a large fallen tree which as well as the pit lye across the toads frequented by the Elk. these pitts are disguised with the slender boughs of trees and moss; the unwary Elk in passing the tree precipitates himself into the pitt which is sufficiently deep to prevent his escape, and is thus taken.
I hope we have now a sufficient stock of dryed meat to serve us as far the Chopunnish provided we can obtain a few dogs horses and roots by the way. in the neighbourhood of the Chopunnish we can procure a few deer and perhaps a bear or two for the mountains. last evening Reubin Fields killed a bird of the quail kind it is reather larger than the quail, or partridge as they are called in Virginia. it's form is precisely that of our patridge tho it's plumage differs in every part. the upper part of the head, sides and back of the neck, including the croop and about 1/3 of the under part of the body is of a bright dove coloured blue, underneath the under beak, as high as the lower edge of the eyes, and back as far as the hinder part of the eyes and thence coming down to a point in front of the neck about two thirds of it's length downwards, is of a fine dark brick red. between this brick red and the dove colour there runs a narrow stripe of pure white. the ears are covered with some coarse stiff dark brown feathers. just at the base of the under chap there is narrow transverse stripe of white. from the crown of the head two long round feathers extend backwards nearly in the direction of the beak and are of a black colour. the longest of these feathers is two inches and an half, it overlays and conceals the other which is somewhat shorter and seems to be raped in the plumage of that in front which folding backwards colapses behind and has a round appearance. the tail is composed of twelve dark brown feathers of nearly equal length. the large feathers of the wings are of a dark brown and are reather short in proportion to the body of the bird in that rispect very similar to our common partridge. the covert of the wings and back are of a dove colour with a slight admixture of redish brown. a wide stripe which extends from side to side of the body and occupyes the lower region of the breast is beautifully variagated with the brick red white and black which pedominate in the order they are mentioned and the colours mark the feathers transversely. the legs are covered with feathers as low as the knee; these feathers are of a dark brown tiped with the dark brick red as are also those between and about the joining of the legs with the body. they have four toes on each foot of which three are in front and that in the center the longest, those one each side nearly of a length; that behing is also of good length and are all armed with long and strong nails. the legs and feet are white and imbrecated with proportionably large broad scales. the upper beak is short, wide at it's base, black, convex, curved downwards and reather obtusely pointed. it exceeds the under chap considerably which is of a white colour, also convex underneath and obtusely pointed. the nostrils are remarkably small placed far back and low down on the sides of the beak. they are covered by a thin protuberant elastic, black leatherlike substance. the eyes are of a uniform piercing black colour. this is a most beautifull bird.
This stream is about 50 yards wide from bank to bank; the water occupyes about 15 yards. the banks are of earth only, abrupt, tho not high- the bed, is of mud principally.
The little animal found in the plains of the Missouri which I have called the barking squirrel weighs from 3 to 31/2 pounds. it's form is that of the squirrel. it's colour is an uniform light brick red grey, the red reather predominating. the under side of the neck and bely are lighter coloured than the other parts of the body. the legs are short, and it is wide across the breast and sholders in propotion to it's size, appears strongly formed in that part; the head is also bony muscular and stout, reather more blontly terminated wider and flatter than the common squirrel. the upper lip is split or divided to the nose. the ears are short and lie close to the head, having the appearance of being cut off, in this particular they resemble the guinea pig. the teeth are like those of the squrrel rat &c. they have a false jaw or pocket between the skin and the mustle of the jaw like that of the common ground squrrel but not so large in proportion to their size. they have large and full whiskers on each side of the nose, a few long hairs of the same kind on each jaw and over the eyes. the eye is small and black. they have five toes on each foot of which the two outer toes on each foot are much shoter than those in the center particularly the two inner toes of the fore feet, the toes of the fore feet are remarkably long and sharp and seem well adapted to cratching or burrowing those of the hind feet are neither as long or sharp as the former; the nails are black. the hair of this animal is about as long and equally as course as that of the common grey squrrel of our country, and the hair of the tail is not longer than that of the body except immediately at the extremity where it is somewhat longer and frequently of a dark brown colour. the part of generation in the female is placed on the lower region of the belly between the hinder legs so far forward that she must lie on her back to copolate. the whole length of this animal is one foot five inches from the extremity of the nose to that of the tail of which the tail occupyes 4 inches. it is nearly double the size of the whistleing squirrel of the Columbia. it is much more quick active and fleet than it's form would indicate. these squirrels burrow in the ground in the open plains usually at a considerable distance from the water yet are never seen at any distance from their burrows. six or eight usually reside in one burrow to which there is never more than one entrance. these burrows are of great debth.
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