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C. feell in with a gang of Elk of which he killed 2. and not being able to obtain as much wood as would make a fire substituded the dung of the buffaloe and cooked a part of their meat on which they breakfasted and again pursueed their rout, which lay along an old indian road. this evening they passed a hansome valley watered by a large creek which extends itself with it's valley into the mountain to a considerable distance. the latter part of the evening their rout lay over a hilly and mountanous country covered with the sharp fragments of flint which cut and bruised their feet excessively; nor wer the prickly pear of the leveler part of the rout much less painfull; they have now become so abundant in the open uplands that it is impossible to avoid them and their thorns are so keen and stif that they pearce a double thickness of dressed deers skin with ease.
Set out early this morning as usual current strong with frequent riffles; employ the cord and seting poles. the oars scarcely ever being used except to pass the river in order to take advantage of the shore and cur-rent. at the distance of 33/4 m. passed the entrance of a large Creek 15 yds. wide which discharges itself on Lard. near the center of a Lard. bend it is a bold runing stream this we called Howard's Creek after Thomas P. Howard one of our party. at the distance of one mile further we passed the entrance of a small run which falls in just above a rocky clift on Lard. here the hills or reather mountains again recede from the river and the valley again widens to the extent of several miles with wide and fertile bottom lands. covered with grass and in many places a fine terf of greenswoard. the high lands are thin meagre soil covered with dry low sedge and a species of grass also dry the seeds of which are armed with a long twisted hard beard at the upper extremity while the lower point is a sharp subulate firm point beset at it's base with little stiff bristles standing with their points in a contrary direction to the subulate point to which they answer as a barb and serve also to pres it forward when onece entered a small distance. these barbed seed penetrate our mockersons and leather legings and give us great pain untill they are removed. my poor dog suffers with them excessively, he is constantly hinting and scratching himself as if in a rack of pain. the prickly pear also grow here as abundantly as usual. there is another species of the prickly pear of a globular form, composed of an assemblage of little conic leaves springing from a common root to which their small points are attached as a common center and the base of the cone forms the apex of the leaf which is garnished with a circular range of sharp thorns quite as stif and more keen than the more common species with the flat leaf, like the Cockeneal plant. on entering this open valley I saw the snowclad tops of distant mountains before us. the timber and mountains much as heretofore. saw a number of beaver today and some otter, killed one of the former, also 4 deer; found a deer's skin which had been left by Capt.
The morning being cold and the men stif and soar from the exertions of yesterday Capt.
I do not think it as good as either the Pheasant or Grouse. it is invariably found in the plains.The feathers about it's head are pointed and stif some hairs about the base of the beak. feathers short fine and stif about the ears.
the wild Hysop grows here and in all the country through which we have passed for many days past; tho from big Dry river to this place it has been more abundant than below, and a smaller variety of it grows on the hills, the leaves of which differ considerably being more deeply indented near it's extremity. the buffaloe deer and Elk feed on this herb in the winter season as they do also on the small willow of the sandbars. there is another growth that begins now to make it's appearance in the bottom lands and is becoming extreemly troublesome; it is a shrub which rises to the hight of from two to four feet, much branched, the bark of the trunk somewhat rough hard and of light grey colour; the wood is firm and stif, the branches beset with a great number of long, shap, strong, wooddy looking thorns; the leaf is about 3/4 or an inch long, and one 1/8 of an inch wide, it is obtuse, absolutely entire, veinless fleshy and gibbose; has no perceptable taste or smell, and no anamal appears to eat it. by way of designating when I mention it hereafter I shall call it the fleshey leafed thorn
Ordway brought me a specemine of a species of pine peculiar to the swamps and marshes frequently overflown by the tide as this is a distinct species I shall call it No. 7. this tree seldom rises to a greater hight than 35 feet and is from 21/2 to 4 feet in diameter; the stem is simple branching diffuse and proliferous. the bark the same with that of No. 1 only reather more rugged. the leaf is acerose, 2/10ths of an inch in width and 3/4 in length. they are firm stif and somewhat accuminated, ending in a short pointed hard tendril, gibbous, thickly scattered on all sides of the bough but rispect the three upper sides only. those which have there insersion on the underside incline sidewise with their points upwards giving the leaf the figure of a sythe. the others are perpendicular or pointing upwards. is sessile growing as in No. 1 from small triangular pedestals of a soft spungy elastic bark. the under disk of these leaves or that which grows nearest towards the base of the bough is a deep glossey green while the upper or opposite side is of a mealy whiteish pale green; in this rispect differing from almost all leaves. the boughs retain their leaves as far back as to the sixth years growth. the peculiarity of the bud scales observed in No 1 is observed in this species.
To prepare beaver bate, the castor or bark stone is taken as the base, this is gently pressed out of the bladderlike bag which contains it, into a phiol of 4 ounces with a wide mouth; if you have them you will put from four to six stone in a phiol of that capacity, to this you will add half a nutmeg, a douzen or 15 grains of cloves and thirty grains of cinimon finely pulverized, stir them well together and then add as much ardent sperits to the composition as will reduce it the consistency mustard prepared for the table; when thus prepared it resembles mustard precisely to all appearance. when you cannot procure a phiol a bottle made of horn or a tight earthen vessel will answer, in all cases it must be excluded from the air or it will soon loose it's virtue; it is fit for uce immediately it is prepared but becomes much stronger and better in about four or five days and will keep for months provided it be perfectly secluded from the air. when cloves are not to be had use double the quantity of Allspice, and when no spice can be obtained use the bark of the root of sausafras; when sperits cannot be had use oil stone of the beaver adding mearly a sufficient quantity to moisten the other materials, or reduce it to a stif past. it appears to me that the principal uce of the spices is only to give a variety to the scent of the bark stone and if so the mace vineller and other sweetsmelling spices might be employed with equal advantage.
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