ped down to
the very verge of the precipice, where he lay on his belly, with his
right arm and leg over it, while with the other leg and arm he was with
difficulty holding on, to keep himself from being dashed to pieces
below.

His dreadful situation was instantly perceived by Captain Lewis, who,
stifling his alarm, calmly told him that he was in no danger; that he
should take his knife out of his belt with the right hand, and dig a
hole in the side of the bluff to receive his right foot. With great
presence of mind he did this, and then raised himself on his knees.
Captain Lewis then told him to take off his moccasins, and come forward
on his hands and knees, holding the knife in one hand and his rifle in
the other. He immediately crawled in this way till he came to a secure
spot. The men who had not attempted this passage were ordered to return,
and wade the river at the foot of the bluff, where they found the water
breast-high.

This adventure taught them the danger of crossing the slippery heights
of the river; but, as the plains were intersected by deep ravines almost
as difficult to pass, they continued down the stream, sometimes in the
mud of the low grounds, sometimes up to their arms in water, and, when
it became too deep to wade, they cut footholds with their knives in the
sides of the banks. In this way they travelled through the rain, mud,
and water, and, having made only eighteen miles during the whole day,
encamped in an old Indian lodge of sticks, which afforded them a dry
shelter. Here they cooked part of six deer they had killed in the course
of the route, and, having eaten the only morsel they had tasted during
the whole day, slept comfortably on some willow-boughs.

[A few days afterwards, Captain Lewis reached the Falls of the
Missouri, which he eloquently describes.]

To the southwest [says the journalist] there arose from this plain two
mountains of a singular appearance, and more like ramparts of high
fortifications than works of nature. They are square figures, with sides
rising perpendicularly to the height of two hundred and fifty feet,
formed of yellow clay, and the tops seemed to be level plains. Finding
that the river here bore considerably to the south, and fearful of
passing the falls before reaching the Rocky Mountains, they now changed
their course to the south, and, leaving those insulated hills to the
right, proceeded across the plain.

In this direction Captain Lewis h