ove it, after
making seventeen and three quarter miles. We observe some pine on the
hills on both sides of our encampment, which are very lofty. The only
game which we have seen are one bighorn, a few antelopes, deer, and one
brown bear, which escaped from our pursuit. Nothing was, however, killed
to-day, nor have we had any fresh meat except one beaver for the last
two days, so that we are now reduced to an unusual situation, for we
have hitherto always had a great abundance of flesh.

Thursday, August 1. We left our encampment early, and at the distance of
a mile, reached a point of rocks on the left side, where the river
passes though perpendicular cliffs. Two and three quarter miles further
we halted for breakfast under a cedar tree in a bend to the right: here
as had been previously arranged, captain Lewis left us, with sergeant
Gass, Chaboneau, and Drewyer, intending to go on in advance in search of
the Shoshonees. He began his route along the north side of the river
over a high range of mountains, as captain Clarke who ascended them on
the 26th had observed from them a large valley spreading to the north of
west, and concluded that on leaving the mountain the river took that
direction; but when he reached that valley, captain Lewis found it to be
the passage of a large creek falling just above the mountain into the
Jefferson, which bears to the southwest. On discovering his error, he
bent his course towards that river, which he reached about two in the
afternoon, very much exhausted with heat and thirst. The mountains were
very bare of timber, and the route lay along the steep and narrow
hollows of the mountain, exposed to the mid-day sun, without air, or
shade, or water. Just as he arrived there a flock of elk passed, and
they killed two of them, on which they made their dinner, and left the
rest on the shore for the party in the canoes. After dinner they resumed
their march, and encamped on the north side of the river, after making
seventeen miles; in crossing the mountains captain Lewis saw a flock of
the black or dark brown pheasant, of which he killed one. This bird is
one third larger than the common pheasant of the Atlantic States; its
form is much the same. The male has not however the tufts of long black
feathers on the side of the neck so conspicuous in the Atlantic
pheasant, and both sexes are booted nearly to the toes. The colour is a
uniform dark brown with a small mixture of yellow or yellowish brown