Buffalo Were Observed In Great Numbers.
Many Obstacles To Navigating The River Were Encountered.
Under Date Of July 17, The Journal Says:
"The navigation is now very laborious.
The river is deep,
but with little current, and from seventy to one hundred yards wide;
the low grounds are very narrow, with but little timber, and that chiefly
the aspen tree. The cliffs are steep, and hang over the river so much
that often we could not cross them, but were obliged to pass and repass
from one side of the river to the other, in order to make our way.
In some places the banks are formed of dark or black granite rising
perpendicularly to a great height, through which the river seems,
in the progress of time, to have worn its channel. On these mountains
we see more pine than usual, but it is still in small quantities.
Along the bottoms, which have a covering of high grass, we observed
the sunflower blooming in great abundance. The Indians of the Missouri,
more especially those who do not cultivate maize, make great use of the seed
of this plant for bread, or in thickening their soup. They first parch
and then pound it between two stones, until it is reduced to a fine meal.
Sometimes they add a portion of water, and drink it thus diluted;
at other times they add a sufficient proportion of marrow-grease to reduce
it to the consistency of common dough, and eat it in that manner.
This last composition we preferred to all the rest, and thought it
at that time a very palatable dish."
They also feasted on a great variety of wild berries, purple, yellow,
and black currants, which were delicious and more pleasant to the palate than
those grown in their Virginia home-gardens; also service-berries, popularly
known to later emigrants as "sarvice-berries." These grow on small bushes,
two or three feet high; and the fruit is purple-skinned, with a white pulp,
resembling a ripe gooseberry.
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