The Journal Adds:
"To Us, Who Are Desirous Of Reaching The Plains Of The Missouri -
If For No Other Reason,
For the purpose of enjoying a good meal -
this intelligence was by no means welcome, and gave no relish
to
The remainder of the horse killed at Colter's Creek, which formed
our supper, as part of which had already been our dinner."
Next day, accordingly, the hunters turned out early in the morning,
and before noon returned with four deer and a duck, which,
with the remains of horse-beef on hand, gave them a much more
plentiful stock of provisions than had lately fallen to their lot.
During the previous winter, they were told, the Indians suffered
very much for lack of food, game of all sorts being scarce.
They were forced to boil and eat the moss growing on the trees,
and they cut down the pine-trees for the sake of the small nut
to be found in the pine-cones. Here they were met by an old friend,
Neeshnepahkeeook and the Shoshonee, who had acted as interpreter
for them. The journal says: -
"We gave Neeshnepahkeeook and his people some of our game and horse-beef,
besides the entrails of the deer, and four fawns which we found
inside of two of them. They did not eat any of them perfectly raw,
but the entrails had very little cooking; the fawns were boiled whole,
and the hide, hair, and entrails all consumed. The Shoshonee was offended
at not having as much venison as he wished, and refused to interpret;
but as we took no notice of him, he became very officious in the course
of a few hours, and made many efforts to reinstate himself in our favor.
The brother of Twisted-hair, and Neeshnepahkeeook, now drew a sketch,
which we preserved, of all the waters west of the Rocky Mountains."
They now met Twisted-hair, in whose care they had left their
horses and saddles the previous fall, and this was the result
of their inquiries:
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