"Last Night There Was A Hard White Frost, And This Morning
The Weather Was Cold, But Clear And Pleasant; In
The course
of the day, however, it became cloudy and the wind rose.
The country is of the same description
As within the few last days.
We saw immense quantities of buffalo, elk, deer, antelopes, geese,
and some swans and ducks, out of which we procured three deer
and four buffalo calves, which last are equal in flavor
to the most delicious veal; also two beaver and an otter."
As the party advanced to the westward, following the crooked course
of the Missouri, they were very much afflicted with inflamed eyes,
occasioned by the fine, alkaline dust that blew so lightly
that it sometimes floated for miles, like clouds of smoke.
The dust even penetrated the works of one of their watches,
although it was protected by tight, double cases.
In these later days, even the double windows of the railway
trains do not keep out this penetrating dust, which makes one's
skin dry and rough.
On the twenty-fifth of April, the explorers believed,
by the signs which they observed, that they must be near
the great unknown river of which they had dimly heard as rising
in the rocky passes of the Great Divide and emptying into
the Missouri. Captain Lewis accordingly left the party, with four men,
and struck off across the country in search of the stream.
Under the next day's date the journal reports the return
of Captain Lewis and says:
Enter page number
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