tation.

"The best authenticated accounts informed us that we were to pass
through a country possessed by numerous, powerful, and warlike
nations of savages, of gigantic stature, fierce, treacherous, and
cruel; and particularly hostile to white men. And fame had united
with tradition in opposing mountains to our course, which human
enterprize and exertion would attempt in vain to pass. The
determined and resolute character, however, of the corps, and the
confidence which pervaded all ranks dispelled every emotion of fear
and anxiety for the present; while a sense of duty, and of the
honor which would attend the completion of the object of the
expedition; a wish to gratify the expectations of the government,
and of our fellow-citizens, with the feelings which novelty and
discovery invariably inspire, seemed to insure to us ample support
in our future toils, suffering, and danger."

In Captain Clark's journal there is nothing of this sort. The opening
entry is a bare memorandum of latitude and longitude, a note as to the
appearance of the river banks, and a statement of the number of miles
covered during the day,--a memorable achievement in modesty.

Of the boats in which the party was embarked, the batteau was a
keel-vessel fifty-five feet in length, carrying a large square sail,
and manned by twenty-two oars. In the bow and stern, ten-foot decks
formed forecastle and cabin; and in the middle part were lockers, whose
tops could be raised to form a line of breastworks along either
gunwale, in case of attack from Indians. The "periogues" were open
boats, manned by six and seven oars. Besides these conveyances for the
men and baggage, horses were led along the banks of the river, to be
used by the hunters in their daily occupations and for service in
emergency. The officers had observed the wise rule of travelers, and
had sought to simplify their equipment to the last degree.

The name of Lower Missouri attached to that part of the river between
its mouth and the entrance of the Platte. Over so much of the route the
expedition passed quietly. A few notes from the journals will suffice
to show the nature of the daily labors.

May 16th the party stopped at the village of St. Charles, a typical
French settlement of the frontier, twenty-one miles above St. Louis;
and under that date occurs this admirable note:--

"The inhabitants, about 450 in number, are chiefly des