s, where Captain Clark had marked out with stakes
the easiest path for a portage. This was a trying labor; and the
portage itself was not less laborious. The journal says:--

"Here [on the plains above the river] they all repaired their
moccasins, and put on double soles to protect them from the
prickly-pear, and from the sharp points of earth which have been formed
by the trampling of the buffalo during the late rains. This of itself
is enough to render the portage disagreeable to one who has no burden;
but as the men are loaded as heavily as their strength will permit, the
crossing is really painful. Some are limping with the soreness of their
feet; others are scarcely able to stand for more than a few minutes,
from the heat and fatigue. They are all obliged to halt and rest
frequently; at almost every stopping-place they fall, and most of them
are asleep in an instant; yet no one complains, and they go on with
great cheerfulness."

Notwithstanding this hardship, Lewis's journal entry of June 25th has
this fine bit:--

"Such as were able to shake a foot amused themselves in dancing on the
green to the music of the violin, which Cruzatte plays extremely well."

Captain Lewis had brought along in the baggage a steel skeleton or
framework for a boat, thirty-six feet in length, which he had planned
to use in shallow water. It was to be completed by stretching over the
steel ribs a covering of skins, making the whole water-tight by any
means that might be at hand. This was the place for the experiment.
Much time was spent in collecting and curing skins, which, when fitted
to the frame, were smeared with a composition of tallow, beeswax, and
charcoal. This failed, however. As soon as the mixture dried, it fell
away in flakes, and the vessel was entirely worthless. But Lewis wrote
that "the boat in every other rispect completely answers my most
sanguine expectations"! Then the men were employed for some time in
making "dugout" canoes from cottonwood logs,--a weary labor,
considering the tools they had. Not until July 15th was the long
interruption ended, and the journey resumed.

July 25th Captain Clark, who was in advance of the main party,
discovered the three forks of the Missouri, which were named the
Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers. By the westernmost of these,
the Jefferson, they proceeded, keeping a careful lookout for Indians.

"July 27th [Mr. Biddle's edition of the journals]. We are now very
anxious