the mouth of
Whitestone river--The character of the Missouri, with the rivers
that enter it--The surrounding country--The various islands, bays,
creeks, &c. given in the course of the expedition.

Our camp is by observation in latitude 41 degrees 3' 11". Immediately
behind it is a plain about five miles wide, one half covered with wood,
the other dry and elevated. The low grounds on the south near the
junction of the two rivers, are rich, but subject to be overflowed.
Farther up, the banks are higher, and opposite our camp the first hills
approach the river, and are covered with timber, such as oak, walnut,
and elm. The intermediate country is watered by the Papillon, or
Butterfly creek, of about eighteen yards wide, and three miles from the
Platte; on the north are high open plains and prairies, and at nine
miles from the Platte, the Musquitoe creek, and two or three small
willow islands. We stayed here several days, during which we dried our
provisions, made new oars, and prepared our despatches and maps of the
country we had passed, for the president of the United States, to whom
we intend to send them by a periogue from this place. The hunters have
found game scarce in this neighbourhood; they have seen deer, turkies,
and grouse; we have also an abundance of ripe grapes; and one of our men
caught a white catfish, the eyes of which were small, and its tail
resembling that of a dolphin. The present season is that in which the
Indians go out into the prairies to hunt the buffaloe; but as we
discovered some hunter's tracks, and observed the plains on fire in the
direction of their villages, we hoped that they might have returned to
gather the green indian corn, and therefore despatched two men to the
Ottoes or Pawnee villages with a present of tobacco, and an invitation
to the chiefs to visit us. They returned after two days absence. Their
first course was through an open prairie to the south, in which they
crossed Butterfly creek. They then reached a small beautiful river,
called Come de Cerf, or Elkhorn river, about one hundred yards wide,
with clear water and a gravelly channel. It empties a little below the
Ottoe village into the Platte, which they crossed, and arrived at the
town about forty-five miles from our camp. They found no Indians there,
though they saw some fresh tracks of a small party. The Ottoes were once
a powerful nation, and lived about twenty miles above the Platte, on the
southern