a knowledge of those people
important. You will therefore endeavour to make yourself
acquainted, as far as a diligent pursuit of your journey shall
admit, with the names of the nations and their numbers;

"The extent and limits of their possessions;

"Their relations with other tribes or nations;

"Their language, traditions, monuments;

"Their ordinary occupations in agriculture, fishing, hunting, war,
arts, and the implements for these;

"Their food, clothing, and domestic accommodations;

"The diseases prevalent among them, and the remedies they use;

"Moral and physical circumstances which distinguish them from the
tribes we know;

"Peculiarities in their laws, customs, and dispositions;

"And articles of commerce they may need or furnish, and to what
extent.

"And, considering the interest which every nation has in extending
and strengthening the authority of reason and justice among the
people around them, it will be useful to acquire what knowledge you
can of the state of morality, religion, and information among them;
as it may better enable those who may endeavour to civilize and
instruct them, to adapt their measures to the existing notions and
practices of those on whom they are to operate.

"Other objects worthy of notice will be--

"The soil and face of the country, its growth and vegetable
productions, especially those not of the United States;

"The animals of the country generally, and especially those not
known in the United States;

"The remains and accounts of any which may be deemed rare or
extinct;

"The mineral productions of every kind, but more particularly
metals, lime-stone, pit-coal, and saltpetre; salines and mineral
waters, noting the temperature of the last, and such circumstances
as may indicate their character;

"Volcanic appearances;

"Climate, as characterized by the thermometer, by the proportion of
rainy, cloudy, and clear days; by lightning, hail, snow, ice; by
the access and recess of frost; by the winds prevailing at
different seasons; the dates at which particular plants put forth,
or lose their flower or leaf; times of appearance of particular
birds, reptiles or insects.

"Although your route will be along the channel of the Missouri, yet
you will en