lages of barking squirrels: we saw
several rattlesnakes in the plain; young ducks, both of the
duckon-mallard and red-headed fishing duck species; some geese; also the
black woodpecker, and a large herd of elk. The channel, current, banks,
and general appearance of the river, are like that of yesterday. At
fourteen and three quarter miles we reached a rapid creek or bayou about
thirty yards wide, to which we gave the name of Birth creek. After
making seventeen miles we halted in a smooth plain in a bend towards the
left.

Saturday, 3. Captain Lewis continued his course along the river through
the valley, which continued much as it was yesterday, except that it now
widens to nearly twelve miles; the plains too are more broken and have
some scattered pine near the mountains, where they rise higher than
hitherto. In the level parts of the plains and the river bottoms there
is no timber except small cottonwood near the margin, and an undergrowth
of narrow-leafed willow, small honeysuckle, rosebushes, currants,
serviceberry, and gooseberry, and a little of a small species of birch;
it is a finely indented oval of a small size and a deep green colour;
the stem is simple, ascending and branching, and seldom rises higher
than ten or twelve feet. The mountains continue high on each side of the
valley, but their only covering is a small species of pitch-pine with a
short leaf, growing on the lower and middle regions, while for some
distance below the snowy tops there is neither timber nor herbage of any
kind. About eleven o'clock Drewyer killed a doe on which they
breakfasted, and after resting two hours continued till night, when they
reached the river near a low ground more extensive than usual. From the
appearance of the timber captain Lewis supposed that the river forked
above him, and therefore encamped with an intention of examining it more
particularly in the morning. He had now made twenty-three miles, the
latter part of which were for eight miles through a high plain covered
with prickly pears and bearded grass, which rendered the walking very
inconvenient: but even this was better than the river bottoms we crossed
in the evening, which, though apparently level, were formed into deep
holes as if they had been rooted up by hogs, and the holes were so
covered with thick grass that they were in danger of falling at every
step. Some parts of these low grounds, however, contain turf or peat of
an excellent quality for many fe