deer were not able to
procure any thing.

We were detained till ten o'clock before we could collect our scattered
horses; we then proceeded for two miles, when to our great joy we found
the horse which captain Clarke had killed, and a note apprising us of
his intention of going to the plains towards the southwest, and collect
provisions by the time we reached him. At one o'clock we halted on a
small stream, and made a hearty meal of horse flesh. On examination it
now appeared that one of the horses was missing, and the man in whose
charge he had been, was directed to return and search for him. He came
back in about two hours without having been able to find the horse; but
as the load was too valuable to be lost, two of the best woodsmen were
directed to continue the search while we proceeded. Our general course
was south 25 degrees west through a thick forest of large pine, which
has fallen in many places, and very much obstructs the road. After
making about fifteen miles we encamped on a ridge where we could find
but little grass and no water. We succeeded, however, in procuring a
little from a distance, and supped on the remainder of the horse.

On descending the heights of the mountains the soil becomes gradually
more fertile, and the land through which we passed this evening, is of
an excellent quality. It has a dark gray soil, though very broken, and
with large masses of gray free-stone above the ground in many places.
Among the vegetable productions we distinguished the alder, honeysuckle,
and huckleberry, common in the United States, and a species of
honeysuckle, known only westward of the Rocky mountains, which rises to
the height of about four feet, and bears a white berry. There is also a
plant resembling the chokecherry, which grows in thick clumps eight or
ten feet high, and bears a black berry with a single stone of a sweetish
taste. The arbor vitae too, is very common, and grows to a great size,
being from two to six feet in diameter.

Saturday 21. The free use of food, to which he had not been accustomed,
made captain Clarke very sick both yesterday evening and during the
whole of to-day. He therefore sent out all the hunters and remained
himself at the village, as well on account of his sickness as for the
purpose of avoiding suspicion and collecting information from the
Indians as to the route.

The two villages consist of about thirty double tents, and the
inhabitants call themselves Chopunnish or