i River. Then
they were to go across the Rocky Mountains. They were to keep on till
they got to the Pa-cif-ic O-cean. Then they were to come back again.
They were to find out the best way to get through the mountains. And
they were to find out what kind of people the Indians in that country
were. They were also to tell about the animals.

There were two captains of this company. Their names were Lewis and
Clark. There were forty-five men in the party.

They were gone two years and four months. For most of that time they
did not see any white men but their own party. They did not hear a
word from home for more than two years.

They got their food mostly by hunting. They killed a great many
buf-fa-loes and elks and deer. They also shot wild geese and other
large birds. Sometimes they had nothing but fish to eat. Sometimes
they had to eat wolves. When they had no other meat, they were glad to
buy dogs from the Indians and eat them. Sometimes they ate horses.
They became fond of the meat of dogs and horses.

When they were very hungry, they had to live on roots if they could
get them. Some of the Indians made a kind of bread out of roots. The
white men bought this when they could not get meat. But there were
days when they did not have anything to eat.

They were very friendly with the Indians. One day some of the men went
to make a visit to an Indian village. The Indians gave them
something to eat.

In the Indian wig-wam where they were, there was a head of a dead
buffalo. When dinner was over, the Indians filled a bowl full of meat.
They set this down in front of the head. Then they said to the head,
"Eat that."

[Illustration: Feeding the Spirit of the Buffalo.]

The Indians believed, that, if they treated this buffalo head
politely, the live buffaloes would come to their hunting ground. Then
they would have plenty of meat. They think the spirit of the buffalo
is a kind of a god. They are very careful to please this god.

CAPTAIN CLARK'S BURNING GLASS.

The Indians among whom Captain Clark and Captain Lewis traveled had
many strange ways of doing things. They had nothing like our matches
for making fire. One tribe of Indians had this way of lighting a fire.
An Indian would lay down a dry stick. He would rub this stick with the
end of another stick. After a while this rubbing would make something
like saw-dust on the stick that was lying down. The Indian would keep
on rubbing till the wood grew hot.